Hi Toni, Can you add a sentence or two clarifying what you're referring to. I don't think I said anything about competition with other organizations.
Thanks, Will On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 4:09:45 PM UTC+2, Toni Hogan wrote: > > Will, I know every area is different but I'll ask this question > anyway. Why are you in competition with any of the other organizations > rather than partnering with them? They have their thing and we have > ours. It properly meshed they should be complementary. > > TH > > On Apr 24, 7:23 am, Wes <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thanks for your comments, Will. Reason #3 is exactly why I'm > > considering the switch. The reason I'm thinking about changing our > > cost structure isn't really a cash flow issue, as most people that > > join our space do so at our highest rate, and stick around for 7 - 8 > > months, which is actually really good for where we're located - it > > needs to be much better though. As a space focused primarily on > > supporting the (slow) growing Delaware startup community, we're very > > happy to provide people with a safe place to get on their feet. Even > > better, the majority of the startups that have come out of The coIN > > Loft found co-founders at our events or working next to them in the > > space. We're certainly building up a great story. > > > > The other side: > > Delaware has always been starved for independent talent, which is > > obviously bad for a coworking space. We have a deep history as a > > corporate state, so most people that come here to build a career are > > doing it at legacy companies, in the banking, pharma and law related > > industries. With Delaware being such a small state the lines of > > competitiveness have been thoroughly entrenched for many years - way > > before The coIN Loft came around. There are a few non-profit > > professional organizations (chambers of commerce, rotary groups, > > networking groups) and economic development groups (sba & its > > affiliates) that rule over the entrepreneurial community here. These > > places aren't communities - they're bragging rights - so you're a > > nobody as a professional if you don't join their circles. Despite all > > of our PR and marketing efforts, we've struggled to compete with these > > groups. We consistently hear that the month-to-month membership fee is > > a deterrent. The other groups, specifically the Chambers of Commerce, > > who we're in direct competition with, charge a annual fee, plus fees > > for every event. For the penny wise entrepreneur, they're looking at > > either $300 per year for the Chamber or $2400 per year for us. It > > doesn't take much to see why they'd be slow to choose us. We've > > tracked the average time it took a person to join us and found that of > > the 80 people that have joined, over 50% thought about it for more > > than 5 months before pulling the trigger. They also let us know that > > the monthly payments were an issue. I don't think we need to be as > > cheap as $300 per year, nor do I think people are expecting that. I > > just think we need to disassociate monthly financial requirements as a > > barrier to entry. The main reason is that our target audience > > (creatives & developers within the first year (hopefully first couple > > of months) of their startup) aren't cash flow positive yet. The money > > they're using to pay us is also coming out of the reserves they have > > to live on until they're financially stable. > > > > I think a fee structure like the one you (Will) use at Locus would > > certainly be a good way for us to be thinking about annual > > memberships. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/dKckFvLPHqEJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
