Thanks Tom and Alex, This helps a lot! I may follow up with more questions as we move forward in these directions...
Vinci On Friday, April 20, 2012 10:40:34 AM UTC-7, Tom Brandt - Workantile wrote: > > These are some of the issues we faced when we (myself and two others) > bought Workantile. Our situation is little different - there are only three > co-owners while it sounds like you going for more of a co-op model. > > We found that having the several of us, with input from community members, > helped with the look and feel of our space. Talking through the aesthetics > with others helped improve the way Workantile looks. > > The compensation for prior work is a tough issue to work out. The way we > approached it was to have the previous owner come up with a number for the > amount of money he put into the space. This number was backed up by > receipts and other documentation. Other people had put time and effort into > it as well. We also asked those people for a number backed by > documentation. Once we had those numbers, we executed an excess revenue > sharing agreement, whereby once cash reserves reached the point where we > could cover three month's of expenses, the revenue over operating costs > would be split among the previous owner and the others. This guaranteed > that the business would not be starved of income by the demands of the > previous owner, but the previous owner would be compensated for the time he > put assuming the business is successful. > > Sharing the workload is another tough issue. The approach we are taking is > to figure those tasks that need to be done, ask for volunteers to handle > them, and recruit if necessary. We are very careful to not overload people. > > I hope all this helps. > > On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 1:12 PM, davis work shop wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> This is an open request for stories, advice, warnings, inspirations, >> etc. on transitioning an individually-owned/managed coworking space to >> a collectively-owned and managed space. >> >> I opened The Work Shop, a modest (in size and complexity) coworking >> space in downtown Davis, CA exactly 5 weeks ago, and it has been a >> huge success.... on a tiny scale: 7 fantastic people plus drop-ins, >> breaking even on monthly costs, lots of community interest/curiosity, >> we're a stop on the downtown art tour, and lots of future project >> ideas from the group. >> >> Part of the success is that what I hoped for has happened: People who >> have joined the project are excited about shaping its future, and are >> willing to share in the risks and responsibilities of owning and >> managing the space. Anyone have experience with exactly this process, >> or something like it, and have some wisdom to share? >> >> My concerns include: >> >> 1. losing some of the integrity/coherence of the physical space that >> come from one person's vision for how it should look and feel >> >> 2. finances... is there a fair way for me to be compensated, at least >> in part, for some of the time I put into setting the space up and >> getting it going - I took this on as a very bare-bones project with >> just the basics, but still it has been a huge time investment finding >> the right location, choosing a space with the right feeling, procuring >> desks, table, chairs, wi-fi, printer, scanner, water, fridge, >> microwave, doing some light carpentry, painting, and doing a lot of >> negotiating on the rent, outreach, answering questions, etc.). >> >> 3. making sure that people can join the space without a requirement >> that they take on coworking as another time-consuming project (people >> for whom coworking is first and foremost a reliable work space, away >> from other demands) >> >> Thanks! >> Vinci Daro >> daviscoworking.blogspot.com >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> 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. >> >> > > > -- > twb > member, Workantile <http://workantile.com/> > @twbrandt > > -- 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/-/dsD8W8K0XV8J. 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.
