Would be interested in everyone's opinion on why coworking has not taken off in Dallas, TX.
I have started 2 coworking locations in Dallas this year. We struggled for some time, started to do well, then we are again not doing so well. Building community is a big factor that has been written about often. And, from what I can tell all the founders of past coworking locations have been passionate about building communities. They have blogged, discussed, and taken action to try and build community, but their space nonetheless have closed over time. But, I wanted to learn more about other factors that might be contributing to the failure rate. Within the past 4 years, I have counted 5 coworking locations in Dallas that have closed, and this year alone 5 have started up in their place. Although the demand is there, I wonder if the demand is large enough or growing fast enough to sustain the economics. And, because the barriers to entry into creating a coworking space is so low, the supply of space by ambitious entrepreneurs is always ahead of the demand. We were the first to start up this year on January 1, 2012 and we noticed after each new coworking space opened this year in Dallas, we lost some ground. A rising tide lifts all boats, as more and more people are learning about coworking. But, I also fear we are chasing the same small group of demographics that generally float from one space to another. -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
