Hello David, I agree with Alex - and also believe that awareness (or lack thereof) may be as important as intent. Starting off with one of two "well connected" members - especially those with large social media presence - can really help get the word out to the right people. Try getting as many people through for events, workshops, open houses, board meetings, etc. also helps build buzz.
I had a drop-in worker from Dallas/Ft. Worth area who spent all last week working at Mojo Coworking. She somehow found us ... but told me there were no coworking spaces in her area. As far as the Dallas audience size goes, I'm pretty certain there are enough people. Dallas is similar in many ways to Atlanta. I think there are now 7 or 8 open there that are successful. In addition to the "intent" and community that Alex speaks of ... focus on getting the word to the right people. Best of luck. [email protected] On Friday, October 19, 2012 12:40:52 PM UTC-4, David Thach wrote: > > 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
