> When talking about the two businesses as competitors, the analogy that seems > to work well is comparing a sushi restaurant to a steakhouse. Once you refine > your needs/wants any deeper than "food" or "work", there's enough > differentiation that there isn't any real competition.
A HUGE +1 to this. I'd add that the deeper you refine, the stronger your attraction will be for that given audience. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia building a community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org On Monday, November 5, 2012 at 3:59 PM, Glen Ferguson wrote: > I actually consider myself lucky that a Regus just opened 2 miles away. A lot > of that has to do with the manager; she gets the difference between our > spaces. We opened 2 months ago, Regus opened 1 month ago. Even before our > opening, Regus had visited ALL the local real estate offices to describe > their offerings. By the time we opened, visitors would say something like > "oh, you're like that Regus that's about to open" which gave me a perfect > opportunity to explain how coworking was different. > > The Regus manager and I talked at a business expo shortly after my opening. > She invited me to their grand opening for a tour and to sit down for a chat > about what they offered vs. what we offered. Fortunately, whether because of > their square footage limits or because we already had a presence, this Regus > does not offer their "coworking/shared office" product. She came out to > Cowork Frederick for a visit and two steps inside the building commented that > we're nothing like Regus. After her tour, she had a much better idea of what > we are, and now has a place she can refer people to that aren't a good fit > for Regus. We also have larger meeting and conference room space than they > do, so I get a few referrals from them when some business needs a place to > hold an offsite meeting. On the other hand, I have a place I can steer folks > to that aren't a good fit for us. > > When talking about the two businesses as competitors, the analogy that seems > to work well is comparing a sushi restaurant to a steakhouse. Once you refine > your needs/wants any deeper than "food" or "work", there's enough > differentiation that there isn't any real competition. > > -- > Glen Ferguson > @CoworkFrederick > coworkfrederick.com (http://www.coworkfrederick.com) > > > On Monday, November 5, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Steve King wrote: > > > One of the first forms of coworking may have been the chambers used by > > English barristers, a system that started in the 13th century and still > > exists today. According to Wikipedia: > > > > > "Barristers are not employed in a law firm but associate fraternally with > > > each other, sharing the burden of costs, in a set of chambers. They are > > > legally considered to be self-employed." > > > > Some of the guild systems also look a fair amount like coworking. They > > started around the 13th century in Europe, but similar groups were common > > in China at least as far back as 200 BC. > > Cavemen probably coworded too. It's human nature to work together. > > > > -- > > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
