are we the only coworking space that *doesn't* provide free coffee to members? is this a super-important thing for people to decide to choose a space?
reasons why i'm not offering it: 1) space - we have 1000 sq ft total, and a galley kitchenette. we have hot water, boxes of tea, etc. 2) location - we're surrounded by restaurants and cafes. the best coffee companies in the city are literally a block and half in any direction. 3) noise/mess anyway, i'm curious what other spaces consider "must have" features... rena / makeshift society <http://makeshiftsociety.com> On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 8:09 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]>wrote: > I answered a "how" we provide coffee question here a while back: > > http://www.quora.com/Coworking/Whats-the-best-way-of-providing-coffee-in-my-new-coworking-space/answer/Alex-Hillman?srid=xym&st=ns > > We've since added a new Chemex pourover, and an espresso machine that gets > daily use, but not a lot. > > But as I mention in my Quora post, it's the beans that are worth spending > the money on. Almost daily we get comments about how great our coffee is, > even the stuff that just comes out of the commercial drip setup. It comes > down to 1) a decent water filter + 2) the best local, fresh roasted beans > you can buy, ground to use. We picked up a commercial coffee grinder like > the ones you see in a grocery store last year after killing a bunch of > consumer burr grinders and it's been awesome. > > But back to your question about budgeting for coffee, we spent $5600 in > 2012 on beans and related supplies, up from $3500 in 2011. That's $110/week > on average. I hesitate to crunch that number down to the individual day or > even person, because it would not be representative of anything worth > making decisions based upon. > > But I'd also urge you to rethink your strategy about comparing your > membership costs to cups of coffee at Starbucks. You're selling something > that Starbucks can't offer (and I'm not talking about the space), so price > fixing against them (and worse, below them) for the sake of marketing > sounds like a decision that you'll regret before long. > > Think about the value you're offering. It should be a LOT more than the > coffee. Why price yourself below coffee costs? > > Furthermore, anyone drinking 10 cups of coffee in a day is likely to be a > short term member, given the likelihood that their heart explodes from > over-caffeination ;) > > Bottom line takeaways: > 1) Buy the best coffee you can afford. Buy fresh, local beans. Grind every > pot fresh. Your members will thank you, and tell their friends. > 2) Price on value, not on your "competition". Starbucks *probably* isn't > your competition. > > -Alex > > -- > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > On Feb 7, 2013, at 3:50 AM, Tom Lewis <[email protected]> wrote: > > Sorry for the double post but looking through your cost figures reminded > me of something. One of the scary big numbers on our business plan is for > coffee (and tea, hey we're Brits!)- could you give us an idea of how much > coffee people drink per day on average (I could ask you for your total > spend, but from what I remember the cost of coffee differs a fair bit over > there)? > > As an aside, one of my key principles in attracting people to want to join > the space we're building is the promise that no membership will ever cost > more per hour than a cup of coffee from Starbucks (and who wants to work > there?). So even at the drop in/associate level at £20/day or £49/month > for 28 hours), it's still no more than £2 an hour for membership > > Still, the coffee cost does worry me, and I used to sell coffee for a > living, though that was low end vending machine instant so not much use in > these calculations! > > On Tuesday, 5 February 2013 16:31:25 UTC, Alex Hillman wrote: >> >> I spent some time last night summarizing some figures from our 2012 P&L >> along with some insights and interpretations related to the numbers that >> people might find valuable for doing their own analysis & projections. >> >> For reference, 2012 was Indy Hall's 5th full year of operation, and >> included the 3rd major expansion of our workspace. >> >> Enjoy! >> >> http://dangerouslyawesome.com/**2013/02/indy-hall-2012-** >> reviewing-our-coworking-**community-by-the-numbers/<http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2013/02/indy-hall-2012-reviewing-our-coworking-community-by-the-numbers/> >> >> -Alex >> >> -- >> /ah >> indyhall.org >> coworking in philadelphia >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> /ah >> indyhall.org >> coworking in philadelphia >> >> > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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