If you look at the stats, most people in one coworking space never go to another. this means there's not really a lot of "competition". If you think of coworking as communities instead of spaces, then you can imagine that people don't switch communities.
I would say there is an incredible amount of risk in starting an empty coworking "space". I started my space when I already had enough people to fill it. I invested 3k upfront and paid myself back in a year. Another coworking space in PGH has been empty for over a year. If you want to start a coworking space and you've got a bunch of people and that place burns down, all those members will go to other spaces. If you start a coworking community, and your place burns down, you will have a new space in a week and retain most of your members. On Sun, Mar 3, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Tricia Chirumbole <[email protected]> wrote: > My first thoughts are that it would make sense for you to ask these > questions to the community. > > A step before this that could help you frame the need/demand, would be to do > some research on the size of the freelance, small biz, home worker > population who may be interested in a coworking space. > > You can compliment this research by identifying complimentary groups and > orgs and even talk to them to get a better feel for the size, nature, needs > of your target group - this could be any networking or small biz support > group, you could talk to SBA, peruse meetups, university sources, etc. > > In my experience, many people are willing to talk to you, even if you are a > complete stranger, about what they know - and they often like it! > > Talk to the leaders AND if possible the members of the existing co-working > space and see what their thoughts are - being informed of the possibility is > likely going to soften the response either way. > > Consider how your presence might strengthen their presence - you could have > a flex pass/passport for some members that allows them to use both spaces. > > You could do joint events, or offer other joint services if that is in your > mission or their mission. > > Find out more about their mission and composition and culture - do your > interests lie in a different niche, or are you thinking about having a > culture/offerings that somehow differ in a significant way? > > Maybe you even want to locate nearby and contribute to a "center" for > coworking and DIY/creative/indie culture like many places have arts, techie, > food, etc areas in a town - this would have value for any size town in my > opinion and may even garner support from government or community leader or > foundations looking to stimulate certain aspects of the city. > > Depending on the nature of the town, sometimes a different location appeals > significantly to a certain subset of the prospective population - for many > reasons outside of commute time. maybe parking, maybe culture, etc.....may > not apply to your town. > > I generally think this population is growing and the need is likely not > served entirely by the new space. Depending on what you are offering and how > you are offering, you might stimulate interest in a new group. > > Lastly, or firstly, why do you want to start a space? Does it fill an > important part of your overall life mission? Can these interests / needs be > met or satisfied in a different way? Would you be happy joining the existing > community? > > hope that helps :)))) > > > On Sun, Mar 3, 2013 at 1:20 PM, Cameron Goldsmith > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Curious how everyone feels about cities that have multiple coworking >> spots.... Do you think this is generally a good idea? I know competition is >> supposed to be good for the market, but what if the city is small?? >> >> Im asking because I'm looking to relocate soon. The city Im interested in, >> St. Louis, already has a coworking spot. Ive been looking and researching to >> open one for awhile now, but am now hesitant after finding out StL has a >> fairly large spot already. >> >> Do you think this is something that is sustainable, or do you feel like I >> would be stepping on the toes of a community catalyst by opening a new >> business doing a very similar thing? >> >> >> -- >> 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. >> >> > > > > > -- > Tricia Chirumbole > US: +1-571-232-0942 > Skype: tricia.chirumbole > > -- > 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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