Great truth Elliott! Community first and don't be alarmed when a new one pops up. Each "village" will care for it's own. In Ontario, we actually help and care for each other.
Chad Chad Ballantyne 705.812.0689 [email protected] Barrie's Coworking Community Perfect for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. 12 Dunlop St E, Barrie Ontario, L4M 1A3 Memberships start at $25/mth www.thecreativespace.ca 705-812-0689 On 2013-03-06, at 9:30 AM, elliott williams wrote: > 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. > 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.
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