I certainly pitch the "community first" angle quite often and always lead with it. It has enormous advantages because many of the difficult and elusive elements work themselves out through the process of gathering people. But it's not the only way and it's important to keep that in mind. We tried to do it, but in a lot of ways just flat out failed. We had a large group of about 50 people interested in joining Office Nomads before we signed the lease and we still ended up with an empty space on day one. In some ways the abundant enthusiasm and support gave us a false sense of security and when it came time to sign up everyone had moved on or changed their minds. We still pulled it off, but it was expensive losing money for two years. But since no one knew what coworking was (and too many still don't) it was helpful to have a tangible thing to show people as we were explaining the concept. So it can be done, but it's expensive. Make sure there is room in your business plan and always over estimate costs and under estimate ramp up. Also, keep yourself flexible by not building anything until it's needed. You'll know when something is needed usually because someone is stepping up to help you build it. That's always a good sign.
Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 11:43 AM, Glen Ferguson <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Peter, > > I'm another voice in Alex's chorus. You mentioned you're not in a > freelancing or creative occupation. Does that mean you're going to the > office (or on the road) and not able to be there build a community through > jellies or other means? That was my hurdle, and it's been a tough one to > get over. > > There's lots of reasons to get the community first. Let's say you secured > the space right now. Without input from your community to tell you what > they want in that space, you're guessing and going by what you think people > want. Odds are very high that you'll guess wrong in at least a couple > areas, and that means spending more money to make changes. Get the people > first. Get their input on where to locate and what to "decorate" with and > you'll have a much smoother start. > > I see you're in Baltimore. If you make it out to the western side of the > state, drop by Cowork Frederick anytime. I'll gladly share my stories of > showing an empty cowork space to potential members. It's not fun. > > Glen > www.coworkfrederick.com > > On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 10:03 PM, Peter Wertheimer <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> I've been following this group for several weeks now and find the >> thoughts and insights extremely valuable. >> >> I've been exploring opening a Coworking space in an under served (no >> existing coworking), yet notoriously creative and entrepreneurial >> neighborhood in my city. I have a great space in a great location lined up >> already and now I'm seeking to build a cohesive coworking community to >> utilize the great space I've found. >> >> I understand that it is best practice to establish the community before >> the physical space, but in my situation, the space I just stumbled upon is >> screaming for this kind of use. I do not currently have a freelancing or >> creative type of occupation but I am very interested in fostering a >> Coworking community in the centrally located commercial space that I've >> found. >> >> Does anyone have any tips or thoughts about establishing a community >> after locating the perfect space? I will be attending a few >> entrepreneurial Meetups in the coming weeks, and I am currently discussing >> with one of the Meetup organizers about hosting one in our space, once it's >> up and running. >> >> If anyone can share experiences I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in >> advance. >> >> -- >> 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.
