So glad you posted this, Jessica! I've been looking to connect with other small/suburban/niche spaces, as well.
We are 1 year in, located in South Florida which is a really spread out area without much urban concentration outside of Ft. Lauderdale or Miami (45 mins to 1.5 hour away). We are on a historic main street of a small town (20k) 15-20 mins outside a small city (100k). We have about 3,400 square feet indoors (which includes a small commercial kitchen) and 30 members. We have a pretty tight creative niche for our membership, which adds more of a challenge sales-wise but helps us build a really strong, collaborative community. My tips are pretty similar: - We focus on community. My community managers (3 part timers) and I all take time to get to know each of our members personally and in depth, and without a huge member base we are able to really able focus on their individual needs. There was a question in the FB group about "how do you get them to leave their big house/home office to come to yours", and my answer is by building an irresistible community. Our members don't come in because of the quality of desk and chair; they come in to see friendly faces, make connections, and vent/be inspired/get ideas/feel less alone with their challenges and successes. - We also have function as a hybrid coworking space and community center/venue, and supplement our income by renting out space out for private events. There is a big need in our town for this type of space; it's also a big member benefit (reduced/at cost rates). Having to maintain a flexible space adds challenges, though. - In our first year, we hosted a LOT of events to promote our space and get our name out there. We're starting to pull back on this a bit because we feel it's done the work we needed it to, and it's exhausting, but we'll still host the most targeted and beneficial ones. - Expect to spend a lot of time educating people on what coworking is and how it benefits them. We have a street level location with foot traffic, an open door and someone always available to answer questions and give tours - I think it's a major factor. - We didn't have a lot of luck getting help from the local government or economic boards. If you can do this, it would be a huge help. - If I had a do-over, I wish we had a little more space to be able to add larger office suites with multiple employees, and/or partner with a retail type business to bring in traffic and share costs. About 1,000 more feet would do it. -- 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/d/optout.
