Laura, This is fantastic and really helpful, thank you!
Best, Jessica On Friday, May 20, 2016 at 5:35:59 PM UTC+1, Laura McGlynn wrote: > > 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.
