Hi Jessica, I've been running a space for four years in a town of 35k. The rules are the same regardless of population:
1. Running a Coworking space is running a business, is your model sustainable / viable? 2. Is there demand (not simply absence of), do people need this? This is answered by something you should have read a thousand times one here already: "Build the Community first". Which is also the same as find your customers first. So the rules are the same, it's how we operate within them that is the challenge for a smaller town, ie smaller client base. When thinking about what I would suggest most of it boils down to "Don't do this in isolation". Find groups and organizations in your town that you can partner with in some way. A landlord that is understanding and flexible, municipal support, professional associations (chambers etc) and community groups. At the end of the day you have to make a living and keep the lights on. I run this space, but my income comes from elsewhere. Coworking at a small scale is a very thin margin business. Be realistic, understand this, work within the resources you have and you'll build a fantastic community resource to be proud of! I'd love to help if I can, please feel free to reach out anytime if want to bounce ideas around. Cheers, Nicholas [email protected] On Friday, 20 May 2016 08:41:36 UTC-7, Jessica Knapp wrote: > > Hey all, > > I posted this is the GCUC group yesterday, so, sorry if you're seeing this > again! > > Here's my question: Does anyone have experience opening a coworking space > in smaller towns with a much smaller population than urban centres? I would > appreciate any insights, stories, tricks or tips. I'm looking at a > population of about 130,000 with one small (ish) community college. > > Thanks > Jessica > -- 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.
