Hi Anakowi, Woah! You've really been through it! I ran a large coworking space for 3 years and have a decent amount of experience with managing a large and fluid community and all the ups and downs that go along with it (I posted this question so I could get some info from coworking managers in smaller, low-density areas.) If you want to chat at all, or vent or get some advice, then please feel free to email me - [email protected]
Best of luck and I hope the responses below helped you! Jessica On Friday, May 27, 2016 at 4:12:07 AM UTC+1, Anakowi Paul wrote: > > Hi Jessica, > > I have "experience" having done exactly that but I'm not sure I can give > you ANY good advice. I've really hit the wall this week and questioning my > level of naivety in this venture. > > I apologise if this post comes across as a whinge but I'm struggling to > understand where I've gone wrong. > > My space is comfortable in a roomy and well appointed sense but TINY when > it comes to catering for a viable revolving door community of workers. We > have a max. 8 fixed desks plus we can accommodate another 8 in the > group-table, coffee-table lounge areas. Town population probably 3-4k > people, high unemployment but a lot of early-adopters of innovation. It is > not your typical office space being an old renovated hall. The space > includes a residential apartment... so the lounge area has a large > home-office ambience – an atmosphere that will suit some but not others. > > We've been operating for a little over six months now... and haven't grown > much. I've needed to adapt my ideas and tighten up the rules a bit (not > easy with those who've joined early) – but so necessary. Maybe this is the > hardest part when you don't have a stream of people lining up for a desk... > because it's the people who set and shape the culture of the community. > > Regional populations in Australia are very small - so marketing is not > easy. However I saw a need (not necessarily a demand) for affordable and > social working options. While I've been prepared to operate at a loss for > 12 months, with the idea of pricing products very competitively and > attractively, I hadn't factored in the heavy lifting involved in site > maintenance. Rules around "cleaning up after yourself" don't relieve me of > the janitor role. > > Pricing correctly (and sticking to it) is proving to be an issue. In > particular because I have a group of people from a single organisation who > are dominating – in the sense of "owning" the space, and over time becoming > less mindful of others (solo workers). They have asked for and I have given > the group concessions on their argument that they deserve discount for > volume. That was the beginning of more demands and I'm beginning to feel > quite manipulated. They now want 24/7 access without an increased rate > adding that they would probably look for their own office space. I > responded simply with the obvious – it's a coworking space, there is no > "lease", people come and go as needed. > > Two days later I was greeted with a bunch of flowers! and an offer to take > over the whole space. I said I would think it over. > > The feeling of manipulation is clouding my ability to think strategically. > Yes, I am taking it personally. It confronts my original vision. I'm > leaning towards a decision to increase my monthly rate (to better cover > maintenance) and to revoke the "discount" with the suggestion they find > their own office. I will take the punt that other coworkers will > materialise. Do I stick to my vision or do I acquiesce? > > I realise that part of my problem stems from starting out "soft". I didn't > develop and deliver the Terms and Conditions from the outset. Don't make > that mistake. And I wasn't clear in myself about the nature of offering a > coworking facility. Do customers have a right to expect coworking to be a > fully serviced option where they don't have to worry about taking out the > garbage? > > I would really appreciate a no-punches-pulled reality check from more > experienced coworking vendors. > -- 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.
