Big +1 to everything Jamie said here.
------------------ *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 4:40 PM, Jamie Russo <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Elizabeth, there was a similar discussion in the GCUC group on FB today > - I'm pasting my reply: > > It sounds like you're looking for data vs. examples of spaces. The current > GWA Industry Financial survey (see separate post on the survey), includes a > question that asks if your space is "niche" or "generic." We will cut this > data by revenue and profit per square foot and do some other number > crunching to see if this seems to have an impact. My hope is that we have a > large enough sample size to make this determination. Please encourage folks > to fill out the survey! > > My personal opinion (not fact :-)) is that as spaces proliferate, it will > be harder to stand out and having a story and a focus will help to attract > members. I do not think *just* being a niche space is the answer though - > you have to have all of the other pieces right as well - the right > product/service mix, the right location, the right staff, etc. But at some > point, people will be trying to make sense of the noise and a niche > positioning will help. > > I caution you to do ALL the homework on the childcare topic - that is a > really tough nut to crack in terms of regulations. A lot of spaces have > tried to do this and have not been successful because of the regulations. > > And make sure the coworking model works outside of it being focused on a > specific audience. There's a new space just announced in San Francisco for > women...it's 4,000 square feet and can hold 50 members at any given time. > In my experience, a 4,000 square foot space is about the smallest you can > go and still pay for someone to manage it..and it's not big enough to pay > your rent if you manage it without another job :-). And if you don't have > private offices (the SF space is in a house so I'm guessing it does not), > you're taking a pretty big bet on recruiting all open space members. Make > sure you do some really good market research on what your members need in > terms of meeting room/phone booth space and make sure they can actually do > their work in the space. No matter how much they want to be a part of a > tribe, they need to be able to run their business in the space you provide. > > On Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 1:18:31 PM UTC-7, Elizabeth Jackson wrote: >> >> Hello All, >> >> >> I started the ground work to introduce a women-focused coworking space in >> Prince George's County in Maryland; a suburb of Washington, DC. I have >> pitched the coworking space to investors and county development officials >> as I have gone far enough with my own funding and crowdfunding campaigns >> and have secured a two-story building, insurance, and furniture on my own >> :-). Although I have done this on my own; I have encountered a lot of >> hesitation about this concept due to the fact that it is a women-centric >> space. The goal is not to exclude men because we need men too, but to focus >> on the unique needs of women led business (we will offer childcare on the >> 1st floor and video/podcasting suites just to name a few non-traditional >> amenities). I am often told to be "broader" but, I have done my research >> and women entrepreneurs in this county lead the charge in opening new >> businesses. Also, there are so many other coworking spaces that skew >> towards male founders in the DC metro area and women often share that these >> spaces really don't fit their needs, and a little balance would be awesome. >> So far I have over 300 (more joining each day) women interested in joining >> a coworking space for women (we will open up membership pre-sales in July) >> from my meetup group and I intend to have building renovations completed on >> the building by Fall of 2017. My intuition is telling me YES!!! but, I >> would like to have data to validate it can be successful to those who don't >> believe that a women-led and focused coworking space can be successful. >> >> >> Here are some examples of successful coworking spaces for women that are >> similar to the one I am opening: >> >> Open For Business <http://www.openforbusiness.space> >> >> Behind the Grind <http://www.behindthegrindwcp.com> >> >> COTERIE <http://www.coteriecompany.com> >> >> HeraHub DC <https://herahub.com/dc/> >> >> >> Here are the questions I have for the group: >> >> >> Are there any metrics available that can show whether this model is >> successful or not? >> >> What are some of the biggest challenges to that you had to overcome? >> >> >> Best, >> >> Liz >> >> >> (Please excuse any typos) >> >> >> -- > 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. > -- 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. 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