Howdy friends! The 100 square foot model is used as a general rule of thumb when planning what are typically much larger projects. Whenever I've looked at a space, I've just used good old measurements and pen and paper to come up with my own numbers :-)
When it comes to a smaller space, it's really a matter of what success looks like to you. A space of that size, for instance, is unlikely to generate enough revenue to pay any salaries, or generate profits of any consequence at all. Does that mean it can't be successful? Heck no! So long as you go in with the right expectations. Running a small space may mean low profits, but it also means minimal overhead. If you have other ways of making a living, this can be a nice way to reduce your office rent! Mark, for instance, runs a design agency. This is what I've found to be the very best model for small coworking communities, because both businesses support each other and defray some risk. There are lots of agency + coworking spaces that have been running sustainably for many years, perhaps most notably the Cowo Project in Italy where over 100 agencies are all linked together using a coworking model. In addition to the numbers, of course, creating a diverse environment of nice people offers all sorts of benefits. What does success look like to you? Tony On Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 2:32 PM, Mark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Kyle, > > Wow - I'm just looking at starting a space and I'm inspired to hear that > you've done it with 600 sq ft! > > I have no idea how much space I'd need (I'm still in community > building/research mode) but the research I've looked at suggests you need > 100 sq ft per person which included toilets/corridors/kitchens/receptions > etc. - on that basis though the "hypothetical" amount of people you could > have would be 6 which frankly, is ridiculous! > > I currently run a small design agency out of space that's exactly 620 sq > ft (which includes 150 sq ft meeting room) and I'm sure I could easily fit > more than 6 people in it. If you swapped out the meeting room for smaller, > quieter phone booth type spaces where people could take calls then I would > think we could easily fit desks that could accommodate at least 12 people > and that would be desks alone - presumably some people would be happy to > work at a counter height standing or bar stool type surface which would > definitely be more efficient in terms of space usage. > > I'd also be really interested to hear other peoples' views about smaller > spaces and the different techniques they use to make them work. > > hope that's helpful in some small way! > > All the best > > Mark > > > > On Sunday, 15 October 2017 15:09:59 UTC+1, Kyle Thibaut wrote: >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> We have about 600 sqft of open space in our coworking space. Is there >> anyone else out there with a small space like ours? >> >> >> - What have you learned to make it work well? >> - Is it too small such that voices carry over and disturb others? >> - Have you made any creative solutions to help out with having a >> small space? >> - Bonus: What sqft per person-desk is needed and how many members per >> desk is normal? In this case, what would critical mass look like? >> >> Thanks, >> Kyle >> >> -- > 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. > -- 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.
