Finally finished the final post <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2018/02/rip-locusmuzeum-part-iiioptimism.html> in a long promised three part series about closing a branch of my coworking space.
It's about the *optimism *that can come from scaling down, about overcoming the entrepreneur's central challenge of transitioning from "working for your company to working on your company" (from *maintaining *your business *to developing *it), about the role of external context in work success, and a tribute to my father (who was a pioneer in leadership studies and who passed away in 2014). Would love to hear others' thoughts, as I think it has a lot to do with common challenges we all face, and not much to do with my particular coworking space! On Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at 6:10:23 PM UTC+2, Alex Hillman wrote: > > Thanks for sharing this, Will. Part two, about relief > <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2017/07/rip-locus-muzeum-part-ii-relief.html>, > was > especially resonant for me! > > Seems bittersweet - excited to read part three about optimism :) > > > ------------------ > *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 Sun, Jul 30, 2017 at 7:54 AM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace < > [email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Just adding to this thread to announce another coworking space closing >> (Locus Workspace's first location in Prague, Czech Republic). We're not out >> of business, just consolidating from two to one space. And ultimately it >> was a great thing. But it was our first location and really a difficult >> choice to make. Anyway, here's a blog post about the sadness that came >> with closing the space >> <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2017/07/rip-locus-muzeum-part-i-sadness.html>. >> >> Running that space was a really important part of my life, and much of it >> would not have been possible without the inspiration, ideas, and general >> good will that came from this group. >> >> Best, >> Will >> >> >> On Monday, February 9, 2015 at 8:32:37 AM UTC+1, OphelieR wrote: >>> >>> Thanks Andy for sharing these data. In our coworking the trend is a bit >>> different. >>> >>> The average churn rate is 5% on all our memberships except the full time >>> coworking (different from resident/dedicated desk) which has a churn rate >>> of 8%. We don't have data around the main reason for living, it's something >>> we're putting in place at the moment but basically if someone cancel from >>> full time coworking it doesn't necessarily mean they will upgrade to >>> resident desk or downgrade to part time. >>> >>> Moreover, the number of full time coworker is much lower compare to our >>> resident members or part time coworkers. I was discussing this with another >>> coworking space owner at the GCUC in Bali last week and they had a similar >>> issues. >>> >>> Is it something other coworking spaces are experiencing with full time >>> coworker ? Does anyone have any explanation for this ? >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 10:14:37 AM UTC+8, Alex Hillman >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> I'm sure I'm not the only person on this group who has google alerts >>>> set up for the words "coworking" and, sigh, "co-working". >>>> >>>> Between the number of new space announcements that show up in those >>>> alerts, Deskmag's reporting on coworking growth trends, and many amazing >>>> success stories that we've all been privy to seeing unfold, there's no >>>> doubt in any of our minds that coworking isn't disappearing any time soon. >>>> >>>> But speckled in the success stories are sadder ones. Coworking spaces >>>> who struggled and failed. >>>> >>>> Another one hit my Google Reader tonight, in St Louis. Hence this email >>>> and this project being spurred right now. >>>> >>>> On one hand, the *business of coworking *is susceptible to all of the >>>> rules of starting a new business - there's going to be a failure rate. Not >>>> every business is meant to be. The rate at which I hear about closings is >>>> increasing, but it's hard to tell if it's growing in or out of proportion >>>> of openings. >>>> >>>> Between coworking spaces that struggle to keep the lights on and >>>> coworking spaces that have closed (for good or bad reasons), there's >>>> patterns in closures that I personally find very interesting, far more >>>> interesting in "new hotness variations" on the coworking models. >>>> >>>> The pattern-watcher that I am, I see *some *things, but I need more >>>> information to start building a hypothesis that can be proven or disproven. >>>> >>>> I can't do this alone. If you've started and closed a coworking space, >>>> been a member of a coworking space that struggled and failed, or are >>>> simply >>>> a passionate observer who saw an unfortunate closing, please take a few >>>> minutes to help fill out this survey: >>>> >>>> https://indyhall.wufoo.com/forms/coworking-space-closings/ >>>> >>>> This information is personal and potentially sensitive. I don't expect >>>> all of the replies to include names or all of the details. Many people on >>>> this list have shared their personal stories before, and we should all be >>>> thankful for that. >>>> >>>> The best solution I could come up with is to choose how anonymous you >>>> would like to be. >>>> >>>> *1) The name and email address fields are optional and will ONLY be >>>> used to reconnect with the submitter for more information.* >>>> *2) The final required question asks for your consent to share the data >>>> you enter, beside the optional name/email fields which are anonymous by >>>> default. In case you have an alternate preference, you can specify it in >>>> "other".* >>>> >>>> There's researchers on the list, so if there's other fields that you >>>> think I should include (or better ways to collect the same data), I'm all >>>> ears. >>>> >>>> *Even if you're not aware of closings you can share about, I need help >>>> getting the word out about this project. *I'm hoping for some >>>> assistance from Steve King & Team Deskmag since I know this stuff is >>>> already on their radar. If there's anyone else already studying this (all >>>> of the quiet grad students on this list, I'm looking at you), I'd love to >>>> share work reciprocally. >>>> >>>> My goal is to organize this information and share some hypothesis that >>>> we all study together and share back again, overall helping the ecosystem >>>> not just learn from successes but also avoid repeating historic failure >>>> patterns. >>>> >>>> My hope is to be buried under a mountain of responses and have to >>>> recruit some of you to help me dig myself out :) >>>> >>>> Thanks y'all. >>>> >>>> -Alex >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> /ah >>>> indyhall.org >>>> coworking in philadelphia >>>> build amazing communities: masterclass.indyhall.org >>>> >>>> -- >> 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] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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