This is a super interesting thread - I agree with *lots* of the advice/perspective in Angel's article (and not just the stuff attributed to me lol).
An important thing I wanted to expand on a bit: People who cancel for the reason "I'm not using it enough" is probably among the most common reasons (behind people changing jobs and/or moving). But I've learned to read this as *"I don't see value in staying a part of this community now that I don't need a desk"* which is only a short hop to either *"I haven't really connected with anyone here"* or *"I'm not aware of the other ways to get value besides using a desk" *and in both cases I consider that a failure of communication on OUR part. We I can look at their profile for our online community and see that they never created an account, or never intro'd themselves. We can go back to their tour notes and get a sense that they came in with an expectation of "I can rent a desk here" and we didn't do a good job of showing them how they could participate in other ways. There isn't a correct way or pace for people to discover their place in a community, but we DO look at *early* indicators that they weren't actively seeking a sense of belonging. And that's okay! Lots of people aren't, at least not actively. But quite often, people just aren't actively aware of the options that already exist (like a membership option that lets them downgrade instead of cancel) or that they have the agency to create something that they want, but doesn't exist. They haven't asked for it, and we haven't done a good job of showing them that it's possible. Another thing is that when we opened (at the beginning of the last recession) we had an INFLUX of people who were "newly independent" - some by choice, many by force. They weren't looking for an office, they were *looking for people* who were already independent and they might be able to learn from. That was literally the foundation of our first wave of growth. In our next economic downturn, I expect we're going to see something similar except that a decade later the physical and social infrastructure to support a newly minted independent is WAY better. I think this will likely be a good thing for coworking spaces, with a caveat that people see and feel a sense of connection to the other members. If not, the coworking space is simply a cost that can be removed/reduced. And I think *that's* going to hurt a lot of spaces, especially the larger ones. All of this is to say: people join coworking spaces for lots of reasons, but the reasons they *stay* are fairly consistent, and that's the relationships. I can tie retention patterns *directly* to active and passive relationship building, and the interactions that our members have with each other. -Alex ------------------ *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 Tue, Oct 30, 2018 at 12:37 PM Angel Kwiatkowski <fccowork...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks Tracy! If a recession comes, I'll be SO curious to see how it > affects coworking esp. if there is a major difference in chain vs. indie > coworking. > > Angel > > On Friday, October 26, 2018 at 4:25:59 PM UTC-6, Tracy Wilson wrote: >> >> Angel - This is great. I hope that operators keep this in a handy spot >> to pull out when (assuming) the next economic downturn comes. As someone >> that opened centers in both 2008 and 2009 - when I thought things were >> tough but had no idea what misery was to come - I would say a lot of this >> is 'right on.' There is no substitution for the creativity and flexibility >> required to keep things going during those times - and your piece will be a >> good framework for those people needing some fresh ideas for looking at >> their operation. Probably the hardest thing was finding the balance >> between holding to optimism and making the really tough decisions, and >> having the faith to know when each was the required course. And, that no >> matter what, I'd survive. >> >> On Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 1:34:13 PM UTC-7, Angel Kwiatkowski >> wrote: >>> >>> I *just* wrote an article on Recession-Proofing your Coworking Business >>> >>> https://www.diycoworking.com/blog/2018/10/24/how-to-recession-proof-your-coworking-business >>> >>> Angel >>> >>> On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 5:04:27 PM UTC-6, Carl Sullivan wrote: >>>> >>>> Hey Guys, >>>> >>>> I have seen with increasing regularity, news articles are not being >>>> written daily about the "impending market crash/correction" both in >>>> Australia, in Asia, across Europe and in the US. >>>> >>>> I founded Your Desk in 2011, three years after the GFC hit the world, >>>> but unlike almost every other country, Australia never saw any real >>>> negative effects from that time in history. So it would be fair to say that >>>> while I started coworking in the aftermath of one of the (only) market >>>> crashes I have experienced in my adult life I know there were many others >>>> that successfully navigated that market correction. >>>> >>>> So when the next negative cycle hits the world's economies (and with >>>> Australia poised to be hit harder than almost any other country) I am >>>> curious about how others successfully navigated or pivoted to keep the >>>> business going and support their members? >>>> >>>> The areas I am currently looking at being stronger in are: >>>> >>>> *Community:* >>>> Our community is great, but not well supported right now, with our >>>> approach to date to simply leave them be to do their work. I am looking at >>>> rolling out an internal referral program as both a cheap way to source new >>>> members and as a jump start on those members already having at least one >>>> meaningful connection with another member in our space. >>>> >>>> *Message:* >>>> As we grow and as other coworking spaces set up (weekly) we are going >>>> back to the basics of "what do we stand for". As a suggestion from Alex >>>> from Indy Hall, I will start to do Town Hall meetings with the members to >>>> allow them additional opportunities to voice concerns, observations and >>>> suggestions on how we can improve our ecosystem to best suit them >>>> >>>> *Operations: * >>>> We already have a lean team, and while I will be hiring some (sorely >>>> needed) additions from February 2019, we will purposefully keep our team >>>> small and agile. >>>> >>>> *Finance Operations:* >>>> An initiative by my brother Oliver, we will continue to review every >>>> transaction monthly and ask ourselves if we can reduce the cost here while >>>> maintaining our service, feedback from the Town Hall Meetings will also >>>> help inform this process >>>> >>>> *Business Intelligence:* >>>> I work with a business coach, who monthly comes into our space, review >>>> our finance, operations, team and culture, and asks the hard questions that >>>> we as a team have not yet considered. This process has already allowed us >>>> to grow our profit from 6% to 30% in 1 year, while at the same time growing >>>> member satisfaction (measured through the NPS survey) from bad (NPS of -36) >>>> to great (NPS of 53) >>>> >>>> >>>> What I am most interested in is understanding what other spaces >>>> experienced with member churn, specific way that churns happened and if in >>>> hindsight there was a way that you could have supported that member more to >>>> stay in your community. >>>> >>>> Also any other tips, tricks or observations would be welcomed. >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> Carl >>>> Your Desk >>>> >>> -- > 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > 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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