This rules. Also a perfect lesson in using basic economics to incentivize the preferred outcomes.
I actually have thought about charging MORE for teams than individuals as they grow, rather than bulk discounts. But I love this solution and the outcome. Well done. Alex On Nov 6, 2018, 8:42 PM -0500, Carl Sullivan <[email protected]>, wrote: > This is all great stuff and a good launch point to form an action list to > implement over the next 12 months. > > One point that I have already taken action on is our community has always > been designed for creative businesses and most of our (Companies who are) > members identify as a Social / Design / Web / SEO / Architectural / Graphic > Design / Literacy / PR... Agency. But we fell into the trap of charging more > (read Sydney market prices) because we could, not because it was the best > thing for the teams. > > The learning here is that we value the diversity our small 1-4 person > companies brought to the community, but incentivised larger companies through > cheaper desks (because they bought more), the old pricing structure was: > > 1-3 Desks... $750 a month > 4-8 Desks... $700 a month > 9+ Desks... $650 a month > > But we have now just changed it to a flat $650 per desk per month regardless > of numbers, and surprisingly (or not) 6 of our smaller companies instantly > committed to taking additional desks, which is going to completely replace a > company of 10 that are due to move out at the start of December. > > @Angel your article was great, thanks for writing it and linking to it. > > @Alex your points on what is the actual value to members was the final prompt > for me to change the pricing up for our members, and now the challenge is to > reconnect with the community to identify other ways to bring them value and > actively support them in leaner times > > - Carl, Your Desk > > > On Friday, November 2, 2018 at 10:01:34 PM UTC+11, Jeannine van der Linden > wrote: > > Oh yes, so much this. > > > > I find it sort of humorous that we are now talking about whether coworking > > can survive a recession, there are serious articles from back then (and it > > wasn't that long ago) about whether coworking was really just a > > manifestation of recession and whether it would go away as soon as the > > economy took an upturn. > > > > To which I sad then as I say now, come back in ten years, we'll see then > > who's still standing. > > > > On Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 4:22:10 PM UTC+1, Angel Kwiatkowski wrote: > > > Jeanine, > > > I remember this woman who was familiar with Cohere but was working in a > > > regular job in the next town. She showed up on our doorstep one day after > > > lunch and proclaimed, "I just got laid off. I didn't want to go home so I > > > came here instead." > > > > > > A > > > > > > On Wednesday, October 31, 2018 at 3:37:30 AM UTC-6, Jeannine van der > > > Linden wrote: > > > > This right here. > > > > > > > > I opened my first space just as the last recession was hitting -- > > > > though it was a slower, shallower curve here in Europe, the sudden > > > > shift to mandatory entrepreneurship came in like a bomb. Suddenly > > > > people were being confronted with doing the same job they always had > > > > done as an employee, as a freelancer. They were nervous and worried and > > > > not at all sure they were up for this Brave New World. > > > > > > > > I intentionally made that space homey and personal and intimate. A > > > > shiny, corporate environment was exactly what they did not want. We > > > > had a guy from the tax office come in and give lessons on how to keep > > > > books and records as a freelancer, we had intentional freelancers come > > > > in and talk about what it's like to freelance, we had folks come in and > > > > talk about how to manage your retirement now you are a freelancer. > > > > > > > > We are now two cycles away from that and have changed a lot of things > > > > since then. I sort of miss it sometimes, though I am glad those folks > > > > are settled now mostly. > > > > > > > > Tip for Coworking in a recession: keep your costs low and your powder > > > > dry. :-) > > > > > > > > On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 6:09:25 PM UTC+1, Alex Hillman wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 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. > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > 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.
