Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Trevor Twining]

We've had it happen not once, but twice!

In addition to the scenario I outline in that episode, there was also a guy who 
came out to our weekly jellies. He thought the community bit wasn't important. 
Filled with impatience disguised as enthusiasm, he set out on his own. 

He opened five months before us a block down the street. That was slightly more 
than 3 years ago. 

They're still struggling with less than half occupied. 

We're now negotiating a takeover of that space in addition to where we just 
moved so that we can give those on our waiting list the community engagement 
they're looking for. 

The moral of this story is community matters. More than anything. Build the 
community first and everything else becomes a function of serving that 
community and far easier to solve. But you have to give it the time it needs to 
happen. 


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining

> On May 9, 2017, at 4:35 PM, Kevin Haggerty  wrote:
> 
> Oh I plan to be nice, and to smile, but if they try and use my trade name, 
> theyz gonna get sued. ;)
> 
>> On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 4:09 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski  
>> wrote:
>> Oh brother! and looks like my crystal ball still works :) In such a small 
>> town, you'll want to keep an olive branch firmly extended even if you have 
>> to grit your teeth a little.
>> 
>> angel
>> 
>> 
>>> On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-6, Kevin Haggerty wrote:
>>> Angel,
>>> Thanks, and good suggestion! We're actually looking to open up fundraising 
>>> in the next few days, and one of the things we're hoping to do is offer 
>>> discounted memberships for those who sign up in advance (as many of you 
>>> have done).
>>> 
>>> Additionally, I got some "fun" news this morning. Apparently, the landlords 
>>> of the place we were looking at previously are now planning to still try 
>>> and do a coworking spaced out of the property, and they plan to call it 
>>> Cowork Gloucester VA.
>>> 
>>> My plan was never to call the venue that, but it was always the brand used 
>>> to promote the movement, so they're definitely infringing and potentially 
>>> adding market confusion.
>>> 
>>> I now believe my suspicions have been confirmed and that they intended to 
>>> push me out with an outrageous offer and attempt to do it without me.
>>> 
>>> As soon as I heard the news, I went online and trademarked the name, Cowork 
>>> Gloucester VA. I also own the website, and all the social networking 
>>> accounts. Next, I plan to go down to the county and register there. So, 
>>> weird strategy on their part, but if they move forward, they may end up 
>>> funding my coworking space. :)
>>> 
>> 
>> -- 
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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

It's just so slimy. I can't imagine operating that way. Oh well. All I can do 
is operate the right way and with integrity. :)

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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

Oh I plan to be nice, and to smile, but if they try and use my trade name,
theyz gonna get sued. ;)

On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 4:09 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski 
wrote:

> Oh brother! and looks like my crystal ball still works :) In such a small
> town, you'll want to keep an olive branch firmly extended even if you have
> to grit your teeth a little.
>
> angel
>
>
> On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-6, Kevin Haggerty wrote:
>>
>> Angel,
>>
>> Thanks, and good suggestion! We're actually looking to open up
>> fundraising in the next few days, and one of the things we're hoping to do
>> is offer discounted memberships for those who sign up in advance (as many
>> of you have done).
>>
>> Additionally, I got some "fun" news this morning. Apparently, the
>> landlords of the place we were looking at previously are now planning to
>> still try and do a coworking spaced out of the property, and they plan to
>> call it Cowork Gloucester VA.
>>
>> My plan was never to call the venue that, but it was always the brand
>> used to promote the movement, so they're definitely infringing and
>> potentially adding market confusion.
>>
>> I now believe my suspicions have been confirmed and that they intended to
>> push me out with an outrageous offer and attempt to do it without me.
>>
>> As soon as I heard the news, I went online and trademarked the name,
>> Cowork Gloucester VA. I also own the website, and all the social networking
>> accounts. Next, I plan to go down to the county and register there. So,
>> weird strategy on their part, but if they move forward, they may end up
>> funding my coworking space. :)
>>
>> --
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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Alex Hillman]

>
> Apparently, the landlords of the place we were looking at previously are
> now planning to still try and do a coworking spaced out of the property,
> and they plan to call it Cowork Gloucester VA.


If I had a nickel for every time I saw this happen...I'd have a lot of
nickels.

And if I had a quarter for every time that "bully" operation shut down
within a year or two, I'd a LOT of quarters. .

Back on episode 24 of my podcast

Trevor
Twining (a regular on this list) was talking about how a landlord pulled a
similar stunt. Surprise surprise when that space went back onto the
market...

Good on you. Don't let 'em distract ya!

-Alex




--
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Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten

On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 2:26 PM, Kevin Haggerty 
wrote:

> Angel,
>
> Thanks, and good suggestion! We're actually looking to open up fundraising
> in the next few days, and one of the things we're hoping to do is offer
> discounted memberships for those who sign up in advance (as many of you
> have done).
>
> Additionally, I got some "fun" news this morning. Apparently, the
> landlords of the place we were looking at previously are now planning to
> still try and do a coworking spaced out of the property, and they plan to
> call it Cowork Gloucester VA.
>
> My plan was never to call the venue that, but it was always the brand used
> to promote the movement, so they're definitely infringing and potentially
> adding market confusion.
>
> I now believe my suspicions have been confirmed and that they intended to
> push me out with an outrageous offer and attempt to do it without me.
>
> As soon as I heard the news, I went online and trademarked the name,
> Cowork Gloucester VA. I also own the website, and all the social networking
> accounts. Next, I plan to go down to the county and register there. So,
> weird strategy on their part, but if they move forward, they may end up
> funding my coworking space. :)
>
> --
> 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>

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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Oh brother! and looks like my crystal ball still works :) In such a small 
town, you'll want to keep an olive branch firmly extended even if you have 
to grit your teeth a little.

angel

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-6, Kevin Haggerty wrote:
>
> Angel,
>
> Thanks, and good suggestion! We're actually looking to open up fundraising 
> in the next few days, and one of the things we're hoping to do is offer 
> discounted memberships for those who sign up in advance (as many of you 
> have done).
>
> Additionally, I got some "fun" news this morning. Apparently, the 
> landlords of the place we were looking at previously are now planning to 
> still try and do a coworking spaced out of the property, and they plan to 
> call it Cowork Gloucester VA.
>
> My plan was never to call the venue that, but it was always the brand used 
> to promote the movement, so they're definitely infringing and potentially 
> adding market confusion.
>
> I now believe my suspicions have been confirmed and that they intended to 
> push me out with an outrageous offer and attempt to do it without me.
>
> As soon as I heard the news, I went online and trademarked the name, 
> Cowork Gloucester VA. I also own the website, and all the social networking 
> accounts. Next, I plan to go down to the county and register there. So, 
> weird strategy on their part, but if they move forward, they may end up 
> funding my coworking space. :)
>
>

-- 
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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

Angel,

Thanks, and good suggestion! We're actually looking to open up fundraising in 
the next few days, and one of the things we're hoping to do is offer discounted 
memberships for those who sign up in advance (as many of you have done).

Additionally, I got some "fun" news this morning. Apparently, the landlords of 
the place we were looking at previously are now planning to still try and do a 
coworking spaced out of the property, and they plan to call it Cowork 
Gloucester VA.

My plan was never to call the venue that, but it was always the brand used to 
promote the movement, so they're definitely infringing and potentially adding 
market confusion.

I now believe my suspicions have been confirmed and that they intended to push 
me out with an outrageous offer and attempt to do it without me.

As soon as I heard the news, I went online and trademarked the name, Cowork 
Gloucester VA. I also own the website, and all the social networking accounts. 
Next, I plan to go down to the county and register there. So, weird strategy on 
their part, but if they move forward, they may end up funding my coworking 
space. :)

-- 
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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Kevin,
Yours is such a great story about not being tied to a physical space. I'm 
so proud of you for having the tough conversations and walking away from 
what you thought (a few short weeks ago) would be an amazing arrangement. 
Hurrah!!! A bonus next step would be to raise your damage deposit funds 
from your 20 interested people so they have a little buy-in :)

Angel

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 9:19:55 AM UTC-6, Kevin Haggerty wrote:
>
> Yesterday, we met with a potential new landlord who has the upstairs of a 
> building she is currently not using. She's leasing it out for very little 
> ($550/month + electric). It's a no-brainer, as the lease is an amount my 
> partner and I could handle ourselves if things went south, so there's very 
> little rent. We hope to sign the lease this week. Very exciting!

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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

Yesterday, we met with a potential new landlord who has the upstairs of a 
building she is currently not using. She's leasing it out for very little 
($550/month + electric). It's a no-brainer, as the lease is an amount my 
partner and I could handle ourselves if things went south, so there's very 
little rent. We hope to sign the lease this week. Very exciting!

-- 
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Re: [Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Caner Onoglu]

You may be surprised to see the landlords are ready to drop the rental
price 50% or even more. Just ask for it. Location is not everything but
quite important. Get a good carpenter and build tables and shelfs from
solid wood which you can use for many years and makes your space cool.

On May 9, 2017 00:02, "Kevin Haggerty"  wrote:

> I just wanted to write an update for those of you who have been following
> along with our progress in Gloucester, VA -- in particular to those of you
> who have helped and given valuable input along the way.
>
> If you recall, the situation has been fairly unique, in that the landlords
> (husband & wife) of the building we were looking to use were approaching
> things from a benevolent approach/perspective, and had chosen to focus on
> their desire to support the business and less about the agreement and our
> roles. Several of you (rightly) had apprehension over that, and in response
> to your advice of the advice of other mentors, I have been making firm
> efforts to nail them down on some kind of agreement over the past two
> weeks. (It hasn't been easy.)
>
> Long story as short as I can make it - the results have been
> disappointing. When I finally got them to give me some hard numbers, their
> proposal was $17.40/sq ft for the lease. To give frame of reference,
> commercial real estate in the area typically leases for anywhere from $6/sq
> ft up to $16/sq ft on the high end. So, we suddenly went from them being
> invested in the vision and wanting to help foster that to it being very cut
> and dry and them essentially making me a business offer that I'd have to be
> foolish to accept.
>
> The good news is that we got this out on the table now versus later.
>
> I did not respond to their offer right away (it was made during a meeting
> last Tuesday), as I wanted to have time to process and do research. I'm
> scheduled to meet with them this evening, where I will tell them I cannot
> accept their terms and see where the conversation goes. It's likely I'll
> need to walk away, which is totally ok, because I know it isn't about a
> building. :)
>
> Additionally, I've recently taken on a partner. She is a young lady who
> was looking to start a local small business incubator, and we both felt our
> similar interests and what we bring to the table would complement the other
> well. So, the focus has shifted a little, and the plan is now to create a
> coworking space that would also have a small business incubator built in,
> including an advisory board of mentors who are local business owners and
> entrepreneurs who have expertise and experience to share.
>
> Our group of interested coworkers continues to grow, and we're now up to
> about 20 people who have said they want in when the doors open.
>
> I also got an email from the local newspaper this morning, and they're
> looking to do an article on what we're trying to do.
>
> This afternoon, my partner and I are going to look at the upstairs of a
> local building as a possible alternative location. It's old and needs a lot
> of TLC, but the rent/lease is about 25% of what the other landlords were
> asking. The thought is that we could get our feet wet there and learn about
> running the space, and we could even just go cheap on the furniture by
> getting thrift store stuff, building certain aspects (floating wall desks),
> and just trying to operate n a shoestring budget until things take off.
>
> We've also found a local accountant who is going to help us make sure
> we're doing things by the book in that regard, and she will be on retainer
> for $150/month (which we think is pretty cheap).
>
> We're thinking about just going ahead and launching presales and doing
> some crowdfunding to help with upfront costs, but our fear is that people
> won't buy into that without a building/location. I'd love to hear from any
> of you who have been successful in similar circumstances.
>
> As always, I appreciate all feedback and support.
>
> More to come.
>
> ~Kevin
>
> --
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[Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

I just wanted to write an update for those of you who have been following along 
with our progress in Gloucester, VA -- in particular to those of you who have 
helped and given valuable input along the way.

If you recall, the situation has been fairly unique, in that the landlords 
(husband & wife) of the building we were looking to use were approaching things 
from a benevolent approach/perspective, and had chosen to focus on their desire 
to support the business and less about the agreement and our roles. Several of 
you (rightly) had apprehension over that, and in response to your advice of the 
advice of other mentors, I have been making firm efforts to nail them down on 
some kind of agreement over the past two weeks. (It hasn't been easy.)

Long story as short as I can make it - the results have been disappointing. 
When I finally got them to give me some hard numbers, their proposal was 
$17.40/sq ft for the lease. To give frame of reference, commercial real estate 
in the area typically leases for anywhere from $6/sq ft up to $16/sq ft on the 
high end. So, we suddenly went from them being invested in the vision and 
wanting to help foster that to it being very cut and dry and them essentially 
making me a business offer that I'd have to be foolish to accept.

The good news is that we got this out on the table now versus later.

I did not respond to their offer right away (it was made during a meeting last 
Tuesday), as I wanted to have time to process and do research. I'm scheduled to 
meet with them this evening, where I will tell them I cannot accept their terms 
and see where the conversation goes. It's likely I'll need to walk away, which 
is totally ok, because I know it isn't about a building. :)

Additionally, I've recently taken on a partner. She is a young lady who was 
looking to start a local small business incubator, and we both felt our similar 
interests and what we bring to the table would complement the other well. So, 
the focus has shifted a little, and the plan is now to create a coworking space 
that would also have a small business incubator built in, including an advisory 
board of mentors who are local business owners and entrepreneurs who have 
expertise and experience to share.

Our group of interested coworkers continues to grow, and we're now up to about 
20 people who have said they want in when the doors open.

I also got an email from the local newspaper this morning, and they're looking 
to do an article on what we're trying to do.

This afternoon, my partner and I are going to look at the upstairs of a local 
building as a possible alternative location. It's old and needs a lot of TLC, 
but the rent/lease is about 25% of what the other landlords were asking. The 
thought is that we could get our feet wet there and learn about running the 
space, and we could even just go cheap on the furniture by getting thrift store 
stuff, building certain aspects (floating wall desks), and just trying to 
operate n a shoestring budget until things take off.

We've also found a local accountant who is going to help us make sure we're 
doing things by the book in that regard, and she will be on retainer for 
$150/month (which we think is pretty cheap).

We're thinking about just going ahead and launching presales and doing some 
crowdfunding to help with upfront costs, but our fear is that people won't buy 
into that without a building/location. I'd love to hear from any of you who 
have been successful in similar circumstances.

As always, I appreciate all feedback and support.

More to come.

~Kevin

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[Coworking] Update on Coworking in Gloucester, VA

[Kevin Haggerty]

So, in advance, this is going to be long. If you TLDR; this, I will understand. 
That said, I know there are many in this group who love coworking as a whole, 
enjoy cultivating it globally, and care enough to hear the stories and give the 
advice. 

So here goes.

If you've been keeping up with me, you know that I felt the call a little over 
a month ago to begin the very first coworking space in Gloucester, Virginia. 
Gloucester is a tiny town of 30,000 people, located between Williamsburg and 
Virginia Beach. We're growing, and the dynamic and culture are shifting and 
moving in a very cool direction. I've always loved Gloucester, but it has been 
a town for older folks, most of whom are very blue-collared, who work in 
industrial and labor specific jobs. The young people have traditionally either 
gone to college and moved away, moved somewhere else for jobs, or stayed here 
and followed in the family business footsteps. Tech jobs and entrepreneurship 
did not have a place here 10 years ago. But that is changing and doing so 
rapidly.

It started for me the way it started for many of you. I worked for myself and 
needed a better place to get stuff done. And though I'm pretty introverted, I 
did miss opportunities to share and collaborate. At that point, I was 
completely unaware of what coworking even was. (I live in Gloucester, remember? 
:) ) So, I started Googling for solutions, and that's when I found it. I feel 
like my life will never be the same. I Googled more. I found this group and 
voraciously read as many posts as I could. I read entire books. I watched hours 
of YouTube videos. (I believe I've seen almost every video on YouTube that has 
anything to do with Coworking, and I'm not kidding at all.) I've read/studied 
business plans, had conversations with other space owners, and tried to learn 
as much in a little amount of time as possible.

I focused on finding "my people," heeding the wisdom of Alex and the many 
others who said the same. I started a FB group for local entrepreneurs. I 
started having regular conversations and meetings with local business owners 
and people who work for themselves. After a couple of weeks, it became clear 
that there was a need for a coworking space in this community, and that it 
appeared it would be well received.

So, I created a second FB page -- this time one just for the coworking 
idea/space. Not all in the entrepreneurs group were interested in or needed a 
coworking space, so I wanted to go further and isolate on the target market I 
wanted without cluttering a channel for those who did not want/need it. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by some long-time friends of mine who 
had recently purchased a building on Main Street in the heart of our County's 
downtown area. They purchased it in November and had kind of been in a quandary 
over how to use it. They had seen my posts on FB and were interested in the 
idea. After a few days of talking/thinking it over, we were sold on working 
together, and they decided they wanted to let me use the first floor of their 
two-story building for coworking.

They have committed to doing all of the furnishing and upfitting, based on my 
recommendations. They are going to be leasing the second story out to tenants 
who need office space, and that will operate separately from the first-floor 
coworking space. With that said, they have also said that they are only going 
to allow one-year, max leases for upstairs because they want to leave the 
possibility open for the coworking space to blow up and end up needing to take 
over the second story as well. This would be great because it would give us a 
chance to grow, get our feet wet, and then in a year, we can offer private 
offices too, plus another large room for more coworking. But that, of course, 
depends on us doing a good job and the community rallying around this.

The space is currently being renovated, and the plan is that when we get it 
looking fit enough for viewing (finish up painting, get all the walls patched 
and presentable, etc), we will host a meet and greet/walkthrough for the 
community. We will promote it on our website, FB, our email list, and also 
through the local newspaper and radio (I have connections at both media 
resources and get this advertising for free). 

I've recently reached out to the ones who have expressed the most serious 
interest in the space (my email list -- 13 of them to be exact) and have asked 
them for their input on several items -- most important of those being the name 
of the space and the pricing of the membership tiers.

So far, "The Hive" has been the overwhelming favorite. I know. There are a ton 
of coworking spaces with that name. I've heard you guys loud and clear on that. 
However, I have not pushed for it. The community wants it. Beehives have a very 
specific significance in this area, and I'm not even sure I could talk them out 
of it at this point. I know I can call it whatever I want, but