More and more people do not endure the costs of their own space in a start up – here are 6 good reasons why you would do well to think of co-working.
In the very early days of your company, it might make sense to call your garage (or basement or kitchen table) headquarters. But at a certain point, it doesn’t suffice. There are only so many times you can bring clients to the same Starbucks for a meeting. And even the most passionate entrepreneur is bound to see productivity wane when spouses, kids, dogs, or all of the above inevitably hover near your workspace.
This is precisely why coworking spaces were invented—and why they’re increasingly popping up in more cities.
While coworking spaces aren’t new, what they offer to bootstrapped tech start-ups for the price keeps getting better. CoCo, for example, is a 16,000-square-foot, sunlit space that makes use of the architecturally-interesting and historic trading floor once used by the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Membership starts around $50 a month.
Now instead of traders yelling bids and waving arms around, the place is serene—khaki or jeans-clad entrepreneurs working quietly at their laptops while Pandora plays softly in the background. There’s a concierge who makes sure coffee and pastries are well-stocked and will order you lunch and introduce new members to others.
And the people working there look weirdly content. Some are wearing headphones, which, I learned, is code for “I’m head-down at the moment.” Others are chatting quietly with a neighbor. No one has that glazed-over I’m-bored-to-death look you sometimes see in regular workplaces. If you’re starting to think you might need a change of scenery, consider the advantages of coworking:
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