What is a Co-working Space?

Co-working is a new trend in the workplace which is an innovative alternative to traditional office spaces. Co-working is a style of work that involves shared work environment. Unlike a typical commercial office which has a single client, Co-working office has multiple clients operating from the same real estate space. Co-working spaces offer a host of amenities ranging from free Wi-Fi and coffee to weekly seminars with high-profile guest speakers and shared staff members.

Benefits of Co-working Space

1. Lower Real Estate Cost – If you have to rent out your own office space, you have to pay for deposits, which is usually 10 months rent, maintenance expenses, admin staffs salaries, housekeeping contractors etc. Additionally, you have to invest in time and resources in managing your own space and do firefighting if anything goes wrong. By opting a co-working space, you cut down your expenses and resources involved in administration by up to 25% and focus primarily on running your business.
2. Flexibility – Leasing a traditional office space not only involves huge upfront cost but also commitment of at least 3 years to the property. Whether you are utilising a portion of your office space or full space you have to pay the entire rent irrespective of your usage. However, co-working spaces involve shorter lease, as low as 3 months. It offers you the opportunity to scale up or scale down your real estate requirement based on your business growth.
3. Excellent Infrastructure & Work Environment – If you are a freelancer or a small business enterprise, chances of you working from a Grade A office space is negligible. You almost always operate out of a shady Grade B or C building. We all aspire to work from office spaces that resemble Google or Facebook campus. Co-working spaces (not all), usually have premium interiors, play zones and common open sitting areas that are similar to those present in Grade A office building or campuses. Not to forget free coffee that comes with such beautiful space!
4. Collaboration – Co-working attracts people from a wide variety of fields. You get to share office space with architects, designers, software developers, lawyers, accountants, hr consulting firms and content writers. This presents an excellent opportunity to not only network with such talents but also collaborate with them on different business opportunities.
5. Access to Ecosystem – This is unique to co-working spaces. Co-working space is all about community and ecosystem that it creates. You can offer your services to others in your co-working space or see others services for your requirements. Need a designer? Looking for a HR consultant to manage your payroll and recruitment? Valuable expertise is just a few seats away in a co-working space.

Conclusion

I believe that best value offered by Co-Working spaces is not the low-cost flexible real estate space but the ecosystem to collaborate and communicate with each other. Getting your neighbours to discuss your business idea over a cup of coffee makes co-working space so much fun!