For opening and operating a Coworking space it is best to make sure all the steps are in sequence. In our e-book, The Five Essentials to Opening a Coworking Space, we broke down the steps into several categories that are all interconnected for ensuring your success.
Three of these steps include the feasibility of opening a Coworking space, early measures for marketing success, and finding the intangibles to make your space standout.
Every coworking space needs management software that helps to control everything ultimately improving productivity like that of WUN’s Software.
Here are some of the things you should look out for when opening a new space.
Feasibility
The first and most important hurdle to overcome is figuring out your area and their need for a Coworking space. It’s important that your space fits in with the demands of the market. The best step for going forward with this is to partner with someone in real estate who has experience in opening Coworking and shared spaces. Here are a few categories you will need to consider:
- General Demographics
- How Many People Work From Home
- Amount of Small Businesses in The Area
- Amount of Freelancers Available
Another idea is to find your economic development center or chamber of commerce, affiliate and familiarize yourself with them as soon as possible and get their data. You can make this useful for finding the best ways to serve your members. There are many tips for setting up a co-workspace, Entrepreneur Magazine agrees as well.
Marketing
It’s never too early to begin marketing your space. In fact, it is possible to have more than half of your available space leased out before the first day of opening. During the feasibility research, it’s recommended you do some marketing research as well as competitive analysis of the other shared spaces within your region.
This way should you find areas where demands aren’t being met, you can transform that into a new opportunity.
Furthermore, establishing an online presence is another key component. Not to mention it’s entirely free to have your site listed on Google as well as other forms of search. You can pair your online presence with online content in the form of newsletters, blogs, as well as social media to make a difference.
Intangibles
Differentiating yourself between design and service is a great idea for making your space stand out. It should always match the demand as well as the culture of your members. If it adds to the end user experience, it should be considered. For instance, having spaces that are open to others of a similar industry with a design that channels the spirit of cross-pollination.
Another example would be to decorate an area with trees or falling sunlight from an atrium to give your space a relaxing atmosphere for the members to explore with their minds.
Another aspect that’s heavily overlooked is whether there are things to do nearby the Coworking space, as that can have an impact on whether your members want to stay. This includes access to nice restaurants among other venues for food and recreation. If your space is next to a bustling area, more prospects will be intrigued with the possibility of becoming a member.
This also inspires members to work closely together by having places to meet outside of the space. The other thing to consider is building community, and it’s not done with ping pong. By taking a genuine interest in what your members want, you can easily transform your space into a place where they’ll never want to leave work.
For more information please download our e-book, The Five Essentials to Opening a Coworking Space at this link. By utilizing these insights in feasibility, marketing, and find the intangibles, we are hopeful that you will find the tools to operate with excellence.