Why co-working makes sense to startups?

  • afcb643f2a3f336b82e906c6653eb5ca.jpg
Why co-working makes sense to startups?

 

Imagine a situation where you can pay your rent only for the time you use it, and also pay for the resources and office infrastructures likewise. You can even decide for how long and when you want to use your office space, and pay only for that timeframe. There is no long term obligation you are hooked to and your office space becomes your privilege, not a liability. Moreover, you are no longer in the bounds of your office walls with people working on the same thing as you. Instead, you get to socialise and interact with different people and increase your own creative horizon. However, if you are this person who likes to focus on his/her job, socialising will be a choice, not a compulsion. The best part is yet to come. You no longer need to fantasise the luxury of having such an office space. You can now enjoy such privilege in Nepal and it is called co-working. 

Co-working is a very young and emerging concept in the changing nature of jobs and employment. The word ‘co-working’ was first used by Brad Neuberg, currently senior software engineer at Dropbox, in 2005 when he explained it as “a physical space called ‘9 to 5 groups’”. Co-working is now known as “a shared working environment where people of different work interest and employment come together to share a common office space but still work independently.” 

Though originally used by tech startups, freelancers and workers in the creative industry, a study shows that the number of co-working spaces have doubled each year since 2006.

Co-working space is used rampantly by work-at-home professionals, corporates, independent contractors, and are found to be thriving in their works due to the collaborative environment of co-working spaces, as well as the people working in co-working space are seen to have more ownership towards their work. 

Since co-working has competitive features to the users’ advantage over a normal rented office space, startups can massively benefit from co-working spaces to start and scale up without barely anything to worry about but their business. Here are few reasons why: 

 

Co-working is a privilege, office space is not

Renting an office space basically gives you the space only, but renting a co-working space gives you access to all the basic office infrastructure you will need to support your work. 

According to Platform Inc., a co-working space in Nepal, it costs a startups about Rs.60,000 per month to run its own rented office. 

 

And it really is a hefty sum to spend monthly when at you are certain to go through financial crisis in the startup phase and you need to scale up your business through it. Spending that amount to something that adds no direct value to your startup can be an unwise decision. But co-working space, on the other hand, provides all the infrastructures such as office desks, power supply, printing services and so on at a price which is cheaper than an office space. It is interesting when you find that they are prepared with the things you didn’t even know you will ever need. Importantly, you can use it only for the time you need the space. At some co-working spaces like Platform Inc., they even provide you design services, power backups and lounge to spur your creativity. 

 

Co-working space help you socialise, office space confines

When you are a startup, networking is really the key to success, and co-working spaces can provide you with such opportunities. Office space doesn’t provide you with the option to meet people from diverse backgrounds at work. At co-working spaces, you get to share your office spaces with many other people, and yet work on your independent ventures. 

You are in no obligation to socialise until you voluntarily do so, but the culture of co-working is also built around the notion of building such important connections and synergies in-between the workers. 

And it is not that you can’t maintain your privacy at work. The co-working spaces make different options available for you. You can rent a common desk space or a separate desk or even a separate room for your team and you can benefit from its exceptionally cheap prices, access to resources, connection with different people which you might not meet otherwise and still maintain the amount of privacy you and your work requires. How better can it get?

 

Co-working helps boosts your productivity, office space may not

The best part of being surrounded by variety of people is also their energy and dedication at work that increases your own productivity. Since people who rent co-working space pay the amount and dedicate themselves to complete a particular task in that span, they make their best efforts to make the best use of co-working spaces. Also, because the nature of jobs people are working on at co-working spaces are usually freelancing and startups, it fills the environment of that place will passionate people who are doing work they love to do. This sets a radically different environment of highly effective people in a co-working space and this help to form the culture of the space as well. As a startup, if you are surrounded by such people and such energy, it is most definite that you and your work will feel enlivened by the atmosphere around. This is also the reason why co-working is becoming so relevant to more people today. 

A Harvard study shows that even corporates are using co-working as their business strategy to enable collaborative work environment to boost creativity and more innovation at work.

 

Thus, if you are a startup with an infant idea in mind, maybe you would want to think about getting a desk for yourself at a co-working space nearby and explore where you can reach with your idea without anything else to worry about on the background.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

  • No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment

Leave your comment

Guest
Guest Friday, 29 March 2024