Your Own Coworking Space: Getting It Right

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Technology has changed the way we work a lot in recent years. Gone are the days of spending hours in cubicles; today is the era of working remotely and coworking with fellow professionals.

That last bit is actually important. This past year alone, more coworking spaces have opened their doors to professionals and freelancers in different areas.

The shift has created a lucrative business opportunity to explore. Setting up your own coworking space and offering services – and the space – to others is a great way to generate revenue. You can approach the business opportunity as a startup too, which means you can stay lean and limit your overhead costs.

Before you jump in and start planning your own coworking space, however, there are a few important details you need to know. Getting the work environment and experience right from the start is crucially important, and we have just the tips to help you get started in this article.

Know the Market

The design and layout of the workspace need to be adjusted to better suit the market. Customers expect different things from a coworking space, which is why the first thing you want to do when venturing into this industry is figuring out what the customers really want.

Based on that market research, you can start prioritizing the elements that matter most to customers. Do professionals in the area appreciate bigger space more than a comfortable layout? What kind of design theme should you go with?

As mentioned before, you want to get these details right from the beginning. The best way to do that is by doing your homework – and spending more time on the research – and using the insights you get in return.

Promote a Healthy Work Environment

In most – if not all – situations, health will sit at the top of your list of things to consider. Creating a healthy facility for customers is important for two reasons. First, most professionals actively seek ways to improve their health and work-life balance, so providing them with a workspace that goes in line with those goals is a huge plus in their eyes.

The second reason is how a healthy work environment is pleasant to be in by nature. This article on the Bevi blog - Top 6 Must-Know Facilities Management Trends in 2018 – is a must-read.

They offer water machines which help promote hydration in the work place. Small tweaks like that can help create a healthier and more comfortable environment. You can do the same with lighting, air circulation, and interior climate, all for the purpose of creating a work environment that workers actually love.

Create a Flow

The next thing to tackle is the layout of the coworking space, and you have one important thing to focus on in order to get this aspect right: flow. Any good workspace has a nice, seamless flow to it. it allows workers to move from one task to the next seamlessly and without disruptions.

Before you start looking into office designs and searching for inspirations for your coworking space, get the flow of the office right first. Create a layout that allows workers access to all the features they need without running into multiple disruptions along the way.

For example, you can place the printing center at the center of your shared workspace. This way, everyone using the shared workspace has access to printers easily, no matter where they are positioned in the room.

Think About Growth

Setting up a coworking space is a lot like designing an office for a new startup. You have to think about growth from the beginning. This means preparing the space for additional desks, new dedicated offices, and more users.

The growth of your coworking startup also depends on the additional locations you add to your portfolio. StartupOverseas lets you access more than 55 countries in which you can start a new coworking space. Start thinking about expanding to new locations so you are prepared when the time comes to follow through with that expansion.

Speaking of expanding to new locations, one of the challenges you will face when opening new locations is maintaining a consistent ambiance or flow across all of your locations. This is a challenge that can be solved by getting the overall theme of the interior right from the start. You can create guidelines and detailed design rules, and then convert your coworking startup into a franchise.

Supporting Systems

Lastly, you need to double-check the supporting facilities in your coworking space before accepting workers. Toilets, the internet backbone, and the Bevi smart water machines we talked about earlier need to be in working order.

They also need to match the number of workers you want to accommodate, especially if you want to keep your coworking space comfortable. For more tips and tricks on creating and managing the perfect work environment.