You started your online business from home, and it’s going great, but your business is growing and you’re often distracted at home, so you’ve been looking to rent office space. The only thing is that you only have a small budget and can’t afford to spend money on big offices. What do you do?
The answer is a coworking space. Using a coworking space for your business allows you to have all the benefits of a dedicated office but with so much more. Coworking spaces have been gaining popularity around the world because they are affordable and flexible and they allow entrepreneurs the opportunity to grow their companies in a professional environment.
What is a coworking space?
Simply put, a coworking space is an office space in a business center that you share with other professionals. The coworking space facility usually offers ‘regular’ office services like internet, copying and printing, call answering, as well as dedicated meeting rooms where you can meet clients and employees. Some coworking spaces also offer call-forwarding and mail receiving services. A coworking space will usually offer types of spaces, from shared hot-desks to dedicated offices within the same facility. It’s this flexibility that makes it so popular with entrepreneurs in particular.
Who uses coworking spaces?
It’s not just entrepreneurs, freelancers, or small businesses that use coworking spaces, companies of all sizes use coworking spaces. Many established companies who are looking to break into a new market use coworking spaces to get their team up and running and test the market before fully committing to a larger, more permanent office space.
Benefits of using a coworking space for your business
There are many benefits to using a coworking space for your business over dedicated offices. Coworking spaces are flexible and affordable and can grow with your business. Don’t know how fast your business will grow? No problem. In a coworking space, you only have to rent space for your current staff complement. The more your business grows, the more space you rent, for as long as you need to. Gone are the days of empty offices and unused spaces in expensive offices. If you’re an entrepreneur, using a coworking space for your business gives you access to meeting rooms where you can meet clients in a professional environment — no more noisy coffee shop business meetings.
Working on your own can be lonely, and coworking spaces are filled with like-minded professionals from a wide variety of industries, making it the perfect place to network, get advice, and share ideas. When using a coworking space for your business as opposed to working from home, you create structure to your day — you go to the office, work, then come home. This allows you to focus on the important things when you need to, whether it’s work time of family time. For employees, coworking spaces are often located within larger centers that have access to things like restaurants and gyms and other amenities that make a workday easier and enjoyable. This leads to greater productivity for you and your team.