Co-working seems to be the buzzword in the present business world. Co-working spaces are the solution to modern, flexible businesses that look to carry on operations remotely. When it comes to the concept of co-working spaces, several workers from several companies share an office space, allowing convenience and cost savings by utilising common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities, receptionist and custodial services.
They benefit a community of professionals, including entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses like sole proprietors that require spaces at affordable prices where there is the possibility of networking with other professionals. Sole proprietorships, on the whole, have comparatively tight purse strings when it comes to finances. Therefore, co-working spaces are the ideal way to go, considering it does not require a massive influx of capital.
Ways to Leverage the Co-working Spaces
- Great Location, Affordable Rent:
Small businesses benefit significantly from having an office in a central and ritzy part of town. However, in most cases, these spaces usually are pretty expensive and generally out of reach in terms of the budget for businesses such as sole proprietorships. With the advent of co-working spaces, even small businesses can make their dreams of having a professional office set up turn into reality. The benefit of co-working spaces is that they allow you to have a comparatively low outflow towards rent for places that might have otherwise cost a fortune to rent out. - Pooling of Expenses:
Co-working spaces, in a sense, could be considered to be on the same level as having roommates, the only difference here is that the roommates are not individuals, but businesses. But when it comes to expenses and utilities, it is pretty much on a shared basis, and hence the overheads per business don’t seem as much of a burden as they do on traditional business setups.
Facilities such as high-speed internet, conference rooms, gaming spaces, training rooms would typically cost a fortune to set up for sole proprietorships, and the overheads, in that case, would be impossible. But when the expenses are shared on a community basis, on a pooling strategy, then it becomes financially viable. - No Need for Investment in Equipment:
The advantage of co-working spaces does not stop at the rent and office supplies. Interior design is generally a very pricey affair, considering you want your workspace to have a unique blend of professionalism as well as an attractive, creative space which is relatively modern and artisan, an area where people are motivated to work efficiently. Co-working spaces offer small businesses also the best of both worlds.
Furniture, especially good quality furniture, can be incredibly expensive. This includes your standard office desks and chairs, tables, cupboards, lockers and the like. Stocking a workspace with furniture for any business generally means the bank balance taking a hit. This usually leads to small businesses like sole proprietorships buying second-hand furniture, which is comparatively shabbier to look at. However, that’s where the co-working spaces give them a boost by allowing them to have the ideal office environment with an attractive, professional furniture setup as well. - Hiring From Within the Community and Establishing Contacts:
Co-working spaces generally attract experts and professionals from different professional walks of life, thus giving rise to an open market of human resources that are ripe for the picking. Outsourcing is gaining more and more popularity as the years go by because as businesses take on larger amounts of work in the race to achieve growth velocity, the need to get more work done in less time is all the rage right now.
Essentially, if you require the expertise of an architect or an engineer, instead of setting up an appointment with a person of that standing, and then spending an entire day or moreover getting the task done while the work stays stagnant, it is highly probable that in a co-working space you will share spaces with people from similar backgrounds and save a lot of time and money by merely interacting with them and getting the job done in a matter of minutes.
Making business connections is a very tricky and time-consuming ordeal, but one that cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to small businesses. The advantage of being in a community is that the level of outreach is exponentially better, hence finding new clients, building your connections and gaining referrals becomes much easier when you have the chance to collaborate and communicate with others in the same workspace. - Availability of Resources:
A traditional sole proprietorship setup will have limited furniture, an office area probably twice the size of a cubicle or limited to a small room and a congested workspace. The setup will be comparatively basic and not one that boosts the morale of the employees in any way, whatsoever.
Co-working spaces, on the other hand, provide a very community-centric, friendly and collaborative environment, one that encourages interaction and socialising. This, in turn, fosters productivity and provides a certain level of work-life balance, something that small businesses like sole proprietorships generally miss out on.
Dedicated yet collaborative workspaces, social activities and learning workshops all contribute towards the all-round development of the employees. Premium resources such as a fully furnished pantry, recreational and relaxation areas, fully furnished conference rooms allow small businesses to also function in a way that exhibits a level of professionalism that makes them a cut above the other traditional businesses.
Modern businesses are seen opting for co-working spaces more than ever. In addition to this, the pre-existing businesses also have slowly transformed their businesses and are moving towards the habit of utilising co-working spaces in order to avoid going the way of the dinosaur. Above all else, the co-working spaces offer businesses a highly accelerated growth rate, which makes all the difference in the cut-throat business world.
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