Co-Working v Home Working
- Thread starter cowork
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- Original Poster
- #5
Hi Clarkewoods, Yes - those are pictures of the actual office. Our idea was to provide smarter office space for small businesses and start ups rather than the boring old tired space that most other serviced office providers have on offer.
The noise is not really an issue but feel free to pop down if you're in the area and take a look for yourself. Otherwise the meeting rooms are booked through our intranet system for up to two hours at a time in the same way they would be in a larger company. The space has 45 work stations.
If you have any other questions or would like to have a look let me know.
The noise is not really an issue but feel free to pop down if you're in the area and take a look for yourself. Otherwise the meeting rooms are booked through our intranet system for up to two hours at a time in the same way they would be in a larger company. The space has 45 work stations.
If you have any other questions or would like to have a look let me know.
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leemason
Do you really need the extra overhead of office space? With the state of technology these days (VoIP, Webconferencing, Cloud based data sharing and e-mail sharing, etc) I think many companies who current have offices probably don't need them or could do with much smaller work spaces (at home, etc).
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- Original Poster
- #8
Dear rwslater - We get a lot of people making the same comment! But having worked from home I consider the following;
1) Its tax deductible if you're making a profit
2) What do you pay a week in coffee?
3) We provide high speed broadband and voipfone system included in the price
4) You don't have to buy a printer or purchase print toners and paper
5) We provide professional places for you to hold meetings (for free!) versus renting meeting rooms or hanging out in Starbucks
6) You don't go crazy sitting on your own all day at home in your PJs!
Our view is there are a lot of tangible and intangible benefits that might not be apparent at first glance of the headline rate! but in the end make it extremely cost effective!
1) Its tax deductible if you're making a profit
2) What do you pay a week in coffee?
3) We provide high speed broadband and voipfone system included in the price
4) You don't have to buy a printer or purchase print toners and paper
5) We provide professional places for you to hold meetings (for free!) versus renting meeting rooms or hanging out in Starbucks
6) You don't go crazy sitting on your own all day at home in your PJs!
Our view is there are a lot of tangible and intangible benefits that might not be apparent at first glance of the headline rate! but in the end make it extremely cost effective!
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- Original Poster
- #9
Dear Leemason
You raise a very good point! Its something we considered at great length but ultimately I believe that people are social creatures! I spent a lot of time working at home or in a small office on my own and while I got a lot done I missed the social interaction and buzz that working around others can bring.
But I guess its not for everyone!
You raise a very good point! Its something we considered at great length but ultimately I believe that people are social creatures! I spent a lot of time working at home or in a small office on my own and while I got a lot done I missed the social interaction and buzz that working around others can bring.
But I guess its not for everyone!
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leemason
Fair comment. Technology can only go so far. I think your idea is pretty good for small businesses who need to get out of the domestic setting. Some people don't work well from home. Unless you have a completely separate area to work in at home it can be increasingly difficult to get the correct work/lift balance.
I'm not far from you in East Sheen and at one point it would have been great to have somewhere like your facilities to rent space in.
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I spoke to a Dr. who's Phd was about this. 
He studied a thing called "facetime" and what he found was that people would believe someone who wasn't around the office so much was lazy, and not hard working. Even if they did a higher volume of work when at home.
So, co-work. Or a fellow employee my stab you in the back.
He studied a thing called "facetime" and what he found was that people would believe someone who wasn't around the office so much was lazy, and not hard working. Even if they did a higher volume of work when at home.
So, co-work. Or a fellow employee my stab you in the back.
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- Original Poster
- #18
A fair point although bear in mind the £340 is a london price to take into account the very high rents around here... If it goes well our thoughts would be to expand out of London where we would be able to offer the space considerably cheaper to start ups etc.
That said - its not for everyone, some people I know love working from home but in London maybe where people tend to mostly live in small flats etc it drives them crazy and they like to have the balance and keep work and home life apart..
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leemason
I'd agree with that. Living in the area I can tell you that getting office space is very expensive. You probably wouldn't get through the door at the nearby Mortlake Business Centre for that!!!
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That's actually a pretty decent idea. How do you handle clients who cause disruptions though? There is normally one who feels the need to be the class idiot, and when others are paying for the privilege of sharing space with them, it might start to irritate!
Just looking at a worst case scenario...
Just looking at a worst case scenario...
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- Original Poster
- #22
Hi Smirks - To be honest we haven't encoutered that! Its all based on a fair use policy and everyone seems to get on with their work..
Having made the financial committment to take office space they tend to be pretty serious and very professional about getting on with their work rather than messing around.
Having made the financial committment to take office space they tend to be pretty serious and very professional about getting on with their work rather than messing around.
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emmylou74
I love the idea of this! I absolutely hate working from home on my own! Although for me not suitable because I have to sew as well as do computer work - but would dream of being able to work and see other people. At the moment during my working day the only time I get to see people is when I walk the dogs and make the other dog walkers stop and talk to me lol.
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Some of these places have opened up in Bristol but always seem to close down again. The bottom line is that it is a unnecessary overhead.
Why pay £80 a week when I can sit in Starbucks for £1.20 per day and use their wifi, have a constant stream of people around, many of which have laptops and could be potential for networking?
On the same subject, if you have a web based business then networking is far more efficiently online via linkedin, twitter etc because of the sheer volume of people.
I rented a desk and the people around me had totally different types of business and in some cases were never there anyway. Total waste of time and money.
P.S. Why use the Colombian domain extension? (yes, .co is the TLD for Colombia).
I'll stick to coffee shops until I am big enough to have my own office.
Why pay £80 a week when I can sit in Starbucks for £1.20 per day and use their wifi, have a constant stream of people around, many of which have laptops and could be potential for networking?
On the same subject, if you have a web based business then networking is far more efficiently online via linkedin, twitter etc because of the sheer volume of people.
I rented a desk and the people around me had totally different types of business and in some cases were never there anyway. Total waste of time and money.
P.S. Why use the Colombian domain extension? (yes, .co is the TLD for Colombia).
I'll stick to coffee shops until I am big enough to have my own office.
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- Original Poster
- #30
Dear Workingnomad - Thank you for your comments, You raise a number of the points that we are trying to address in terms of the working from home vs coffee shops vs Co-working spaces.
Firstly if you look at the £79 per week this includes a lot more than just a place to work. You get free use of meeting rooms which occasionally you might need to meet clients face to face that just isn't possible in a coffee shop. Secondly we give the coffee for free and typically we find that people certainly in London who use Starbucks have an average spend of closer to £5 per day rather than £1.20. There is also the tax deductability of the office costs with Co-Working which is not possible on your daily Starbucks trips and of course the broadband we supply is far superior to the quality you are likely to get for free in a coffee shop.
From our point of view its not just about the networking but also the social interaction that you get on a daily basis that is a great benefit of Co-working. Also, if your company is 2 or 3 people we found that it becomes awkward to work from home or a coffee shop.
Anyway - its not for everyone but thought I would give you my view of why we think Co-working is a good idea. Also financially when you break it down to £11.25 per day before tax, £8.78 after tax and then deduct in London your average starbucks spend of of £5 you are down to a difference of £3.77 which isn't a great deal of difference and this is before you factor in the free use of printing, stationery and somewhere for post to be delivered etc.
Please also bear in mind that the £79 per week is a central London rate and we would be looking to charge less in other areas of the country.
best regards
Co-work
p.s we picked .co as we thought it looked good on our web address co-work.co but you're right we aren't based in columbia!
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I think using country TLDs that are not your home country (even if they are cool like .tv, .it etc) looks slightly unprofessional and dare I say it spammy.
Of course, as a web geek, maybe that's just me!
I think for some people your setup would be great, but for me I never have to meet people face to face, and if I do they usually are entertaining me so I go to their offices. And I don't like starbucks coffee. £1.20 for water is probably nationwide ;o).
With mobile broadband I can work out of any coffee shop and actually prefer the non american chains, but if it is locally run I do buy more than water!
Good luck though and if you ever expand to Bristol and I take people on then I will check you out, even with that dodgy TLD. ;o)
Of course, as a web geek, maybe that's just me!
I think for some people your setup would be great, but for me I never have to meet people face to face, and if I do they usually are entertaining me so I go to their offices. And I don't like starbucks coffee. £1.20 for water is probably nationwide ;o).
With mobile broadband I can work out of any coffee shop and actually prefer the non american chains, but if it is locally run I do buy more than water!
Good luck though and if you ever expand to Bristol and I take people on then I will check you out, even with that dodgy TLD. ;o)
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PrettyCherry1988
Sounds interesting. a good idea. I like working in a co-working office space. I don't like working at home, because that will make me can't distinguish my job and life. and work together will have the atmosphere to work. when at home, I don't want to think anything about my work, just want to enjoy the happiness with my family.
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Oh man, the place looks great, but it made me feel ill !
I just hate 'open plan' offices :-(
Sorry, maybe it's because I'm an anti social git !
I'm one of those people who can't sit with his back to the door and tend to close my office door for most of the day - heck, I even have the glass panels in the door taped over !
I like to be able to get up and go in search of company etc when it suits me, as oppossed to working along side others.
But I can see it being good for many.
Hope it all goes from strength to strength for you.
All the best
Steve
I just hate 'open plan' offices :-(
Sorry, maybe it's because I'm an anti social git !
I'm one of those people who can't sit with his back to the door and tend to close my office door for most of the day - heck, I even have the glass panels in the door taped over !
I like to be able to get up and go in search of company etc when it suits me, as oppossed to working along side others.
But I can see it being good for many.
Hope it all goes from strength to strength for you.
All the best
Steve
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