Coworking spaces or managed offices are generally common amongst freelancers and company giants who have professionals working across geographies. Small businesses often tend to stick to traditional methods of working out of private spaces or office on rent. This article sheds light on ways for entrepreneurship and small businesses to thrive in a coworking ecosystem.
1. Low Maintenance – Cost-Effective Workspace
Opting for coworking spaces can prove to be super pocket friendly for your business. Actually, not only for your bank accounts but also for your minds! As a startup or a small business, managing your finances is the biggest challenge.
There are substantial initial and operating costs that you have to take care of while having to keep an eye on the management and maintenance. Buying a place can burn a hole in your pocket followed by all the hassle to get the interiors done, investing in furniture, maintenance of the utility services, housekeeping, and spending on essential liabilities like electronics. Operating from a privately rented space is equally cumbersome.
At a coworking space, there are easy, hassle-free rental/membership plans. You can opt for offices on rent, that are ready with upscaled interiors and ergonomic furnishing, designed to provide you healthy work environment to maximize your and your employees’ work output. The best part is, you don’t have to worry about any sort of housekeeping and maintenance. Everything is taken care of by the service provider. This benefits you in two ways:
- You can redirect your funds to better investments that help in the direct growth of the company, for eg, investing in expanding your business, marketing and advertisement, R&D, hiring better talent, better salaries for your employees, investing in employees training programs, investing in stocks, contingency planning, and much more.
- With all the utility services, maintenance, and housekeeping taken care of, you can have your undivided attention at work. You do not have to hire individuals or waste your time managing these things.
2. Get spaces tailored just for you!
Worried that renting a pre-furnished space may meet your needs and tastes? Worry no more! Many coworking spaces provide custom-designed offices on rent that suit your requirements. The best thing is, you remain completely hassle-free in getting it done. The coworking spaces companies take up the entire responsibility of getting it done. This way you get spaces designed by industry experts that provide your healthy work environment with daylight flooding in, biophilia-inspired design, group and individual working arrangements, and ergonomic furniture. And, Viola, you can enjoy all of it hassle-free without burning a hole in your pocket. Just move in when the space is ready for you.
3. Access to Resources and Amenities
In recent years, the work culture has seen a lot of awareness spreading about how important it is to have breaks and how certain resources, facilities, and amenities can make life easier for your employees to give their best at work enthusiastically. Coworking spaces offer you and your employees, facilities that you could otherwise not afford. While looking for a coworking space, you could access and compare them based on your budget and their rental plans vs the resources and amenities they provide you with. The best coworking spaces have resources and amenities like reception and concierge, high-speed internet, ergonomic furniture, meeting rooms, audio-visual rooms, printing and scanning, common kitchens, coffee and refreshment, fitness facilities, daycare center, game room, lounges, and much more. Choose wisely!
4. Facilitating Networking and Collaboration
Shared working spaces, foremost, promote a culture of cross-pollination of diverse fields to open ways to newer possibilities for the growth of each business, each enterprise, and each individual. Sharing a space with other businesses, professionals, and freelancers from diverse fields allows you and your employees to form professional relations with them that lead to tie-up and collaborations. This gives way to business expansion and growth
Coworking spaces promote socialization by design. They have amenity spaces and different types of working environments that bring people to cross paths and form personal and professional relations. Employees can get fresh insights and ideas by socializing and networking with one another, which can lead to cross-functional cooperation and creativity. It exposes individuals to new ideas and viewpoints, which leads to new ideas and cooperation chances for projects, events, or activities that coincide with these common interests.
5. Enhancing Productivity and Creativity
Only with a cavemen tendency, one might think that you still need to cage your employees in rigid cubicle systems. In a complicated and uncertain world, creativity and invention processes have become more diversified, dispersed, and ubiquitous. In an environment where the social component is significant, new ideas are explored and creative goods and services are created. Innovation processes frequently occur outside of standard organizational frameworks such as offices, research laboratories, or R&D departments.
Additionally, the diverse backgrounds and experiences of coworkers may result in the recognition of new difficulties and opportunities that people focusing on a particular subject may have overlooked. The informal and open nature of coworking spaces may also foster an environment and culture of innovation, experimentation, and learning, leading to improved innovation and cooperation. This brings a plethora of opportunities to grow and flourish.
6. Fostering a sense of Community
Coworking environments foster a sense of connection and belonging, which enhances employee morale, especially for remote or independent employees who may otherwise feel alienated. Employees that have a sense of belonging feel more connected to the company and its ideas.
The events organized at coworking spaces, like games night, open mics, movie screenings, parties, etc., play an important part in cultivating this sense of community, which leads to stronger professional alliances and blossoming personal friendships, in which people are more sensitive to one another in every aspect. This undoubtedly leads to a better work environment, improved job performance, a more positive business culture, and more employee engagement. Better employee engagement and teamwork can benefit your business exponentially.
7. Work-Life Balance
In a healthy working environment, with opportunities for collaboration, for developing friendships, with amenities like fitness facilities that support personal growth, amenities like a daycare center, and that make working easier for single parents, your employees can produce maximum output with the satisfaction that the company believes in them and cares for their personal needs and growth. This ensures employees’ work efficiency which in turn leads to work-life balance. This creates a good company image, goodwill, and employee loyalty that helps in the steady growth of your venture.
8. Personal and Professional Growth – Talent Retention
Coworking, can potentially improve work-life balance, reduce burnout, improve physical and mental health, boost work efficiency, and raise job satisfaction. Employees feel empowered as a consequence, and they can take responsibility for their professional and personal life, leading to a higher sense of autonomy and involvement in the workplace.
Businesses may build stronger and more trustworthy relationships with their employees by satisfying their personal and family needs, resulting in a more pleasant and collaborative company culture. It can help to attract and retain talent by creating a more contemporary and progressive work environment, especially among younger individuals who value workplace flexibility and a sense of community.
9. Workplace security
Security is the top concern for any business. This may be in form of physical security or data protection. Coworking spaces offer top-notch security services which may otherwise weigh heavy on your bank accounts or be unaffordable altogether. This again saves your installation and operating costs while offering you top-class safety and security. This includes access control, video surveillance, cybersecurity, and physical security.
Reasons Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses should avoid Coworking?
Absolutely none! Coworking keeps your business up to date with the solutions to the modern day challenges and opportunities to grow. It is designed to create a work experience to bask in without burning a hole in your pockets and brings growth opportunities at your door step. Think fresh, think big, think coworking!
