Businesses that are small or have just started have to face many hurdles before they make their way to the top. Renting a space doesn’t come cheap plus having to buy office furniture, maintaining staff, acquiring clients, retaining them.
Thinking about loss and profit are just a few things entrepreneurs have to worry about. What if we told you that there’s a way to reduce some of this stress?
These days as small businesses are gaining popularity so is the idea of working from a co-working space but what is a co-working space and why’s that the popular choice against buying/ renting your property? In this article, we’ll tell you why.
What is a Co-Working Space?
A co-working space is an arrangement wherein many employees of different companies share an office space together and share a receptionist, equipment, utilities, etc.
A co-working space is like a community where they have group activities for all employees, some have recreational spaces such as a pool table, table tennis table, huge working cafeteria, etc.
Advantages of Co-Working Spaces –
Listed below are a few advantages of co-working spaces –
- Increased productivity
- More networking opportunities
- Boosts creativity
- Collaboration opportunities
- Cost effective
- Increased flexibility
Why are More and More Businesses Opting for Co-Working Spaces?
There are multiple reasons why co-working spaces are gaining popularity for small offices, entrepreneurs, and freelancers. Generally when a person comes with an amazing small business idea the most important thing that confuses him is how to scale it?
Scaling of business can be tough for newbies but coworking spaces can prove to be of great help in scaling small businesses as they are usually on low rent and thus become affordable for the budding entrepreneurs.
In this article, we’re going to list 6 such main reasons why co-working spaces are better than renting/buying your own property –
1. Has All the Necessities and More
A functional office is more than just a desk and a chair. It needs to have different rooms wherein you can conduct meetings, conferences, high-speed internet, a basic working pantry where employees can eat their food, drink coffee, etc.
When employers rent office space, they have to worry about arranging the infrastructure for all these things which require money. Co-working spaces come equipped with all these amenities and more such as recreational rooms, fully functional kitchen services, some even have canteens, refrigerators, etc.
Which employees get free access to when working from that space making it a popular option for business owners.
2. Cost-Effective Solution
The rent for commercial spaces in India is sky-high especially in metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Banglore. The rent in commercial spaces can go in lacks which may or may not include office furniture! Co-working spaces are the solution.
You don’t have to rent out for years together, co-working spaces let you rent the space for a month, you can even just rent conference rooms or rent per employee making it a favorable choice for freelancers and business owners.
3. Great Networking Opportunities
The great thing about coworking spaces is the fact that there are multiple companies, freelancers, small businesses working under the same roof which means that there are plenty of networking opportunities for you to grab.
For ex- if you’re a tech company that requires advertising for your brand, and there’s an advertising agency working in the same co-working space, you could easily approach them and work alongside them and it would be like your own in-house ad agency which you won’t get anywhere else.
4. There’s Plenty of Advice to Give
Since you work in a co-working office you’ll work alongside many individuals with varied skills and experiences which can come in handy when you’re looking for some advice that may help grow your business.
Some coworking spaces are also set up as incubators and accelerators. Incubators specialize in early-stage business and in growing new business while accelerators offer rapid-growth tools for businesses that are established.
Both of these can be great resources for information on how to grow your business, access to loans, funds, etc. coworking spaces are great networking places and places where you can really grow your business.
5. Flexibility and Increased Productivity
When you work in an office that’s solely owned by one company, employees will have to work strictly according to office hours so if an employee wants to work on a holiday they won’t be able to do so whereas coworking spaces are open for longer hours even during the night so employees can work longer hours.
Coworking spaces have become more popular for freelancers and entrepreneurs because they don’t have a fixed working hours schedule and the rents are more flexible making it an ideal working ground.
6. Better Working Conditions
Many times small businesses operate from coffee shops or from home making it not an ideal working situation. If you’re working from a coffee shop then employers must take into account the cost of eating for its employees as nobody will let you sit there and work for free which is a huge added expense because coffee and eating outside food from coffee shops is expensive.
Coworking spaces also have conference rooms which can be booked in advance. This can’t be possible when working out of a coffee shop or a house. If you’re working from home then there may be other distractions that affect the quality of your work.
You have less control over external factors when working from a coffee shop or your home. All these factors are removed when you work from a proper functional office environment such as a co-working space.
In Conclusion
Co-working spaces are more economical, convenient, and fun for employers and employees as well. They have greater opportunities that you can bank on, employers don’t have to worry about office supply as it’s being handled by those who own the co-working space which takes so much stress off employers.