How to Choose The Right Coworking Space for you

Long before I ventured into setting up a coworking business, I’ve seen how the concept of coworking survived in the early days. Entrepreneurs, freelancers and remote workers would sit in coffee shops rely on Wi-Fi, a hot cuppa and assign some hours in their kitty. Today, we’ve evolved past that phase. We have now moved into the coworking era! Reports on allwork.space state that, in the last decade, a remarkable 83% of users of coworking have benefited from the new work environment. Following the humongous success, big corporates and industry leaders are warming up to the idea of coworking.

While coworking spaces offer limitless benefits, it is also a breeding ground for talent and knowledge sharing. People no longer sit in laboratories to build a business empire alone. They need a holistic environment, and great minds to execute it. I believe that there is no better space than a coworking environment to make this happen. Coworking, environments are conducive to innovation, collaboration, and productivity. The word co-working speaks about co-production along with co-creation which are increasingly important in today’s innovation era. So how do you pick the right coworking space? In my opinion, here’s what you need to keep in mind before you pick the right coworking space.

Location and Work Environment

If you are going to choose a coworking space the first thing you would have to strike off your checklist is whether it is centrally located, easily connected to public transport, clean and if it meets your business needs. After all, the atmosphere you work directly impacts your productivity. It is needless to say that you should visit the centre. For instance, if you are an SME entrepreneur with a team who works for you, it is ideal to move to the CBD region of your city. This will help you connect with potential clients and business partners.

With the ever-growing real-estate cost, it is not easy to rent an entire office space in an eight-storey building. Which is why collaborative workspaces are different. They offer rental spaces at a good cost at prime locations which put the company over the edge.

Internet Speed

When I began the idea to start a coworking space, I wanted to ensure the internet speed is blazing fast. In today’s digital era, working in an office with a slow internet would delay work and productivity. Which is why it is essential to move into a space with uninterrupted internet services. I have to add that it doesn’t matter if you or your employees are using the internet only for emails and social media or simply for uploading heavy files: choose a coworking space with a reliable internet connection. And, when you are taking a tour of the office, it is always a good foresight to test the speed yourself.

Complete Office Solutions

If you work in a traditional office setting, juggling with your business, employee needs and admin aren’t easy to handle! This is why you should move into an office space which offers worthy office solutions. A good coworking space should offer 24/7 access and AC and security, IT infrastructure, tea and coffee. A great coworking space will even take care of all your office needs. Pick a space that allows you to focus more on your business.

Flexibility and Expansion

In a traditional office space, it is difficult to bring in new members of a team as the terms are inflexible. I’ve heard complaints from business owners about never finding a solution to this, until the day they discovered a coworking space. In today’s ever-evolving world, it is necessary that a workspace should be flexible and agile. Coworking offers this! It gives you the space to grow without having to go through the hassle of shifting your office space. No matter what your company size is, growth is a primary objective—and collaborative workspaces can help you scale. Coworking helps these swiftly-growing organizations save on time as well.

Save on Costs

Coworking workspaces are cost-efficient. Which means you should only pay for the space you need. For instance, if you want a particular team to work closely with the client in another location, you can move your team to a collaborative space instead of setting up a new office. In this way, they get to work in a dedicated space, while still being able to work with the teams. Collaborative workspaces offer the luxury of working in a fully-furnished office space while employees concentrate on their business goals.

Room to Grow

I believe that freedom to have control at work, makes employees feel a sense of identity and belonging to the company. By freedom, I mean the choice the employee has to choose where he wants to work from. The presence of meeting rooms, pantry, and other informal spaces, people are able to choose how they wish to work. Choose a coworking space that gives you space for independent as well as collaborative discussions. So, if you feel like you want to move away from your workstation for a while, you can opt to use other spaces in the office. If you have a meeting with a client or your team, make use of the exclusive meeting room. This gives the workforce a sense of freedom which inherently aims at better productivity and innovation. Apart from this, a coworking space also offers training and mentoring by teaming up with other organizations. 

Collaborate

Daily routine in the office, doesn’t always have to be about work, fella! That's why coworking spaces are a great platform to socialize and collaborate. Be it discussing with your team about efficient working or just meet new business owners in your coworking space - these coworking spaces offer endless opportunities to network. All you need to do is to unwind at social hubs in a coworking space and network with like-minded people. This means you are surrounded by potential clients, mentors, highly-goal oriented individuals who you can connect with when you have a project in line. It's also a great chance to reach out to them for time-sensitive tasks.

Having the perfect work-life-balance

My morning routine involves meditating! It keeps me calm, a change from my daily busy day. As much as the workforce tries to hustle work and personal life, it's often difficult to find space to relax. That’s why you must choose coworking space which offers a host of benefits that’s less heavy on work. Be it, yoga class, workshops, medical check-ups – choose a coworking space which offers different activities for members to unwind.

The potential upside of having your business grow at a coworking space is that it can give you an edge to succeed. Workafella, fits everything on the list. From physical space, amenities and other social benefits, including connecting with creative and like-minded professionals – Workafella has it all.