Should Freelancers Set Up Coworking Spaces?
I’ve been spending a lot of time working out of coworking spaces lately. I’m a big fan of having a place I can just drop into and work from, especially if I’m going to be away from my home office anyhow.
I’ve noticed a trend: many coworking spaces are launched by freelancers. Often, there’s a freelancer who wants to work anywhere but in her own home, so she gets a couple of other people together and rents a space. I’ve seen both incredibly successful versions of this model and some dismal failures.
Coworking Spaces are Businesses, Too
There’s a common complaint among the freelancers who also operate coworking spaces: “I didn’t realize it was going to be so much work!” It’s not an uncommon thought for a freelancer in general — considering many of us start out as some sort of creative professional without as much business training as we’d like. Opening a coworking space is just as much a business as freelancing, even if you operate as a non-profit.
Opening a coworking space is just as much a business as freelancing, even if you operate as a non-profit.
There are considerations far beyond a freelance business, too: rent, physical location and insurance all play major roles. It’s these details that can trip up someone not used to renting out office space. They take time to sort out and time is a precious commodity for many freelancers.
Unless we’re getting paid for our time, it can be tough to dedicate so much effort to building a coworking space, rather than spending those same hours on client work.
But there are payoffs to taking the lead on creating a coworking space.
The Coworking Space as a Money-making Venture
As a freelancer, you probably work with plenty of other freelancers: freelance project managers hire freelance graphic designers, freelance web designers hire freelance copywriters and so on. Being the guy or gal operating the local coworking space can get your name out in the local freelance community. It can also help establish you with local small businesses (of the varieties with only a few people involved). You can turn that into paying work with a little effort.
You can also use a coworking space as a way to diversify your income. One of the biggest difficulties with freelancing is that there can be some hills and valleys in your income reports. While I wouldn’t depend on a coworking space to make you a millionaire, it can help create a base income that allows you a little more flexibility.
There are some big debates in the larger coworking community over whether a coworking space should be operated as a non-profit or for-profit business. Either way, though, after a coworking space has had a little time to grow, there should be at least a small salary available for the person doing all the administrative work. If you’re doing work that takes you away from your clients, it’s only right that you receive payment for that work (even if it’s only minimum wage).
The Big Question
Personally, it makes sense for at least a few freelancers to set up coworking spaces, provided that they’re truly passionate about coworking. It fits in well with how many of us operate and can help us build better ties to our local communities.
That said, operating a coworking space is an incredible amount of work. If your freelance career is going well, you probably don’t have a lot of time to devote to creating a whole other business on the side. It may be more efficient to find someone else with more time on their hands and get them interested in the idea of coworking. Maybe they’ll set up a space that you can just get a desk in — a more efficient approach for many of us.
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Great idea, Thursday! I think freelancers often think of themselves as lone wolves and forget how powerful it can be to work alongside others.
To start a space as a business is tricky though… Coworking is still very much a business model in flux and that’s going to be reflected in the number of spaces that open and then shutter their doors because they couldn’t make the numbers work. Numbers can be the primary sticking point. You can’t just throw a bunch of desks together and hope people will come because it’s cool to work there. You’re competing with their home office, their local cafe, etc. You also have overhead costs to pay, staff, etc.
The other big reason spaces close is that they didn’t quite get the community right. Community is what separates a coworking space from a shared office to begin with.
From talking to over 50+ coworking members and space founders/owners across the country for a book project we did last year (‘Working in the UnOffice: A Guide to Coworking’, http://www.coworkingguide.com), the most telling indicator of longevity we found was how strong the community is at the space. In fact, most founders built the community first, and then the space came after…
So, the common denominator for a successful space is definitely the strength of the community. Community and the environment it creates are the core fundamentals to making coworking work! It’s that intangible that many spaces can’t cultivate no matter how much money they throw into a space. It’s also a reason why freelanceres that do leave still maintain virtual memberships (paying to stay part of the network and to attend events, etc.)
Even if you don’t end up starting a coworking space as a business or for extra income, getting together with fellow freelancers can be a benefit all by itself. For example, start a “Jelly” – which are informal coworking arrangements — you usually meet at someone’s house or apartment, or other shared space. Check out Meetup.com to coordinate with groups in your area or start a Meetup yourself.
Interesting article. Maybe freelancer can save the hassle of creating a new coworking space from the beginning. There are simpler ways of sharing spaces to cowork and make money from it. People could simply turn their homes into micro coworking spaces, or swap home office (if the idea is to work in a different environment) like we are experimenting at http://www.coworfing.com
I’ve been thinking about coworking and feel it’s a viable option. I work from home and my 3 year old is often hanging out with me. I think I may use coworking to help beat the monotony of working from home. The days where she goes to school, I may just hop out into the real world and enjoy some human interaction.
I used to work at home, but now work out of Gangplank (3 locations in Arizona), which is a collaborative workspace. Unlike a co-working space where you pay rent, those of us who work out of Gangplank pay in social capital.
This may include facilitating groups (like a writers group or WordPress user group, all open to the public), teaching seminars on various subjects (e.g. creating video podcasts, intellectual property law, etc.)
I love it because it gives me a chance to share what I know, learn from other people, and have a place to work without the distractions and isolation of home.
Co-working spaces are great for freelance work. It allows you to bounce ideas off of a mix of different talents.