This coworking group exists because we've all learned a wealth of knowledge from each other and have a firm commitment to the greater community to in turn help everyone achieve success and sustainability. Over the past three years (congratulations everyone), this sharing has cemented the methodology for opening a successful coworking space. Followed properly these steps are financially low-risk and move at the pace of the community's needs. By jumping steps or opening a coworking space in a vacuum you're making a high-risk move that could result in something nobody wants, financial loss or worse, the closing of your space.
These low-risk steps start with going out into the community and talking about coworking but mostly listening (this is something that Alex mentions again and again as being important) which will help you discover what the needs and desires of the community are. If there is no community then you build one through jellys or meetups. Once you have the support of the community the next low-risk step would be getting a commitment (not necessarily financial immediately) out of the people who will become your anchors when you find a space. The next low-risk step would be to document your search for a space based on the stated needs of the community. With the community behind an idea you're less likely to take a financial or business bath when you open the space. Additional low-risk steps that relate to financials would be to build based on the usage of your community, ie not spending money on superfluous equipment until demonstrated need. Low-risk steps and high transparency to your community and to the google coworking group are essential for all of this. By doing this you can immediately avoid problems like an empty space or thinking you need an advertising or marketing budget to make your space successful. By dropping a space into the landscape and saying "it's here, everyone come" you're not only taking high-risk but you're working backwards from a PROVEN methodology that will allow you to open with a path towards success and a leg up towards sustainability. The most successful coworking spaces have been the ones who have been the most open with their process to both of these communities from the beginning.Tara and Alex and Jacob and others were incredibly helpful in the infancy of Caroline Collective preventing us from taking financial or community missteps that could result in reduced success for the space. I dont' think anyone's arguing against forming a strategy but forming a business plan for a coworking space before having a community behind it might be putting the cart in front of the horse. A business plan if eventually needed, should be simple because you can cull from discussions with the community: the ones who will ultimately utilize the coworking space, financially contribute, provide sweat equity and ultimately evangelize the virtues of coworking. From another standpoint, you already have a dynamic business plan and business advisors: this google group, several posts by members of the coworking community and the coworking wiki. There's enough information in those places as well as the wealth of resources from the voices on the google group that can help overcome any problem that people will come up against. But this is only if you are open and transparent about these problems. Matthew -- Matthew Wettergreen, Ph.D coFounder - Caroline Collective http://carolinecollective.cc cell: 713.825.4613 email: mwettergr...@gmail.com twitter: organ_printer http://matthewwettergreen.com -- On Feb 25, 9:59 am, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote: > Susan, > Your point that every market is different is exactly the point I'm making: > not that you should go in unplanned, but a traditional business plan > template isn't going to properly serve a venture like this in my opinion. > > The plan you described: *bullet points & flexible goals*, and I'll even go > so far as to define a *mantra* or set of *core values,* is going to help you > have the check points for making decisions along the way. > > Planning is extremely important, and running your coworking space like a > business is important for your sustainability. > > Just be ready for that plan to change once new people enter the mix :) > > -Alex > > -- > ----- > -- > ----- > Alex Hillman > im always developing something > digital: a...@weknowhtml.com > helpful:www.unstick.me > visual:www.dangerouslyawesome.com > local:www.indyhall.org > > On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Susan Potter < > > su...@acropolisproperties.com> wrote: > > While I completely agree with Alex that walking in to a bank with financial > > statements that show revenue already coming in is far better than going into > > a bank with an idea, a business plan should be used a tool by business > > owners. I am not sure about Alex's business/startup experiences, but as > > someone who has started a number of ventures from scratch I have found > > having a basic business plan (just in bullet point format for my own and > > partner reference) to be very beneficial, especially when you have partners. > > You might be able to "wing it" by chance or because you have the right > > connections, but if you don't have connections on your side, basic > > preparation is key no matter what business you want to start. > > > There isn't just one exact model for a coworking space or any business idea > > out there, there are multiple and every situation will likely be different. > > I am not suggestion you violate the notion that a coworking space is about > > the people - not at all. > > > Each market (in this case physical location and target audience) has > > slightly different needs (i.e. in larger cities people might be > > willing to travel 20 miles to a coworking space - in a small college town > > that would NEVER fly without anything *very* different about the offering, I > > don't know what though?). Also while the target markets for all coworking > > spaces might seem to be the exact same in every location, I don't think that > > is true. For example, I know in some areas there are large numbers of tech > > freelancers (e.g. SF bay area and Raleigh-Durham both places I have lived > > and worked in before - not to mention Boston, DC metro, etc), whereas in > > other areas the types of freelancers will be less tech more professionally > > oriented (e.g. architects, lawyers, designers, etc.). Having a plan to > > target the specific target audiences that are relevant to your area is > > definitely a good idea. It helps you think through things like "who do I > > really want to attract to my space to make it a better experience for all > > involved", which creates a better overall ambiance and will be the backbone > > of your longer-term success. > > > Home grown spaces can work, in fact, many on this list have proved it can > > work. However, that does not mean planning and preparation don't go a long > > way too. I use business plans as a tool for organizing my thoughts and > > addressing potential pitfalls before they show up. Since leaving the bay > > area I have steered away from VCs and only occasionally sought loans from > > banks or private investors, but I now always "write" a business plan if for > > no one else than for myself. If you are using a business plan this way it > > doesn't need to suck the soul out of a venture. > > > Best, > > Susan > > -- > > Susan Potter > > Collective Turf Coworking > > Urbana, IL USA > > > On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 9:19 AM, Alex Hillman < > > dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> Trevor, > >> Stop right there: > >> You don't need a business plan just yet, you need some people. Those > >> people will be your business plan. > > >> Yes, you could walk into a bank with a 10 page document explaining how and > >> what you are going to do with their money...or you could walk in with > >> signed > >> checks from 10 paying members and say "see, they're already willing to pay > >> for it". > > >> Developing the community before you think "business plan" is critical, > >> because your business plan is likely to NOT jive with the people you're > >> ultimately trying to reach. > > >> There are some great recent posts about community development roadmaps, > >> and I have one that's a little more abstract that I crafted after seeing > >> MILK at the end of last year: > > >>http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/22/a-roadmap-for-community-... > > >> Good luck! > > >> -Alex > >> -- > >> ----- > >> -- > >> ----- > >> Alex Hillman > >> im always developing something > >> digital: a...@weknowhtml.com > >> helpful:www.unstick.me > >> visual:www.dangerouslyawesome.com > >> local:www.indyhall.org > > >> On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 4:58 PM, Trevor <trevord...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >>> Hi everyone, > > >>> My name is Trevor I live in Mississauga, Ontario which is very close > >>> to Toronto for those of you who aren't familiar with the area. I'm > >>> relatively new to the concept of coworking but I'm so excited that > >>> this exists. I have been thinking about creating my own space and I > >>> would like to start preparing a business plan. I don't really know how > >>> to get started writing a business plan are there any good templates to > >>> use? Can anyone suggest a good starting place? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
