Minus the suckling, I'm totally down with that. ;) On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Chad Ballantyne <c...@rhubarbmedia.ca>wrote:
> We're still realy young in our progress, but I will offer this....The > co-work model as we see it is working with professional people you like to > work with, in a cool space, creating "things" that make a difference in the > community and the world, supporting a responsible lifestyle and building > community along the way. Or as I've always said, "doing life together." > The sustainability of the space should be directly related to the > profitability of the members, I think. As each business grows and becomes > more successful due to great networks, resources and relationships, they > should intern give back to the "Mother" who gave birth to it all in the > first place. (I feel an illustration/word picture coming!!) I'd like to see > the rates stay consistent along the way, but encourage the members to join > in the marketing efforts to bring in more members, to push people towards > renting spaces, to develop classes and clinics where they pay a percentage > to the space for rent and investment. The more the space "works" the more > work comes in, the more profit for the members and the space grows, thus > continuing to offer it's sustaining milk to all who suckle at it's > life-giving breasts!! See I told you it was coming!! > Chad > www.thecreativespace.ca > > > > On 21-Aug-09, at 12:15 AM, jjaime wrote: > > > Working on the Lima, Peru Coworking space has made me think of how > many possible options are to make a space self sustainable. > So far I see that there's probably no right business model for a > space, but just to think of ideas to make some cash along the way to > keep the space open. For me the decission to open a Coworking Space is > not to make a profit or money, but to start integrating the design, > consulting and tech community here in Lima, as Tara points out is not > about the money economics. But I surely want the space to be self > sustainable and right now I'm brainstorming (alongside with my > Coworking and Business Partners) ways in which the space can get some > cash in order to have a couple of months of spare cash for the tough > times. But like Alex Hillman said in his blog post and comment on > other discussion here: there needs to be case studies in order to know > what to do or at least use as a guide. > > For me what's most important in a Coworking space is the Passion that > you put to build it and to promote it and make it sustainable. It's > like a 'small business' in some form, you need to be there and hustle > for sponsorhips, donations, memberships and work out a model that will > work. That passion and higher purpose will make a space happen, not > because of the money, but because you're creating a space for sharing > ideas, thoughts, debates and learning. And also because you're > innovating in the way freelancers and small teams work giving people > and new approach to freelance-independent work. > > Jorge Jaime > > > On Aug 20, 9:06 pm, Tara Hunt <horsepig...@gmail.com> wrote: > > For me it has less to do with the money economics (CS has been more of a > > money suck than a money maker over the years) and more with the social > > economics. Coworking as a movement has been personally rewarding for me as > > has being part of Citizen Space. I meet all sorts of cool people, get to > > give back to my community and take pride in watching a movement grow over > > the world. > > That's worth more than money to me...and I have a feeling that many others > > who are part of coworking are probably in it for the social and personal > > benefits over the monetary benefits. But I could be projecting... > > > Tara > > > p.s. Interesting to note that Bill and Dane sold Workspace a year ago to > > someone else who hasn't really reached out to the coworking community like > > Bill and Dane used to. I > > haven't met Jayson nor his wife and hadn't stopped by Workspace since > > the transition. > > > > > > > On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Christian <gamesa...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Having read about the impending closure of Workspace, I wanted to > > start a dialogue regarding the sustainability of coworking spaces. The > > reality for most coworking spaces is that the space itself does not > > provide reasonable income for the space owner. The situation for most > > spaces seems to be that either the space is a break even or slightly > > above water venture used as a primary office for the owners work, or > > the space is one that the owner would have occupied regardless of the > > other users, and coworking is a means of giving back and creating a > > beneficial environment while recouping some of the expenses you would > > have had anyway. > > > So, the real question is, can coworking BE a reasonable profit > > business. Do you think the business model allows for sustainable > > profit? If your design or programming firm begins to hemorrhage > > clients due to economic conditions, will your coworking space be > > sustainable? If you have a sustainable model, or are even making your > > living from the space itself, what are your suggestions for those that > > are not? > > > It seems to me that there IS an economic tipping point, where the > > expense of the space for the member is too much to justify the benefit > > of the space. How do we begin to gauge this? It will be different for > > all areas, certainly, but do you feel there are economic or activity > > indicators that can serve as a warning to a space owner that they are > > approaching a cost-benefit switch? > > > And I suppose the last question is, should we worry about it? Is the > > situation for Workspace unique enough that coworking as a whole will > > be free of impact from it? > > > -- > > tara 'missrogue' hunt > > > Book: The Whuffie Factor (http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com) > > Blog: HorsePigCow: Marketing Uncommon (http://horsepigcow.com) > > Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/missrogue > > phone: 514-679-2951 > > > > > > > Chad Ballantyne > 705.252.2423 > c...@rhubarbmedia.ca > www.rhubarbmedia.ca > > ΓΌ Please consider the environment before printing this email. > > > > > > -- tara 'missrogue' hunt Book: The Whuffie Factor (http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com) Blog: HorsePigCow: Marketing Uncommon (http://horsepigcow.com) Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/missrogue phone: 514-679-2951 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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