Daniel, I will just say ditto to what Alex and others have said. Focus on the community.
My team and I are focusing on just what you are talking about - bringing coworking to smaller communities and suburbs where accessibility to coworking is not as easy. (We are 30 mins from our closest facility and up to an an hour + from some). We identified a handful of areas and are working on building those communities through our facebook page, meet up groups and drop ins that we are hoping to start in the next few weeks. Try reaching out to your city's Chamber of Commerce and Economic development department. We have reach out to, and met with several of the Chamber's of Commerce in the given cities as well as the economic development offices of the cities. We got a tremendous response and connection and response from the city I live in that may get us a space in a new town center that was just approved for construction earlier this week. You may also look to connect with Jasper Welch, the cofounder of a Durango Space (http://durangospace.com/) in Durango, Colorado, a small town in the southern region of Colorado. I have reach out to him and am hoping to pick his brain some more as he has successfully set up a space in a small community and in the few emails we have exchanged, has a lot of knowledge on the topic. In my mind, his story reinforces that above all else, the community makes the space work, even in smaller cities and towns. And as Alex said, don't worry too much about someone taking your idea. My team and are literally working simultanously with another individual who wants to open a space in the same area and for that fact there are at least three other meet up groups with the same aspirations. Focus on your process and your space. Don't feel rushed, be methodical and get a solid foundation. I am actually doing what I can to help the others who want to set up spaces for two reasons. Spaces are more successful when they have other spaces in the area (See Deskmag coworking survey results). I think this is because with more spaces, the word about coworking is spread further. And the second reason is that the other two have slightly different visions that we have. One wants to develop a makerspace, which I would love to partner with but don't want to get into the makerspace area right now. So just stick with your vision and you'll be fine. But again, focus on community. community and community. Getting the physical space is the easier part of the equation. Rob C. On Monday, August 19, 2013 7:57:13 PM UTC-6, Daniel Rivera wrote: > > I want to open the 1st coworking space in my region > > The closest coworking space to where I live is a 4 hour drive away. I > don't live in a technology or "creative" driven community but I feel that a > place like this could bring these people together and help foster growth in > my community and benefit all involved. > > I'm late to the wonderful concept of coworking so I have been using google > to find as much information as possible. First and foremost, thank you > Alex Hillman for all of your insight. I love stumbling onto your blogs, > videos and in depth responses to questions posted by others. > > To all who have opened a coworking community - how do you walk the fine > line between trying to start a community before you open your doors and > having someone run off with your idea and beating you to the punch? > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
