Hi Liane, Actually we tweaked that idea already, but for a specific reason. We are not going to charge vendors who graduated from or are currently participating in TechTown's Retail Bootcamp or SWOT City (place based entrepreneurship) program. For other commercial vendors we will charge a fee. We are not sure what that fee will look like yet. We are thinking it will either be a percentage of the food revenue or a flat fee.
We will charge a refundable deposit no matter what for all vendors. Right now we are thinking a $100 a day. Does that seem steep? The way I figured that out: If the vendor sells a normal lunch for roughly $7 a day, with 10-15 lunches purchased, that would be over $100 in revenue. We are basically trying to cover the minimum a person would take in a day. Obviously we hope more than 10-15 buy lunch, but since this is new space we may not see many people at first. Hope this helps, and awesome to hear others thinking about this issue. Let me know what you think and would love to hear other's ideas or questions. Isaac On Tuesday, October 15, 2013 8:43:54 AM UTC-4, Liane J. wrote: > > Hello Isaac - I have wondered about how to integrate a food vendor in a > coworking space so I'm glad you started this topic. May I ask why you > decided on a refundable deposit instead of charging the vendor? > > On Friday, October 11, 2013 7:38:27 AM UTC-5, Isaac Gilman wrote: >> >> Greetings everybody, >> >> My name is Isaac Gilman, and I’m working with TechTown >> Detroit<http://techtowndetroit.org/>. >> If you’re not familiar with us, TechTown is the most established business >> incubator and accelerator in Detroit – founded specifically to develop and >> grow sustainable, technology-based businesses. In the coming months, we >> will open a co-working space >> (Junction440<http://techtowndetroit.org/entrepreneur/junction440/>) >> to enhance and complement our current programs, plus foster a community of >> entrepreneurs in the neighborhood. >> >> The space is currently in the middle of construction, but it’s coming >> along and should be completed by Thanksgiving. Currently, I’m researching >> and implementing some of the key aspects for the space so, once >> construction is finished, we can hit the ground running. >> >> Our space is very unique. We have about 20,000 sq ft of usable space >> with about 50%-75% of space being used by TechTown and then 25% percent >> will be dedicated to co-working. In addition, we will have a cafeteria >> located within our space. TechTown offers a two retail bootcamps, which >> helps retail businesses get off the ground. One idea is to have some of >> these retail bootcamp members display their food businesses in our >> cafeteria. Another idea is to bring in other food vendors for various >> portions of the month. >> >> We do not have a full fledged kitchen, again this is primarily a place >> where vendors can pre-make food and then sell it to our staff, tenants >> (other people located in the same building), co-workers and the general >> public. >> >> We do not plan to charge the food vendor, but we do plan to have them pay >> a refundable deposit. >> >> Question: Do you know other co-working spaces that offer this amenity (I >> have not really found any besides test kitchens)? Also, does anyone have >> any thoughts about a cafeteria like component mixed in with a co-working >> space that will be open to the general public and other people not related >> to the co-working space? Do you think this may be an issue? Too many >> distractions? Conversely, could this be a huge draw to co-workers? >> >> Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc. Look forward to >> hearing from people. >> >> Best, >> >> Isaac >> >> >> -- 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.
