Hi Kevin. Welcome to the group! …and thanks for listening to me go on and one about layouts. Despite the physicality of the industry, very little about this is actually discussed, aside from a few tips about knick knacks: power strips, sound panels, etc.
My knee jerk reaction is go w/ the Main Street house. It’s lower risk, and if you blow up, great, then go expand to another larger site or add a 2nd location. I think you’ll be able to test the strength of your community in a lower risk space because as you can imagine, converting interest to dollars is the real test. Then also testing your operating skills, learning what really can work, etc… As for the financials, it seems like you’ve figured out the sales forecast. Add an expense/operating cost forecast and you have a pro forma. Keep it to 1 page and others might actually read and understand it. I wouldn’t bother beyond 5 years of forecast. Beyond 3 is already speculative but 5 is more standard despite the speculation. Feel free to reach out. JEROME CHANG <> talk to us: (323) 330-9505 <> chat w/ us: <>http://www.BLANKSPACES.com/chat <https://lc.chat/now/7173741/> WEST: Santa Monica <> | <>1450 2nd St (@Broadway) CENTRAL: Mid-Wilshire | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) EAST: Downtown <> | <>529 S. Broadway, Ste 4000 (@Pershing Square) > On Mar 27, 2017, at 7:05 AM, Kevin Haggerty <kevinrhagge...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hey group! > > My name is Kevin Haggerty. I'm 37 years old and live in Gloucester, Virginia. > Our city has approximately 30k people in it, and it is located between > Williamsburg and Virginia Beach. > > A month ago, after five years in the ministry, and for a variety of reasons I > won't go into here, I stepped down as Executive Pastor of a church. > > My background actually isn't in ministry, rather, it is in web and graphic > design. > > So, after stepping down, I went back to what I know, which is designing > websites. > > I started off working from home, but I have two toddlers and a newborn at > home, so, yeah, no go. > > I tried the library, Starbucks, etc, etc, and you all have obviously been > down that road which is what led you here. > > A month ago, I'd never even heard of coworking. Now, in fairly obsessed with > the idea of it. > > My community doesn't have a coworking space. The closest one is 45 minutes > away. I think it'd be great for our community, but I just am not totally sure > how to go about it. > > I've ravenously digested Alex's blog posts and videos. I've watched every > video on the CoHo YouTube channel. I've watched and listened to hours of > Jerome talking about coworking space and arrangement. I've read just about > every post on this group forum (which is amazing, btw). I've amassed at least > 100 hours of research, just in the last month. > > I started a Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/coworkGloucesterVA) to generate > interest. So far, I have six people who have said they'd be serious about > joining, and I've added them to an email list. I'm working on planning a > meetup soon where we can all get to know each other and talk possibilities. > > Additionally, I've begun scouting locations. Here is the rundown: > > - There is an old historic house on our Main Street that was recently > purchased by some friends of mine. It's two stories, and they are interested > in renting out the top story for dedicated office space and letting me > operate a coworking space on the first floor. The first floor has a small > kitchen, a bathroom, a small office, a room that could be a conference room, > a 10x30 room that would be good for open coworking, then a smaller 10x20 room > that could work for more partitioned and quieter space. There's also decent > parking out back, and the building is in the thick of downtown, so lots to do > nearby. The owners are interested in essentially charging me a percentage > based on how many I have in the building, and not a set rent rate. They'd > also help with the build-out costs, if not incur them entirely. It's less > risky, but it means I still essentially work for syndrome and don't really > have ownership, and there also isn't much room to grow. > > - There is a 3600 sqft unit in a nearby shopping center. It is pretty much a > blank slate, and I could do a lot with it. The shopping center it resides in > is growing and would be a good place to be. The lease is $2100/month, which > is cheap considering the space, but I don't have any capital, and I haven't > had time to do any fundraising yet. > > - There are a couple other spaces simular to the one mentioned above. > > - I've also spoken to a man with the local economic development foundation, > and he's told me about an old historic, 4500 sqft building on Main Street > that used to be a law office. He was unclear as to really why he brought it > up and if he thinks we'd be able to use it. What he was clear on was that he > needs to see a financial plan from me. I have a business plan, but a > financial plan on a coworking space seems difficult to me. All I can think to > do is give him my pricing model and some different scenarios based on how > full the building is and what types of memberships could theoretically be > purchased. > > I've led organizations before and am comfortable leading. I think this idea > is a good one and something our community needs. > > I just don't know what to do next, and I could really use some direction. > > I'm sorry for the novel. > > I appreciate the feedback in advance. > > Thanks! > > -Kevin > > -- > 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/d/optout. -- 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/d/optout.
