Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
I love geeking out about this stuff and noodling on business plans. Count me in. We tend to lean on the simple side of things and only have one revenue stream: memberships. I think there are a lot of projects that fit the three points you bring up Craig that, if done right, bring in more members, and keep the members you have happy. Personally I find this approach easier to manage because there is only one source of revenue to track and individual initiatives don't have to live or die by the numbers. That's my take and I also have five years of numbers to play with. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 6:41 AM, Mojo wrote: > Hi Jeff, > > I own a space in Asheville, NC and recently expanded which has created a > bit of additional financial pressure - so I am always in the process of > noodling my coworking model as well. Fortunately I am founder and creative > director of Native Marketing (my day job) which helps balance out the > dollars. Now that I've been a coworking space owner for nearly 2 years > it's a lot easier to see the larger financial picture and learn from > mistakes. I agree that it would be a good idea to get together and share > with each other, but I believe having each member simply provide their > pricing models and operating expenses (vs. full open accounting) is all > that's really necessary. I'm also a fan of identifying and developing new > revenue streams that (1) benefit coworking members, (2) add to the > coworking space bottom line and (3) help build the coworking community. > I'm moving fast forward on one such idea now and hope to present at GCUC > in March. > > Jerome - please keep me posted on the timing specifics of the June SF get > together. > > - Craig > > > On Tuesday, November 13, 2012 11:29:43 PM UTC-5, Jeff Gunther wrote: >> >> Hello, >> >> I've been watching all of the Loosecubes news traffic today and >> reflecting on my own experiences over the past few years. >> >> Although I own a profitable space in Virginia, my ultimate conclusion is >> that coworking's business model is at best immature, at worst still >> unproven. We all know of spaces that have financially failed, but we still >> haven't done much as a community to change the outcome. >> >> Are any space owners interested in creating a private group of peers to >> study each other's financials? To join the group, each participating space >> would be required to openly share their income statement and balance sheet. >> >> If your interested, please email me offline. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Jeff Gunther >> OpenSpace >> 455 Second Street SE, Suite 100 >> Charlottesville, VA 22902 >> > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Keeping expectations in check is key! It's hard to know how many spaces that have closed are because they expected huge returns or blew their budget building infrastructure that didn't pan out. These are not examples of how coworking isn't profitable but it's hard to sort that kind of thing out from only headlines. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:39 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking < baut...@gmail.com> wrote: > I do think the coworking business model is immature but proven to work. > The coworking world has many successful stories and many failures, but we > are within the failure and success rates of any other business and in many > cases doing better. What I think the coworking business model does need to > explore is additional revenue sources beyond just memberships that benefit > the members. There have been several previous discussions in this groups > about alternative sources - sponsorships, classes, add ons like mail or > printing - but these models and the process of launching them have not > fully developed. I think these need to explored more in the open because I > don't think a lot of us share these stories. > > I also think keeping new spaces expectations in check and doing a proper > cost and revenue analysis combined with proper runway funding would be the > biggest benefit to discuss. My gut instinct is that a coworking space is > many space owners first time taking on a large sum of fixed expenses versus > having a service based company and can have new challenges. > > I'm finishing up a book right now and Alex is working on one as well that > discusses the business aspect of coworking to address some of these > problems. I would be happy to contribute some of the spreadsheets and > pricing models and insights that will be in the book to the conversation. > > Craig > Creative Density > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Brilliant observation Jacob, 100% agreed. -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia Got Community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org On Nov 14, 2012, at 1:38 PM, Jacob Sayles wrote: > Keeping expectations in check is key! It's hard to know how many spaces that > have closed are because they expected huge returns or blew their budget > building infrastructure that didn't pan out. These are not examples of how > coworking isn't profitable but it's hard to sort that kind of thing out from > only headlines. > > > Jacob > > --- > Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation > http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 > > > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:39 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking > wrote: >> I do think the coworking business model is immature but proven to work. The >> coworking world has many successful stories and many failures, but we are >> within the failure and success rates of any other business and in many cases >> doing better. What I think the coworking business model does need to explore >> is additional revenue sources beyond just memberships that benefit the >> members. There have been several previous discussions in this groups about >> alternative sources - sponsorships, classes, add ons like mail or printing - >> but these models and the process of launching them have not fully developed. >> I think these need to explored more in the open because I don't think a lot >> of us share these stories. >> >> I also think keeping new spaces expectations in check and doing a proper >> cost and revenue analysis combined with proper runway funding would be the >> biggest benefit to discuss. My gut instinct is that a coworking space is >> many space owners first time taking on a large sum of fixed expenses versus >> having a service based company and can have new challenges. >> >> I'm finishing up a book right now and Alex is working on one as well that >> discusses the business aspect of coworking to address some of these >> problems. I would be happy to contribute some of the spreadsheets and >> pricing models and insights that will be in the book to the conversation. >> >> Craig >> Creative Density >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> >> > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
RE: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Alex...how do I get off the coworking discussion train? From: coworking@googlegroups.com [mailto:coworking@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alex Hillman Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 10:49 AM To: coworking@googlegroups.com Cc: coworking Subject: Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group Brilliant observation Jacob, 100% agreed. -- /ah indyhall.org<http://indyhall.org> coworking in philadelphia Got Community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org On Nov 14, 2012, at 1:38 PM, Jacob Sayles mailto:ja...@officenomads.com>> wrote: Keeping expectations in check is key! It's hard to know how many spaces that have closed are because they expected huge returns or blew their budget building infrastructure that didn't pan out. These are not examples of how coworking isn't profitable but it's hard to sort that kind of thing out from only headlines. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:39 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking mailto:baut...@gmail.com>> wrote: I do think the coworking business model is immature but proven to work. The coworking world has many successful stories and many failures, but we are within the failure and success rates of any other business and in many cases doing better. What I think the coworking business model does need to explore is additional revenue sources beyond just memberships that benefit the members. There have been several previous discussions in this groups about alternative sources - sponsorships, classes, add ons like mail or printing - but these models and the process of launching them have not fully developed. I think these need to explored more in the open because I don't think a lot of us share these stories. I also think keeping new spaces expectations in check and doing a proper cost and revenue analysis combined with proper runway funding would be the biggest benefit to discuss. My gut instinct is that a coworking space is many space owners first time taking on a large sum of fixed expenses versus having a service based company and can have new challenges. I'm finishing up a book right now and Alex is working on one as well that discusses the business aspect of coworking to address some of these problems. I would be happy to contribute some of the spreadsheets and pricing models and insights that will be in the book to the conversation. Craig Creative Density -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Pete, you can visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out?hl=en-US, provide your email address, and it'll let you remove yourself from this list (and any other lists). -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia pre-order the new eBook, "the business of community (http://book.businessofcommunity.com/?ref=email)" On Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Pete Sloan wrote: > Alex…how do I get off the coworking discussion train? > > From: coworking@googlegroups.com [mailto:coworking@googlegroups.com] On > Behalf Of Alex Hillman > Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 10:49 AM > To: coworking@googlegroups.com (mailto:coworking@googlegroups.com) > Cc: coworking > Subject: Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group > > Brilliant observation Jacob, 100% agreed. > -- > > /ah > > indyhall.org (http://indyhall.org) > > coworking in philadelphia > > Got Community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org > > > > On Nov 14, 2012, at 1:38 PM, Jacob Sayles (mailto:ja...@officenomads.com)> wrote: > > Keeping expectations in check is key! It's hard to know how many spaces > > that have closed are because they expected huge returns or blew their > > budget building infrastructure that didn't pan out. These are not examples > > of how coworking isn't profitable but it's hard to sort that kind of thing > > out from only headlines. > > > > > > Jacob > > > > --- > > Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation > > http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 > > > > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:39 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking > > mailto:baut...@gmail.com)> wrote: > > I do think the coworking business model is immature but proven to work. The > > coworking world has many successful stories and many failures, but we are > > within the failure and success rates of any other business and in many > > cases doing better. What I think the coworking business model does need to > > explore is additional revenue sources beyond just memberships that benefit > > the members. There have been several previous discussions in this groups > > about alternative sources - sponsorships, classes, add ons like mail or > > printing - but these models and the process of launching them have not > > fully developed. I think these need to explored more in the open because I > > don't think a lot of us share these stories. > > > > > > I also think keeping new spaces expectations in check and doing a proper > > cost and revenue analysis combined with proper runway funding would be the > > biggest benefit to discuss. My gut instinct is that a coworking space is > > many space owners first time taking on a large sum of fixed expenses versus > > having a service based company and can have new challenges. > > > > > > I'm finishing up a book right now and Alex is working on one as well that > > discusses the business aspect of coworking to address some of these > > problems. I would be happy to contribute some of the spreadsheets and > > pricing models and insights that will be in the book to the conversation. > > > > > > > > > > Craig > > > > Creative Density > > > > -- > > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
This fits with ideas I've had regarding the future of Open Coworking, the non-profit we started this year to handle the financial end of the Coworking Wiki Project we've been working on. The benefit I see is that an organization like this can not only have a large scale, scope, and reach, but also provide a buffer between sponsors and the individual spaces and be the broker that ensures every element of any deal is in line with the coworking core values. If you are interested in discussing how we might combine efforts, that could work out well. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 7:46 AM, Mojo wrote: > Craig and others, there seems to be little question that the primary > revenue stream for coworking communities is *work space* memberships. > After that there has been a hodge podge of experiments within each > community to see what works best, most efficiently and for the greatest > benefit to the space and its members. At Mojo, our second biggest stream > is meeting space - mostly conference room rentals for non-members. We also > do printing for local business and believe that this can become a > significant profit source. (we lease a printer and pay 1¢ for black prints > and 10¢ for color ... we charge 5¢ for black and 35¢ for color to > non-members. We just did a 3,500 page print job ... the math is pretty > simple there. > > The trick I find is to *keep it simple*. Do what is best within the > limits of your current system resources and then look for "plug ins" that > don't over tax your time/energy ... but can deliver benefits to you and > your membership. > > A few of you mentioned local sponsorships as a revenue stream. The trick > is finding the right sponsors (who fit your member audience) and also > having the resources to deliver what they expect in a > professional/meaningful way. It can be done, surely, but it'll be > important to look at the cost/benefits of each. > > I'm beginning work on an idea that I think offers a better solution to > tapping sponsorship as a revenue stream for the coworking movement. I > consider it a "plug in" for sponsorship. Instead of each coworking space > identifying and negotiating with local sponsors, We've started to build a > network of coworking spaces and will facilitate the relationships with > national level sponsors on a larger scale. By creating a more complete > national footprint we can attract bigger companies with brands that have an > *authentic fit with the coworking movement* and will inject energy and > value into the membership at each space. Think Intel, Apple, Cartoon > Network/Adult Swim, Converse, Acer, REI, Prius, Cannondale, Canon, Belkin, > Clif Bar, 5 Hour Energy Drink, etc. Having larger/national sponsors should > also provide higher "sponsorship fees" to coworking owners - and demand > less time/energy to activate. > > I guess I should mention that my "day job" is running an advertising > agency with multiple Fortune 500 clients who are looking for this sort of > experiential connection to the smart, young, entrepreneurial audience. > > Our network concept is just getting started, and I plan to have more > details to present at GCUC, so I'd love to hear any feedback on this idea > as well as talk with anyone interested in possibly joining our "network" of > spaces. > > > > On Wednesday, November 14, 2012 11:39:52 AM UTC-5, Craig Baute - Creative > Density Coworking wrote: >> >> I do think the coworking business model is immature but proven to work. >> The coworking world has many successful stories and many failures, but we >> are within the failure and success rates of any other business and in many >> cases doing better. What I think the coworking business model does need to >> explore is additional revenue sources beyond just memberships that benefit >> the members. There have been several previous discussions in this groups >> about alternative sources - sponsorships, classes, add ons like mail or >> printing - but these models and the process of launching them have not >> fully developed. I think these need to explored more in the open because I >> don't think a lot of us share these stories. >> >> I also think keeping new spaces expectations in check and doing a proper >> cost and revenue analysis combined with proper runway funding would be the >> biggest benefit to discuss. My gut instinct is that a coworking space is >> many space owners first time taking on a large sum of fixed expenses versus >> having a service based company and can have new challenges. >> >> I'm finishing up a book right now and Alex is working on one as well that >> discusses the business aspect of coworking to address some of these >> problems. I would be happy to contribute some of the spreadsheets and >> pricing models and insights that will be in the book to the conversation. >> >> Craig >> Creative Density >> > -- > Visit this forum on t
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Jacob and Mojo, I have always loved this idea of getting sponsorships on a more national level for services that are truly beneficial to our communities. I was approached about six months ago by an ad agency in California that had a client that was trying to enter new markets and sponsor coworking spaces. It seemed like a good match of company and community because many of the members would be interested in interested as it was based on a problem we recently brainstormed. I thought of it as a win-win, but ultimately we were not selected. As the coworking's awareness grows in the next few years I could see more services wanting to reach our members. We just need to remember to be proper gatekeepers with clear approval guidelines so we aren't promoting services to our members that are obtrusive or worthless just so an extra dollar can be made. I could see LeXC eventually adding this as a revenue stream for their members but opening it up to a broader group would help more coworking spaces with Open Coworking. Most importantly, it would be a benefit to our members if it involved tools that many of community members already used at a discount and helped them run their businesses more efficiently. -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
I don't mean to drudge up any old debates, but one of the major initiatives I had pushed for in last year's Coworking Owners' weekend was to have some national association/alliance/etc. so that we could harness these national-level services accelerate or even fund projects like Open Coworking "study groups" for reviewing business models etc. Unfortunately, no such national org came to fruition from the 30 of us who had met. Perhaps we can readdress this @GCUC or the next Coworking Owners Weekend in June in SF @Nextspace. or like Craig mentioned, LExC could perhaps take on some of these initiatives. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself" www.blankspaces.com 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 323.330.9505 (office) On Nov 15, 2012, at 8:57 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote: > Jacob and Mojo, > > I have always loved this idea of getting sponsorships on a more national > level for services that are truly beneficial to our communities. I was > approached about six months ago by an ad agency in California that had a > client that was trying to enter new markets and sponsor coworking spaces. It > seemed like a good match of company and community because many of the members > would be interested in interested as it was based on a problem we recently > brainstormed. I thought of it as a win-win, but ultimately we were not > selected. As the coworking's awareness grows in the next few years I could > see more services wanting to reach our members. We just need to remember to > be proper gatekeepers with clear approval guidelines so we aren't promoting > services to our members that are obtrusive or worthless just so an extra > dollar can be made. > > I could see LeXC eventually adding this as a revenue stream for their members > but opening it up to a broader group would help more coworking spaces with > Open Coworking. Most importantly, it would be a benefit to our members if it > involved tools that many of community members already used at a discount and > helped them run their businesses more efficiently. On Nov 15, 2012, at 7:46 AM, Mojo wrote: > Craig and others, there seems to be little question that the primary revenue > stream for coworking communities is work space memberships. After that there > has been a hodge podge of experiments within each community to see what works > best, most efficiently and for the greatest benefit to the space and its > members. At Mojo, our second biggest stream is meeting space - mostly > conference room rentals for non-members. We also do printing for local > business and believe that this can become a significant profit source. (we > lease a printer and pay 1¢ for black prints and 10¢ for color ... we charge > 5¢ for black and 35¢ for color to non-members. We just did a 3,500 page > print job ... the math is pretty simple there. > > The trick I find is to keep it simple. Do what is best within the limits of > your current system resources and then look for "plug ins" that don't over > tax your time/energy ... but can deliver benefits to you and your membership. > > A few of you mentioned local sponsorships as a revenue stream. The trick is > finding the right sponsors (who fit your member audience) and also having the > resources to deliver what they expect in a professional/meaningful way. It > can be done, surely, but it'll be important to look at the cost/benefits of > each. > > I'm beginning work on an idea that I think offers a better solution to > tapping sponsorship as a revenue stream for the coworking movement. I > consider it a "plug in" for sponsorship. Instead of each coworking space > identifying and negotiating with local sponsors, We've started to build a > network of coworking spaces and will facilitate the relationships with > national level sponsors on a larger scale. By creating a more complete > national footprint we can attract bigger companies with brands that have an > authentic fit with the coworking movement and will inject energy and value > into the membership at each space. Think Intel, Apple, Cartoon Network/Adult > Swim, Converse, Acer, REI, Prius, Cannondale, Canon, Belkin, Clif Bar, 5 Hour > Energy Drink, etc. Having larger/national sponsors should also provide > higher "sponsorship fees" to coworking owners - and demand less time/energy > to activate. > > I guess I should mention that my "day job" is running an advertising agency > with multiple Fortune 500 clients who are looking for this sort of > experiential connection to the smart, young, entrepreneurial audience. > > Our network concept is just getting started, and I plan to have more details > to present at GCUC, so I'd love to hear any feedback on this idea as well as > talk with anyone interested in possibly joining our "network" of spaces. > > > > On Wednesday, November 14, 2012 11:39:5
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Actually TWO organizations came out of that meeting. Both LExC and Open Coworking were manifestations of the conversations we had that weekend. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 9:13 AM, Jerome Chang wrote: > I don't mean to drudge up any old debates, but one of the major > initiatives I had pushed for in last year's Coworking Owners' weekend was > to have some national association/alliance/etc. so that we could > harness these national-level services > accelerate or even fund projects like Open Coworking > "study groups" for reviewing business models > etc. > > Unfortunately, no such national org came to fruition from the 30 of us who > had met. > > Perhaps we can readdress this @GCUC or the next Coworking Owners Weekend > in June in SF @Nextspace. > or like Craig mentioned, LExC could perhaps take on some of these > initiatives. > > > > Jerome > __ > BLANKSPACES > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself" > > www.blankspaces.com > 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 > 323.330.9505 (office) > > On Nov 15, 2012, at 8:57 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking < > baut...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Jacob and Mojo, > > I have always loved this idea of getting sponsorships on a more national > level for services that are truly beneficial to our communities. I > was approached about six months ago by an ad agency in California that had > a client that was trying to enter new markets and sponsor coworking spaces. > It seemed like a good match of company and community because many of the > members would be interested in interested as it was based on a problem we > recently brainstormed. I thought of it as a win-win, but ultimately we were > not selected. As the coworking's awareness grows in the next few years I > could see more services wanting to reach our members. We just need to > remember to be proper gatekeepers with clear approval guidelines so we > aren't promoting services to our members that are obtrusive > or worthless just so an extra dollar can be made. > > I could see LeXC eventually adding this as a revenue stream for their > members but opening it up to a broader group would help more coworking > spaces with Open Coworking. Most importantly, it would be a benefit to our > members if it involved tools that many of community members already used at > a discount and helped them run their businesses more efficiently. > > > > On Nov 15, 2012, at 7:46 AM, Mojo wrote: > > Craig and others, there seems to be little question that the primary > revenue stream for coworking communities is *work space* memberships. > After that there has been a hodge podge of experiments within each > community to see what works best, most efficiently and for the greatest > benefit to the space and its members. At Mojo, our second biggest stream > is meeting space - mostly conference room rentals for non-members. We also > do printing for local business and believe that this can become a > significant profit source. (we lease a printer and pay 1¢ for black prints > and 10¢ for color ... we charge 5¢ for black and 35¢ for color to > non-members. We just did a 3,500 page print job ... the math is pretty > simple there. > > The trick I find is to *keep it simple*. Do what is best within the > limits of your current system resources and then look for "plug ins" that > don't over tax your time/energy ... but can deliver benefits to you and > your membership. > > A few of you mentioned local sponsorships as a revenue stream. The trick > is finding the right sponsors (who fit your member audience) and also > having the resources to deliver what they expect in a > professional/meaningful way. It can be done, surely, but it'll be > important to look at the cost/benefits of each. > > I'm beginning work on an idea that I think offers a better solution to > tapping sponsorship as a revenue stream for the coworking movement. I > consider it a "plug in" for sponsorship. Instead of each coworking space > identifying and negotiating with local sponsors, We've started to build a > network of coworking spaces and will facilitate the relationships with > national level sponsors on a larger scale. By creating a more complete > national footprint we can attract bigger companies with brands that have an > *authentic fit with the coworking movement* and will inject energy and > value into the membership at each space. Think Intel, Apple, Cartoon > Network/Adult Swim, Converse, Acer, REI, Prius, Cannondale, Canon, Belkin, > Clif Bar, 5 Hour Energy Drink, etc. Having larger/national sponsors should > also provide higher "sponsorship fees" to coworking owners - and demand > less time/energy to activate. > > I guess I should mention that my "day job" is running an advertising > agency with multiple Fortune 500 clients who are looking for this sort of > experiential connection to the smart, young, entre
Re: [Coworking] Re: Business Model Study Group
Thanks for the clarification. -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
