Coworker Space
Prior to the Pandemic, a colleague and I looked into coworking space in New York City. The topic left our radar screen for years and has since resurfaced.
If you are considering courting business out of town or out of state or even out of country, coworker space is worth a look. In today’s world of remote and hybrid work, for small business owners who can provide their service out of town, therr are many reasons why leasing or renting a desk or small office may make sense.
If you are a licensed professional, bringing your talent to a new location may require a new license, a new bank account, and a new local address. The same may apply if you are seeking a Certification in a new area of business. Often a WBE or an MBE may require a local office address, not just a PO Box, and some even require proof of a locally opened bank account. Note the distinction between a physical address and a PO Box address. Often, the second one does not pass the inspection list for proving you have office space in the desired locale.
Coworker space will often offer various options. Do you need a dedicated desk, small office, conference space? Do you need a physical address where mail can be sent? What are the timeframes around how many times you will visit the space? These are but a few key questions to ask yourself before you meet with the leasing agent.
If you are looking at a larger city for coworker space, visit multiple office sites. We went to 3 in New York and each one has different vibes. One had a huge common area with lots of beverages and mo going space where you could get to know others. Another was more traditional office space with reserved and conservative feel. And the third just seemed a lot of fun, maybe not so much work was done there but more networking.
We recently revisited this concept for a different larger city than before. An upcoming visit to some coworker spaces is likely on the summer Agenda.
If you land a large, multi-year project, the concept is worth a review. You might just be surprised how convenient and economic the space may be for your business. Expansion comes with risk but a local office networking space may just help mitigate that and bring you new friends and new business.
Be well.
