When someone says, “Coworking” do you immediately think of rooms filled with open desks and young tech dudes? I did, for a long time. We Work came in and redefined what shared or flexible office space looked like. Gone were images of boring grey walls and sterile 5 ft x 5 ft offices that lined hallways of places like Regus and Office Evolution. Those were for the stodgy suit-clad professionals that needed a quiet spot to get work done. Now we were seeing cool urban lofts turned into hip workspaces filled with young people needing a bike rack or locker to hold their skateboards. The truth is, when it comes to coworking or flex office space for women in Denver, it has morphed into pretty much anything you can imagine.
Today, we live in the sharing-economy. We share scooters and bikes with companies like Bird and Lime, share cars by using Lyft and Uber, and even clothing with companies like Rent-the-Runway, so why not share workspaces? What are some of the benefits of working out of a coworking over finding your own office space in a commercial building and not sharing it with anyone else?
FLEXIBILITY
Many coworking spaces do not require long-term leases, but instead, offer memberships as flexible as daily, weekly, or monthly for the use of offices and other workspaces. You can even rent a conference room or podcasting room by the hour without needing that kind of overhead monthly.
Your business may have been impacted by COVID-19 and you need to “dedensify” your workforce, providing more space per person than you had in the past. In a traditional leased space you would not have the flexibility and yet in a coworking space you can allow for your team to spread over a designated desk area or move into a larger office temporarily.
Perhaps your startup is growing and you’re not sure how much space you will need in 6 months, let alone, 3 years. When moving into a traditional commercial office space you are looking at 3, 5, or 10-year leases, whereas in coworking spaces you can flex and grow, or retract and go from a 6-person team space to a 3-person space in a matter of hours.
Flexibility is the number one reason many businesses are looking at coworking spaces today.
MANAGE OVERHEAD
In today’s coworking spaces, you pay for an office but get so much more. When you walk into most coworking spaces you are greeted by a receptionist or office manager … that is not on your payroll.
In a traditional commercial office you will also have costs that can include having the space to have your office kitchen or breakroom as well as the costs of dishes, coffee pots, coffee, and snacks, cleaning supplies, and regular cleaning crews. You will also need high-speed Wi-Fi, a copier/printer, and all of the headaches…I mean supplies that go along with those. In a coworking space all of this is usually included in your membership.
AS-NEEDED MEETING AND EVENT SPACE
Most organizations do not utilize a conference or training room every day, so why pay for that space when you aren’t using it? Coworking spaces will often have a variety of conference rooms, classrooms and even media rooms for podcasting or video production for members to use as needed or non-members to rent by the hour. Membership often comes with conference room hours.
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY- BUILDING
Whether you are a social butterfly, or you like to keep to yourself and skip the watercooler conversations, one of the perks that most people find enjoyable the option to attend educational and social events. While not all coworking spaces host regular events, most will cater to the makeup of members in their space. A more youthful membership mix may host lots of after-hours events with craft beer and kickball tournaments, while others may host lunch-n-learn events around investing for beginners, marketing your local business, or dealing with mom-guilt as an entrepreneur.
Finding a coworking space that fits the personality or makeup of your team is important because of the events and vibe of each space. You want to find a space that feels comfortable and that your team will love coming into each day.
ADDITIONAL PERKS
Of course, we are biased here at The Village Workspace, since we designed our space to check every box a working mom would want. That doesn’t mean that men don’t love the perks just as much, it just means that only a space designed by women would include a kids playroom for those days when you have to have your child come to the office with you, a nursing room with a beautiful lounger and a mini-fridge to store your breast milk so it doesn’t have to sit next to someone’s lunch in the kitchen refrigerator. We also have a large workout space complete with treadmills, stationary bikes, rowing machines, free weights, yoga mats, and more so you can get that workout in BEFORE you have to run and shuttle kids everywhere. We’ve also stocked our restrooms with all the things that women wish were in every work restroom—dry shampoo, hairspray, tampons, and rubber bands.
WHAT WOULD YOU PUT IN YOUR IDEAL WORKSPACE?
There are so many benefits to the sharing-economy and today’s creative workspaces. We’d love to know… what would you put in your ideal space?
If you are in the South Denver or Tech Center area, pop in for a tour at The Village!
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