Unfortunately, your startup has a better chance of failing than it does succeeding. Millions of startups are created each year, and only a fraction of them will persist past five years.
As difficult as it may be to reach the year milestone and beyond, utilizing a coworking space can give your startup a chance at longevity. Let’s explore how coworking spaces can help mitigate some of the new startup growing pains.
Lower Your Expenses
First and foremost, a coworking space can be incredibly cost-effective. You aren’t responsible for the financial obligations associated with having a traditional office. You don’t have to worry about building maintenance, either.
All you have to worry about is paying the fee for using the space you want for however long you want to use it. There may be additional costs for using specific amenities, but these expenses are affordable in comparison to what it costs to run a traditional office.
Ultimately, using coworking spaces can help you reduce business costs. Sharing a space helps you ensure your team is using their time wisely, saves money on technology solutions, and only requires you to pay for the amount of space you truly need.
All you save can be invested back into your startup and used to pay your workers what they deserve.
Create a More Relaxed Work Culture
Maintaining a traditional office can be stressful.
For example, you must pay monthly rent, utilities, and other bills. You must supply the office with technology, furniture, storage, and anything else it needs to be functional. You’re also responsible for fixing every problem that arises.
This added pressure and stress can lead to individual and team mistakes that can be detrimental to your startup’s success. For instance, you may become disorganized and create a cluttered workspace that leads to physical safety hazards, lost documents, and distractions.
A coworking space can be beneficial because you don’t have to shoulder the stress of the upkeep of a traditional office. It’s all on the management of the coworking space. Less stress results in reduced errors in the workplace and helps you produce more accurate, quality work.
Build a Stronger Remote Team
Many startups are taking advantage of a global talent pool. They’re offering remote work to top talent in their industry to ensure their startup gets off on the right foot. That said, it’s essential to acknowledge the difficulties in building a remote team.
One of the main challenges is ensuring your remote team members don’t feel isolated, undervalued, or like they’re an afterthought. Instead, show them that they’re an integral part of your team by offering a coworking space for the entire team to work in person at least a few times a month.
Face-to-face interaction is integral to building authentic relationships that facilitate exceptional communication and collaboration.
Meet Potential Clients
Coworking spaces are one of the best places for startups to meet potential clients. You share a coworking space with entrepreneurs, freelancers, remote workers, small businesses, and other startups — all of which are a part of different industries.
You have an opportunity to interact with these individuals and teams each day you work in your coworking space. As you get to know them and their work, you may find they can benefit from your startup’s solution. If you initiate the conversation about them becoming a client at the appropriate time in your relationship, they just might accept the offer.
Socialize More Often
As great as coworking spaces are for work, they’re also exceptional for socialization. Socializing can be the difference between a happy, productive team member and an unhappy, disengaged one.
In addition, socializing is essential for good mental health and emotional well-being. You and your team need to be mentally and emotionally stable to feel and do your best each workday.
Moreover, your remote workers need the opportunity to socialize as well. Unfortunately, many remote employees report feeling isolated and lonely. This can lead to diminished work quality and disruption in collaboration.
You can bring everyone together at least once a month to socialize in your coworking space. For example, you can host a team lunch, social hour, or team-building activity to strengthen individual and team bonds.
You also can socialize with other professionals during the workday and social events hosted by your coworking space. The relationships, advice, and resources you gather from these individuals can benefit your startup tremendously.
Open Up Creative Marketing Opportunities
A coworking space can open up creative marketing opportunities for your startup.
Coworking spaces are designed well, visually appealing, and carry some of the best aesthetics. You can use this to your advantage by creating content for your startup’s social media platforms to take your social media marketing results to new heights.
You also have a chance to be featured on the coworking space’s social media. They’re constantly taking pictures, videos, graphics, and creating other content to promote their space.
They may ask you to share your experience or take photos and videos with you and your team to show potential customers what they have to look forward to. They’ll more than likely shout out your business in the marketing material too, furthering your marketing efforts.
Conclusion
90% of startups fail. It’s worth it to try to implement innovative business solutions, like using a coworking space, to give your startup a better chance of being a part of the 10% of startups that make it.
Consider the reasons above to make an insightful decision about whether a coworking space is the best choice for your startup.
