Entrepreneur’s View on Coworking
Harry Lin was interviewed by ReadWriteWeb on how collaboration and coworking helped his startup succeed. From the article:
We would come up with a problem or a hurdle we couldn’t get over and we would just shout out, “Hey has anyone ever done this with a library?” and some guy would jump up and say, “Yeah, I’ve done that!” Voila! Problem solved. And that would happen all the time.
Another quote from the article.
If possible, I would not do the “in your basement” or “in your garage by yourself”. Those are the legendary stories we like to hear about, but I think the majority of successful startups has had some kind of coworking environment. … Being with other people who are doing the same thing is hugely beneficial.
Coworking Coming to St. Cloud
Coworking Saves Money?
Darrell Etherington wrote for WebWorkerDaily today about how Coworking can save money on your own personal bottom line. I’m not sure how much this applies to the Rochester, MN apartment rental market, but it’s an interesting take on personal space. Even if you aren’t looking for a new apartment elsewhere, the reduction in your office footprint could allow the space to be used for other purposes (perhaps a record collection?) Your savings may vary depending on how much of your residence you write off on your taxes.
Substituting interesting locations to work from including museums is a great suggestion. The variety of inspired locations lends itself to thinking creatively, which regardless of your skill set, yields results. The Rochester Art Center probably isn’t well suited for working (few chairs). The Mayo Clinic does have an abundance of seating and free WiFi so may be a feasible alternative in town. The high traffic areas may not be ideal if your easily distracted, but the bustling environment may be mentally stimulating as well.
Are there other venues that are inspiring and have free WiFi?
If You Build It, They Will Come
Um, No. Community plays a huge roll in ultimately the determining success or failure of a co-working location. A building, no matter how well located, how cool and how hip can’t hope to succeed unless the community needs it. Brad Neuberg ended up closing his first c0-working facility because “nobody came”, but that is not entirely accurate. Many people did come and his idea spread to other locations. His ideas were remixed, spread and new facilities cropped up all around the country and the world. A community of space catalysts was born.
A post illustrating the differences between temporary and permanent co-working caught my attention today. The author described some of the features of a permanent location and a temporary event like a Jelly. What was missing, however, was the sense of community and collaboration, the human resources, that are present in both models. Anecdotally, I’ve learned that successful co-working facilities have grown out of communities. Both CoCo (MN) and The 3rd Place (MN) both started out as a less formal co-working group that meets regularly in Minneapolis.
In 2009, WebWorkerDaily posted an article about Justifying Coworking as an Investment. It highlights the decision process someone should go through when contemplating wether co-working will be a good fit for them. This paragraph from that article really hits the nail on the head:
If you are looking to build meaningful professional relationships, the kind that can’t come from email exchanges and the occasional lunch, then coworking presents a tangible benefit. If you need your company to have a public face, and one that exists in a brick-and-mortar sense, and you need that consistently, then coworking presents an attractive proposition. If your working hours are interrupted in consistent and unpredictable ways at your home office, damaging your productivity, then coworking could help.
So how might co-working take hold and get started in Rochester and other cities? By forming a community. Over the last few weeks I have learned that there are multiple communities of small firms and solo-workers already in place here in Rochester. I’ll be working to connect with these communities over the coming months.
Hat tip to CoCo for sharing the WebWorkerDaily article.
Shared Office vs. Co-working
A quick search of the Rochester Craigslist returns a slew available office leases. One seeking a medical related occupant for only $225/month; others looking to rent out large business presences. Shared offices are a great way to save money while having a dedicated work location. Here in Rochester, the most commercialized option is the Rochester Executive Suites on 19th NW. Formal shared office plans like this start at $500/month compared with typical co-working plans that are in the $300-$400 range in most cities. Co-working opportunities and shared office space are similar but not the same.
This chart highlights some of the differences:
| Amenity | Shared Office | Co-working |
|---|---|---|
| Typical Costs | $500/mo | $300/mo |
| Conference Room |  |
|
| Free Coffee | |
|
| High-speed Internet |  |
|
| Desk & Chair | |
|
| Collaboration | |
|
| Community | |
|
| Room to Expand | |
|
| 24×7 Access | |
|
| Unique Environment | |
|
| Beige Business Environment | |
|
| Isolation | |
|
| 1 Year Lease | |
|
| Shared Copier / Fax Machine | |
|
| Administrative Support | |
|
| Shared Telephone System | |
This is hardly exhaustive. Please leave your thoughts on the differences between co-working an shared office locations in the comments below.
Specialty Co-working
The New York Times has an article today about a specialty co-working location Green Spaces (NY) which is focusing in on the needs of environmental startups as well as running a green business. With Rochester so heavily focused on medicine, could this area support a more focused co-working facility that was geared toward bio-technology? It’s clear that the larger environmental movement nation-wide is taking hold in a big way in the co-working space and should be included in any local efforts to create a co-working facility, bio-tech focused or not.
The future bio-technology park in Pine Island seems to indicate that traditional co-working may be to “small” to handle the needs of the medical industry. However, it’s also clear that gathering of any industry vertical together into one location is beneficial. Rochester’s smaller information based businesses would certainly benefit from the presence of a co-working facility.
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