How to open a coworking business plan. Benefits of the coworking niche. A non-standard approach to business, we increase traffic

Today we will tell you how to open a coworking center. In Russia, coworking centers are a new phenomenon, they appeared not so long ago. What are the nuances of organizing a coworking center? These places can be used as a conference room, business center for business meetings, office. A coworking center can be rented by several people at once. The rent is divided between them in equal shares or distributed in proportion to the occupied area and the hours spent.

Coworking centers are especially popular with freelancerswho work remotely, and it is not profitable for them to rent an office space. And to have a place for a temporary office to organize a working atmosphere, which is difficult to create at home, or for the period of negotiation, is very convenient and economically profitable.

To organize a coworking center, a group of four to eight people is enough, including:

administrator;
technical support officer;
promotion manager and others.

One such center will suffice. If the population is more than 1 million people, then there is a high probability of having one coworking center in such a city. Then you can organize another one in another area or aimed at a specific category: designers and artists, programmers, journalists, sales managers and others.

Project price

Several factors affect the cost of opening such a center:

footprint;
location;
specificity of events and their format.

To begin with, you need to invest ten thousand dollars or more to organize a coworking center. The main investments occur in the first months, when there is an active promotion process, work with the media. It is necessary to have a certain reserve of funds for current expenses (rent, repairs), because regular income can only be received in six months. pay off after two years from the date of opening.

Location

Not so long ago, coworking centers were created for clients who were trying to save on rent, now they are a place where there is an opportunity to acquire useful connections, to exchange experiences, to organize a community. In this regard, the best location will be near the metro station, somewhere in the center, and around the clock. Some set up such a center in the park, where they equip greenhouses, while others do conceptual design.

Optimizing location

When arranging furniture, it is necessary to take into account lighting, convenience of location for clients during negotiations, including telephone ones. It is necessary to organize the coworking center correctly - think over a meeting room, a room for eating, where there is a microwave oven, a coffee machine. A typical coworking center is a large hall with a common table in the center and separate work areas.

The coworking center is both creative and at the same time. By making a profit, you help others to earn money. The person acting as an administrator must have the skills to establish relationships with customers. Experts recommend holding thematic events, conferences on Saturday and Sunday. Also in such a center you can organize lectures, interviews, master classes.

The profit can be obtained:

from the rent for holding thematic events;
from rent for workplaces;
through the implementation of our own and partner programs.

In a coworking center, you can develop your own rules, set penalties in case of violation.

When creating a price list, you must consider:

categories of persons for whom the services will be at full cost;
categories for which discounts are provided;
categories for whom the services will be free.

A variant of the interchange of services is possible, when, for example, a client engaged in advertising or repair, "pays" for the provision of his services, using a place for an office.

Training programs (can account for half of all revenue) are divided into:

training course (payment for any training);
sale of a product or service (the cost is minimal or free at all).

There are times when, when organizing a coworking center, it is more profitable to charge a percentage of the proceeds, rather than rent - this is influenced by the format of the event. Initially, you need to try to create a good name for yourself and identify demand, and not make big profits. Flexibility is essential for business development.

Like anti-cafes, our coworking centers are still a relatively new and completely unknown direction. At its core, this is also a space open to everyone. But he does not go to rest and have a good time, but to work. In fact, this is a public office where anyone who does not have their own office or special equipment can come and work. It is possible to build a business at the work of a coworking center by charging rent from those who need a room.

It should be noted that if earlier such services were used only to save on office rent, today business has acquired a new meaning. Business people come here in order to acquire the necessary contacts, establish the necessary connections, and create their own community. Therefore, today coworking centers are formed with their own theme, features that distinguish them among competitors.

Market analysis

Before taking on the direct opening of a coworking center, you need to conduct a market analysis in your region where you plan to open a business. Find out if there are similar organizations in your city or area. If one such center is not enough for a city with a million inhabitants, then for a small town it is quite enough. In the latter case, it is better to abandon this venture and reorient to another business. If you are planning to work in a big city, then in the presence of competitors, you should find your own peculiarity, focus on a narrow audience and, of course, be located in a different part of the city relative to competitors.

Center staff

Almost half of the success of the center is its employees. For normal work, you need to hire 4-5 people for different positions:

hall administrator who will follow the rules of order in the halls, communicate and serve clients;
an interior designer who will organize spaces for various thematic events;
a technician who will monitor the technical equipment in the halls;
an event manager who will help organize various events in the halls;
a marketer whose duties will include finding clients and promoting the coworking center on the service market.

You will also need the services of 5-20 volunteers, depending on the scale and focus of your center. You can hire friends, acquaintances, or you can hire students who need experience in this field. In the latter case, they can work for recommendations. Don't forget that coworking is a business where little things are critical, so your team needs to be as efficient as possible.

Location

The best place in the city to locate a coworking center is in the central part or near the metro. It is important that the floor plan provides for the possibility of decorating several spacious zones. The ceilings of the building should be high, the windows large and preferably with an attractive view from the outside. Lighting should be as natural as possible, but artificial lighting should not cause any complaints. Pay attention to a good ventilation system.

You should not open a business in shopping or business centers, because the doors of your company must be open around the clock. This will allow you to organize more events that will increase your business impact. Moreover, the center can be organized outdoors in a park area, providing the place with all the necessary communications. But then the space must be provided with all the necessary infrastructure.

Pay attention to the areas near the building that can be equipped with parking or parking. You should consider parking for as many cars as the visitors to your center are offered. Moreover, there should be a fairly spacious entrance to the very center so that a machine with overall equipment can be unloaded. If you are planning a business for more than one year, it must be borne in mind that over time, the number of cars for your customers, and for residents of nearby houses, may at least double.

All this suggests that choosing a place for a coworking center is one of the decisive tasks that a business plan should solve at the start.

Further steps

It is advisable to acquire the selected premises into ownership, and then transfer them from the residential stock to non-residential. Only after that the reconstruction of the premises is started. After the renovation, you need to buy expensive and high-quality office equipment and only after that you need to purchase and arrange additional pleasant nuances, such as a recreation area, a sports corner, a library, etc.

The basic set of equipment consists of the following items:

flip chart;
plasma screen;
tables and chairs;
screen and multimedia projector;
printer and scanner;
wi-fi internet and more.

Characteristics of the premises

So, the premises of the coworking center should be divided into several zones:

kitchen;
recreation area,
working area;
smoking area;
restrooms.

The most time consuming part that a business plan must take into account is the renovation of the premises. To do this, you can hire interior designers who will think over the ergonomics and aesthetic aspects of the premises. How to arrange them specifically depends on the direction of your business, your financial capabilities and imagination.

As already mentioned, in addition to working areas, a kitchen should be provided in the room. This should be a room with a separate entrance, where there are:

tables with chairs;
electric kettle;
microwave;
cooler;
hood.

But it should be borne in mind that in the course of the work of the center, the situation in the premises can change more than once. Firstly, it can be rebuilt for various events. Secondly, it will have to be adjusted to the needs of your target audience. Therefore, from the very first days of the coworking center's work, it is necessary to listen to the opinions and wishes of clients, as well as keep track of where they most often spend their time.

Behavior rules

Since many different people will gather in your space, you should develop special rules of conduct for your center. This will help to minimize all possible conflicts and prevent inconvenience.

As a rule, the list of such rules includes:

observance of silence;
rules of conduct in the kitchen;
workplace rules of conduct;
appropriate behavior in the meeting room.

The code of practice should be posted in a conspicuous place. There should also be an indication of what the consequences will be for their violation. Usually prescribes cleaning the premises, taking out the garbage.

But on your part, you must also organize the opportunity to comply with these rules. For example, it is necessary to provide for the opportunity for customers to change their shoes, leave outer clothing and not worry about its safety.

Business orientation

The larger your city, the more all kinds of micro-cultures in it. You can start your own business if you focus it on one of them. Then gradually expand, capturing an adjacent audience. Think about the needs of which audience you can best meet, what your center can offer them. For example, you can organize a space for the exchange of experience, or to gain new knowledge, provide an opportunity to advertise and present your products, and so on. For each of the areas, you need to develop your own program that will be beneficial to customers.

This nuance is very important if you start from a small center with one or two work areas. But if you have a large hangar or multi-room apartment, you can organize the space at the same time for different thematic groups: programmers, artists, handicraft lovers, etc.

Business promotion

The plan for promoting this type of service should be based primarily on using the capabilities of the Internet. Create your website, which fill as much as possible with information about the center. Post regularly news and event reports on it, tell about promotions and new opportunities. Also, create pages on the main social networks, where you also drop reports, photos and videos about the events held. Be sure to include various webinars in your business plan.

Do not discount the media as an advertising tool. They can provide both direct advertising and the same reports on the events held. If you constantly have interesting events and other meetings, media representatives themselves will willingly cooperate, as with a reliable source of interesting information.

As a supplement, you can use other advertising tools, for example, holding promotions, distributing flyers, and others.

List of services of the center

For effective work, it is important to form a detailed and clear list of the center's services and their cost. The greatest returns, according to entrepreneurs operating in this area, are provided by educational or entertainment events. Among them, the most profitable is to conduct webinars, conferences, thematic lectures, weekend markets. They account for about half of the revenue. At first, it is worth holding small, sometimes free events in order to explore the interests of the audience. Then organize more advanced programs. Or you can simply offer space for rent without actually organizing events.

In any case, it is necessary, together with lawyers, to draw up a detailed contract for the provision of such services, as well as an application form according to which the premises will be leased.

Formation of a price list

Payment for the services of the center goes for the rent of premises or workplace. In both cases, a flexible payment system must be envisaged. Usually they offer a per-minute payment system, which allows a person to understand at first how much a given space suits him for work. The rental price in this case is 1.5-2 rubles. in an hour. Subscriptions are further offered. For example, you can buy a card for a month for 8-12 thousand rubles. with full reservation of the selected workplace.

In large cities in the West and in Russia, coworking spaces are successfully operating for representatives of office specialties. What determines success and how to open a coworking center?

What is coworking

The term coworking comes from the English co-working or coworking-collaboration. This is the name of a workspace that replaces an office for independent professionals of various office specialties. Coworking spaces employ programmers, journalists, copywriters, designers and other specialists. In essence, a coworking space is a collective office, for which each client pays for rent.

A typical coworking space has a spacious open workspace. There is a minimum set of equipment and furniture required for work. These are tables and chairs, lighting, electrical outlets, WiFi routers. Also in coworking spaces there may be other utility and work spaces:

Wardrobe.

Restroom.

The meeting room.

Bathroom. Some coworking spaces have showers.

Sports or gaming compartment.

Conference hall.

For a relatively low fee, a specialist can rent a workplace. Renting a coworking space is much cheaper than renting an office. Even startups and young IT companies use it. They find it more convenient to rent multiple coworking jobs than to rent an expensive office.

One of the most famous coworking spaces in New York, NewWorkCity is located in the center of the metropolis. It has a large open workspace as well as five isolated mini-offices for teams. The comfort of this coworking space will envy the employees of many large companies. The first contribution from the founders of NewWorkCity was $ 17,000. The guys raised funds to start a business on Kickstarter.

NewWorkCity: one of the most famous coworking spaces in New York

How coworking makes money

The coworking project involves receiving income from the rental of workplaces for specialists. However, this is not the only source of financial income.

Coworking centers also make money by renting conference rooms and training rooms, hosting paid events and training courses. New coworking spaces receive more than half of their income from paid trainings and conferences.

The premises of the coworking centers are rented out for holding press conferences, filming television programs, and photo sessions.

Some centers offer related services, such as paid use of office equipment. However, a more promising business model, in which the cost of office equipment is included in the payment for renting a workplace.

Coworking space "Kawardak" in Yekaterinburg

To attract tenants, the coworking team must be very active at the start. In addition to investing in equipping office space, you will have to invest and organize promotional events for specialists. It can be:

Free trainings and workshops.

Concerts.

Creative evenings like “Hello, we are looking for talents”.

Handmade goods fairs.

Exhibitions of creative works.

Thematic parties.

For effective business, the coworking team must create an active community on the basis of the center, which constantly participates in various events and even organizes them itself.

With a fortunate coincidence, the initial investment in coworking pays off within a few months. However, most Russian centers pay off within about a year.

How to open a coworking center: a step-by-step plan

To open a coworking space, the team of owners must solve the following tasks: rent or buy a suitable space, renovate and equip the center, organize marketing services to attract partners and customers. Read more about solving these problems below.

1. What kind of space is needed for coworking

Renting a room is the best solution for future coworking owners. First, it will be cheaper than buying. Secondly, if necessary, the center can be moved to another building. However, if you are confident in the success of the project and the good location of the building, you can purchase it.

What to look for when choosing a room? Here are the main ideas:

The coworking space should work in the city center. It is good if there are universities, entertainment venues, shopping centers, cafes or canteens nearby.

The area of \u200b\u200bthe room should be sufficient to organize a workspace like openspace for several dozen specialists. Ideally, it should be possible to organize several zones with different functional purposes. At a minimum, a coworking space should have a conference room, kitchen and seating area.

A separate entrance would be a huge plus. It will simplify the ability to operate around the clock.

Ideal spaces for coworking are to be found in closed or opening shopping centers, abandoned industrial facilities, educational institutions.

2. Repair, outfitting and equipment of coworking space

Investments in equipment and renovation will be the main expense of potential coworking owners. The space should look decent and be comfortable for coworkers at any time of the year.

What you have to buy:

Office equipment: multifunctional devices, projectors, screens, audio system.

Furniture: tables, chairs, wardrobes for clothes and things.

Kitchen appliances: coffee machines, microwave ovens, refrigerators. You will also need furniture.

Equipment and furniture for a zone or rest room. It can be sports equipment, computer consoles, board games.

High quality lighting. It is necessary to install modern LED luminaires with a neutral color temperature and a high color rendering index. They will have a positive effect on the well-being and performance of coworkers.

The organizers need to take care of a high-quality high-speed Internet connection. It is also worth considering the feasibility of equipping several workplaces with stationary computers.

3. Marketing the project

The project of a coworking center is most profitable to promote on the Internet, since the target audience is among the active users of the Web. The project site should be at the center of online promotion. It should be sure to publish a description of the coworker's capabilities, photos and videos of the premises. Also on the site you can publish regular photo reports from educational and entertainment events.

Coworking MatrixOffice in Moscow

The coworking center website should be socialized. Linked communities on Facebook and Vkontakte should be lively, interesting and profitable for subscribers. Half of the success on social media depends on the activeness of the coworking team. Visitors to the site and communities can be attracted through useful publications, contextual advertising, retargeting.

As noted above, offline marketing should be attempted to be built around the coworking community. Potential clients should learn about the project from satisfied freelancers who have become regulars at the center.

Instead of a conclusion, or Is it difficult to open a coworking space

It is technically easy to open a collective office. However, the success of the venture will depend on a number of factors. In addition to the availability of start-up capital and a good team, you need to think about a suitable room, the format of the center, and related services. Coworking space will work successfully and be profitable if you are able to constantly maintain activity and arouse interest in the center with the help of certain events.

A coworking center is a kind of "communal office" that provides places for work, business meetings and a variety of events for a fee. Here you can rent a permanent job or just go in for an hour, make important business contacts or get interesting business ideas.

For the successful development of the center, a combination of many factors is important: a good location, affordable fees and the presence of a business community in need of additional premises. So what is coworking and how to start a coworking center from scratch?

The coworking center is a novelty for the Russian business community, the first projects appeared only a few years ago. The term was formed from two English words and literally means "teamwork".

The essence of the project: leasing a workplace or a certain space for events: seminars, conferences, business meetings.

The place can be rented for a day, several days, a month. Some centers offer hourly and even per minute rental options. Today, coworking is intermediate between an ordinary office and working from home.

Potential clients of the center can be:

aspiring entrepreneurs;
journalists, designers, programmers working as freelancers;
consulting specialists;
nonresident companies organizing field seminars, trainings and other events;
writers;
students and schoolchildren;
representatives of creative and professional communities.

Think over the list of services. A modern coworking center should have a kitchen area where you can make tea or coffee and even heat up food in the microwave. Many centers include secretarial services in their rent.

Unlimited high-speed internet is required throughout the center, as well as a full range of office equipment: computers, laptops, printers, scanners, copiers, video equipment, and more.

The ideal working mode is around the clock. On weekends, you can organize various quests, parties, entertainment events for children and adults. Please note that the entertainment component is not suitable for all customers. Target your audience.
Assemble a team. The center needs a manager (his role may be a business owner), a development manager, a marketer, several office managers, and cleaners. Some of the staff can work remotely. Volunteers can also be involved in the business, as well as relatives and friends. It is important to gather around you enthusiastic and creative people who like to lead projects from scratch.
Calculate the cost of services. The price should be as flexible as possible. It can include hourly or per-minute rentals, full-day rentals, monthly subscriptions.

What is a pawnshop and how to open your own pawnshop from scratch - read

Provide a system of discounts for regular or new customers. When setting prices, focus on projects that are already operating in your city. There is no need to understate prices; you can increase the attractiveness of the new center with the help of interesting bonuses.

Think about safety. For round-the-clock security, it is possible to use a private security company, surveillance cameras and a convenient access system (for example, magnetic cards for regular customers) are needed. Required lockers for personal belongings.
Carry out an advertising campaign, spreading information about the new center at professional forums, industry exhibitions, posting flyers in shopping and business centers. Be sure to start a website with a detailed price list, full description of services and beautiful photos of the center. The feedback system is also very important.

You will be able not only to attract potential customers, but also to improve the work of the enterprise, focusing on positive and negative reviews.

An approximate business plan for a coworking center with payments in rubles.

Coworking business plan with cost and income calculations

The main project costs should take into account:

rental of premises - from 70,000 rubles;
repair and design - from 50,000 rubles;
utility bills, Internet payments and taxes - from 20,000 rubles;
costs for furnishing and equipping premises - from 200,000 rubles;
advertising expenses - from 5,000 rubles;
staff salaries - from 60,000 rubles.

In a medium-sized coworking center, you can equip up to 50 workplaces. Renting one costs from 5,000 to 12,000 per month, depending on its size.

Thus, the monthly income will be at least 250,000. According to the business plan for coworking, the project's payback is about a year, the process can be accelerated by connecting additional services.

How to write a business plan yourself: a sample and step-by-step instructions are provided

Don't expect super profits from your own coworking center. The main task of the project is to gradually develop in the right direction. Having mastered one site, you can think about the next. As a result, the project can become a network, which will significantly increase its profitability.

What is coworking and how coworking centers differ from office centers, you can find out in the following video:

Coworking is a relatively young type of business that emerged in 2005. The first coworking center was opened by the American freelancer Brad Newberg, who solved the classic problem for a freelancer: always work anywhere (at home or in a cafe) or work in your own office (for which you have to pay good money). Brad combined the best of the two formats, and this is how the first coworking center appeared - something between a cafe, an office and a home. And within a few years, the idea spread throughout the world with overwhelming success. More recently, such a business has appeared in Russia.

The service turned out to be quite in demand for small businesses and novice startups, especially in large cities (like Moscow and St. Petersburg), where office rent is far from cheap, and a coworking center provides everything you need to do business for little money. Here you will find free wi-fi, a separate desk and chair for work, the ability to print documents, a room for personal meetings with clients, a recreation area, a separate kitchen, consultations on accounting and legal issues, and much more.

Freelancers immediately felt the benefits of coworking: for a low fee, you get everything you need for work, as well as the most important thing that is lacking in work at home - the environment. There is no temptation to go to sleep, spend extra time in front of the TV. Everyone here is busy with business. Seeing how others work makes you want to work with greater dedication and efficiency. There is both communication and a team - everything that is sorely lacking when working at home.

The services of such centers are often used by consulting agencies, providers, tourists, pharmaceutical representatives, web developers, tutors (for example, in foreign languages).

With proper organization, this service will be in constant demand. The following facts speak in favor of opening a coworking space:

Growth in the number of small businesses in need of cheap rent
The need for functional platforms for meetings, seminars, trainings, presentations
An increase in the number of freelancers, people who constantly work one-on-one with a computer, but also need to communicate.
Popularization of small business
Support from the state. There are many examples of opening such a business with the financial support of local authorities.

Statistics show that such a business is in the development stage. In Moscow there are only 24 coworking centers, in St. Petersburg - 9, in Yekaterinburg - 3. In other large cities you can find no more than 1 - 2 such establishments. The niche is free. While free ...

Organizational matters

Opening a coworking center should start with finding a suitable space. This task does not look as simple as it might seem at first glance. It is necessary to choose a spacious but inexpensive room, ranging from 300 sq. m. It will be necessary to allocate space to accommodate work areas, separate rooms for seminars and trainings, a conference room, as well as a kitchen, a rest room, a restroom and a staff room.

Room layout example:

At the same time, you need to be ready for serious investments. In addition to cosmetic repairs and redevelopment of the premises, you will need to invest in the purchase of furniture, office equipment, media equipment, and household appliances. A lot of money will be spent on the design and advertising of the center. Investments start from 1,000,000 rubles, you can't count on less.

How much can you earn?

Modern coworking spaces make money by leasing space to individuals, as well as by renting meeting rooms and conference rooms. For example, in the Free Swimming coworking center (Moscow), renting a space for a freelancer will cost 5900 rubles / month. This amount includes: work area, Internet, Wi-Fi, connection points (electricity), printing materials, kitchen , coffee, tea, recreation area. For small businessmen (start-ups), the rent costs 11,900 rubles / month. and a fixed desk, office chair, personal boxes, meeting rooms are added to the list of services. If you pay 3000 rubles, then parking, legal and accounting advice will be added to the entrepreneur's services. One day for a regular freelance (work area, internet, kitchen, recreation area) will cost 400 rubles.

There is also such an interesting service as a virtual office, which costs 3900 rubles / month. The client is provided with a meeting room (10 hours, according to the reserve schedule), mailing address, receipt of correspondence, calls and transfer of information to the client. Inexpensive and most useful service for a small company.

The calculation of the proceeds is such that only thirty regular clients - freelancers will bring the institution about 180,000 rubles. per month, only 10 small firms - another 119,000 rubles. It is worth counting on renting a conference room for seminars and trainings, and this is another 30,000 rubles. to the revenue of the organization per month. Total - about 329,000 rubles. per month. The bulk of funds from this amount will be spent on renting premises (~ 100,000 rubles), salaries of service personnel (~ 80,000 rubles), as well as food and consumables (tea, coffee, office ~ 40,000 rubles). ... As a result, the organizers of the case will earn up to 100,000 rubles.

"Underwater rocks"

Opinions are divided over the profitability of coworking in Russia. Some entrepreneurs believe that this is a profitable business, others - a complete failure. Both are right, as there are examples of both successful projects in this area and unsuccessful startups. Most of the mistakes in organizing such a business are associated with the following:

Poor assessment of business prospects in a particular city. The demand for such a service in Moscow (where there is a shortage of cheap space) and in some provincial town will be completely different. There is no need to even try to open such a business in small and medium-sized cities: no one needs such a service there, and if it is needed, only a few.
A flaw in the process of starting a business. If you go through the business forums, you can find such comments about coworking as this one: “This idea did not work in our city, although the idea was interesting. Only craftsmen opened such a business. I somehow decided to go to them and was horrified: a continuous row of tables 50 * 50 cm in size, separated by 30 cm partitions, although the area of \u200b\u200bthe room allowed us to put large tables, ”says an ATatam user from the biznet.ru forum. Somewhere they did not complete the design, somewhere they decided to save unjustifiably - all this affects the general opinion of customers. And customer opinion is the most important thing in any business.
Inexpensive, but spacious room. High rent can ruin this business at the very beginning (premises in the city center cannot be cheap). A small area will not allow properly positioning a hall for freelancers, a conference room, a meeting room, a kitchen, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to look for large areas (from 300 sq. M.), With low rent and with good transport accessibility ( the closer to the center, the better). To summarize, we can say that one of the most difficult tasks in a coworking space is finding the right space.

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