A quick office: how to make money at a coworking space. How to open a coworking center: business plan with calculations How to open a coworking space on the topic it

What are coworking offices? What is the economic justification for the project when organizing a coworking space? What are the features of a carpentry coworking space?

My name is Denis Kuderin, I am an expert on economic topics and part-time editor of HeatherBeaver magazine. I don't go to work in the office. I work at home, in the summer - at the dacha or in the park.

Sometimes I do business in coworking center entitled Lift. Lately I’ve been liking it there more and more – close to home, convenient and inexpensive. If you don't know, what is coworking and what it is eaten with, then this article is for you.

I'll tell you why more and more people choose to work specially organized space in the form of coworking and how to organize a highly profitable and promising coworking business.

Let's sit down comfortably and read to the end - at the end you will find an overview of the best office and production centers in the Russian Federation, plus a description of the main risks when organizing such a business.

1. What is coworking

Statistics show: approximately 2 million Russians prefer traditional office work remote employment. Which is not surprising - freelancing helps you distribute your workload the way you want and save personal resources.

But there are also certain disadvantages to such work. It’s hard to force yourself to work when you don’t have to get up when the alarm goes off and there’s no control over you in the form of bosses. Difficulties arise with work process organization and motivation.

Yes and not everyone has the opportunity work calmly and productively at home, surrounded by constant distractions such as a running TV, noisy children or an overly talkative spouse.

Finding a compromise solution will help coworking space– a specially organized workspace for the same freelancers, how are you.

For entrepreneurs, organizing a coworking center is a promising way to earn money. By investing in coworking space, you are creating a promising business that will generate profits for decades. is becoming an increasingly popular and relevant way of working, and therefore there should not be any difficulties with clients in the next 100 years.

– (from the English “co-working” - joint work) – labor organization in a common space. The space for work itself is also called coworking - collective office for freelancers.

Coworking is a Californian invention.

The first collective office was opened in San Francisco by a programmer Brad Newberg in 2005. The place was called The Hat Factory- it was community for people tired of offices. Then similar establishments multiplied all over the world.

The fashion for coworking spaces reached Russia only a few years ago. There is every reason to believe that a real coworking boom can be expected in large cities of the Russian Federation in the near future. So this is a very promising niche for entrepreneurs who need a fresh, “unhackneyed” business idea.

The goal of creating a coworking center is not just to provide everyone in need with a table and chair to work, but also create some kind of community – a community whose members exchange ideas, experiences and spend time productively together.

In coworking spaces they not only work, but also take a break from righteous labors - of course, without alcohol or other stimulants.

Team

The main roles that need to be distributed among team members: administrator, space designer, technical issues, promotion, events, community, special projects.
As a rule, the main team will have 4-8 people and another 5-20 volunteers or friends of the project.
Salaries from day one. A few strong professionals at the start will significantly improve the result compared to an all-volunteer team.
Coworking is a business of a thousand little things. You can’t keep everything in your head, so you need to use a wiki, Google Docs or Trello/Basecamp/Asana.

Place

Location: ideally, 1-2 minutes from the metro, city center, creative projects in the neighborhood.
The atmosphere of the space: high ceilings, windows, views, brick, history of the place.
A good place costs money. A bad location won't pay off with any amount of work.
The kitchen and 24/7 access completely change the culture of the place.

Community

The city is divided into hundreds of microcultures. Chances are you won't be able to make room for everyone at once. Think about who you are targeting. Artists and designers gather in one place, programmers in another, sales people in a third, young mothers in a fourth. It is unlikely that it will be possible to create an optimal place for everyone at once.
A place is defined by the brightest people who have been involved in its activities. Think about who is the dream guest for your space.
Try to bring maximum benefit to the people around you: promotional support, providing space, connections, sharing experiences.

Promotion

Content: photo reports, live broadcasts, video lectures, slides, reading lists.
A coworking space is an ideal partner for local media: a place for photography, interviews, a communications center, a distribution point, a source of events for city posters.
Promotional support from opinion leaders and other spaces. For its part, the coworking space provides space on preferential terms and places posters and handouts.

Events

You need to immediately write a detailed site rider and rental conditions. To some the space is rented out for free or at a friendly price, to others at full price. Create an application form to popularize the possibility of holding events in coworking spaces.
Weekend markets and thematic conferences bring in the most money. It often makes sense to agree on a revenue share rather than a fixed rental rate.

Education

Properly organized educational programs can bring in almost half of the revenue of a coworking center.
Programs can consist of a selling (free or cheap) open program and paid courses.
In the first season, it is worth making many pilot programs in different directions, then focusing on the most popular ones.

Space design

As much work and investment as possible should be done in the first month of work, with maximum enthusiasm and rush work. Further improvements and new budgets are much more difficult.
Design is a process. You shouldn’t count on a brilliant master plan in which everything will be spelled out right away. Furniture placement, zoning, rules change every day.
It is worth working with partners on bartner terms as much as possible: video broadcasts, tea, office landscaping, bicycles, architects, graphic design, drawing schools, videos, sound rental, frameless furniture, board games, wok delivery, coffee breaks.
You need to pay attention to what the inhabitants are doing: where they talk on the phone, where they read, where they negotiate, where they talk. Notice flaws and come up with improvements.
A huge common table will hold the community together and be the center of all processes on the site.
Each space has its own feature. Some have a second floor and a punching bag, some have a location in the park, others have a slackline, a unicycle and juggling balls.
Good artists copy, great artists steal. Study the experience of creative spaces and offices around the world, find interesting ideas and adapt them for your project.

Order

The main purpose of rules is to regulate the use of shared resources. Basic issues: silence, conversation, kitchen, dishes, work stations, replacement shoes.
It is worth making a list of the most frequently violated rules and posting them on the walls. Whoever violates goes to take out the trash.

Finance

The coworking center's income comes from coworking services, rentals for events, its own educational programs and corporate partnerships.
To be profitable, you need to be more than just a coworking space. Possible options: own educational programs, cafe or “minute-ruble” model, combination with a hostel, space in the property, low rental rate in exchange for repairs, government support.
Achieving operational payback is quite possible within 3-4 months of work. To recoup the investment at the start, you will have to work for one and a half to two years. As the DeskMag website writes, “any coworking space that lasts two years turns out to be a plus.”

Each coworking space has its own path. Action zone tips are based on six months of active work. During this time, we had 100 coworkers, 10,000 people were in our space at open events. We have now reached operational payback. Many lectures were broadcast live or filmed, we recommend watching, for example,

Like anti-cafes, coworking centers are still a relatively new and completely unexplored direction. At its core, this is also a space open to everyone. But it’s not about relaxing and having a good time, but about working. In fact, this is a shared office where anyone who does not have their own office or special equipment can come and work. You can build a business out of a coworking center by charging rent from those who need space.

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

Market analysis

Before you start directly opening a coworking center, you need to conduct a market analysis in your region where you plan to open a business. Find out if similar organizations operate 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 idea and refocus on another business. If you are planning to work in a big city, then if there are competitors, you should find your own specialty, focus on a narrow audience and, of course, be located in a different part of the city relative to your competitors.

Center staff

Almost half of the success of the center is its employees. For normal operation, it is necessary to hire 4-5 people for different positions:

a hall administrator who will monitor 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 serviceability of technical equipment in the halls;
an event manager who will help organize various events in the halls;
marketer, whose responsibilities will include searching for clients and promoting the coworking center in the services 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 the little things matter, 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 allows for the design of several spacious areas. 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 the presence of a good ventilation system.

A business should not be opened in shopping or business centers, because the doors of your company should be open around the clock. This will allow you to organize more events that will increase the impact of your business. 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 for parking or parking. You must provide parking for as many cars as there are visitors to your center. Moreover, the center itself must have a fairly spacious entrance so that a vehicle with large equipment can be unloaded. If you are planning a business for more than one year, you must take into account that over time the number of cars for your clients, and for residents of nearby houses, may at least double.

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

Next steps

It is advisable to purchase the selected premises and then transfer them from residential to non-residential. Only after this they begin to reconstruct the premises. After the renovation, you need to purchase expensive and high-quality office equipment and only after that 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 so on.

Characteristics of premises

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

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

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

As already mentioned, in addition to work areas, the room should have a kitchen. This should be a room with a separate entrance where the following are located:

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

But we must take into account that during the operation of the center the situation in the premises may change more than once. Firstly, it can be rearranged for various events. Secondly, it will have to be adjusted to the needs of your target audience. Therefore, from the very first days of operation of a coworking center, you need to listen to the opinions and wishes of clients, and also track where they most often spend time.

Behavior rules

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

As a rule, the list of such rules includes:

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

The set of rules must be posted in a visible place. There should also be an indication of what consequences will follow for violating them. Usually they order cleaning of the premises and removal of garbage.

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

Business orientation

The larger your city, the more microcultures there are. You can start your own business if you focus it on one of them. Then gradually expand, capturing adjacent audiences. Think about the needs of which audience you can most easily meet and what your center can offer them. For example, you can organize a space for sharing experiences, or for gaining new knowledge, provide the opportunity to advertise and present your products, etc. For each of the areas, it is necessary to develop its own program that will be beneficial to clients.

This nuance is very important if you are starting with a small center with one or two work areas. But if you have a large hangar or a multi-room apartment, you can organize the space simultaneously for various thematic groups: programmers, artists, handicraft lovers, etc.

Business promotion

The promotion plan for this type of service should be based primarily on using the capabilities of the Internet. Create your own website, which will fill it with as much information as possible about the center. Regularly post news and reports on events held on it, talk about promotions and new opportunities. Also create pages on major social networks, where you can also post reports, photographs and videos about the events held. Be sure to include various webinars in your business plan.

The media should not be discounted as an advertising tool. They can submit both direct advertising and the same reports on events. If you regularly host interesting events and other meetings, media representatives themselves will be willing to cooperate as a reliable source of interesting information.

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

List of center services

For effective work, it is important to create a detailed and clear list of the center’s services and their costs. The greatest return, according to entrepreneurs operating in this area, comes from educational or entertainment events. Among them, it is most profitable to conduct webinars, conferences, thematic lectures, and weekend markets. They account for about half of the revenue. Initially, it is worth holding small, sometimes free events in order to study the interests of the audience. Then organize more in-depth 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 agreement for the provision of this type of service, as well as an application form according to which the premises will be rented.

Formation of a price list

Payment for the center's services is for renting a room or workplace. In both cases, it is necessary to provide a flexible payment system. They usually offer a per-minute payment system, which allows a person to understand at first how suitable this space is for him to work. The rental cost in this case is 1.5-2 rubles. in an hour. Subscriptions are offered below. For example, you can purchase 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 for representatives of office specialties operate successfully. What does success depend on and how to open a coworking center?

What is coworking

The term coworking comes from the English co-working or coworking - joint work. This is the name of a workspace that replaces an office for independent specialists in various office specialties. Programmers, journalists, copywriters, designers and other specialists work in coworking spaces. Essentially, a coworking space is a collective office, the rent of which is paid by each client.

A typical coworking space has a spacious, open workspace. The minimum set of equipment and furniture required for work is installed here. These include tables and chairs, lighting, electrical outlets, and WiFi routers. Coworking spaces may also have 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 this. It is more convenient for them to rent several workstations in a coworking space than to rent an expensive office.

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

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

How does a coworking space make money?

The coworking project involves generating income from the rental of workspaces by specialists. However, this is not the only source of financial income.

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

The premises of coworking centers are rented out for holding press conferences, filming TV shows, and photo shoots.

Some centers offer related services, for example, paid use of office equipment. However, a more promising business model is one in which the cost of office equipment is included in the rental fee for a workplace.

Coworking "Kavardak" 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 in organizing promotional events for specialists. It can be:

Free trainings and workshops.

Concerts.

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

Fairs of handmade goods.

Exhibitions of creative works.

Themed parties.

To effectively conduct business, the coworking team must create an active community based on the center, which constantly participates in various events and even organizes them itself.

With a successful set of circumstances, the initial investment in a coworking space pays off within a few months. However, most Russian centers pay for themselves within approximately a year.

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

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

1. What kind of space is needed for a coworking space?

Renting a space is the optimal solution for future coworking owners. Firstly, it will cost less than buying it. 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:

Coworking space should operate in the city center. It’s good if there are universities, entertainment venues, shopping centers, cafes or canteens nearby.

The area of the room must be sufficient to organize an openspace type workspace 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, a kitchen and a relaxation area.

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

Ideal premises for coworking spaces should be sought in closed or opening shopping centers, abandoned industrial facilities, and educational institutions.

2. Repair, equipment and equipment of coworking space

Investments in equipment and renovations will be the main expense for potential coworking space owners. The premises should look decent and be comfortable for co-workers at any time of the year.

What you will 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 recreation area or room. This could be sports equipment, computer consoles, board games.

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

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 desktop computers.

3. Project marketing

It is most profitable to promote a coworking center project on the Internet, since the target audience is among the active Internet users. The project website should be at the center of online promotion. It is imperative to publish a description of the coworker’s capabilities, photographs and videos of the premises. You can also publish regular photo reports from educational and entertainment events on the website.

Coworking MatrixOffice in Moscow

The website of a coworking center must be socialized. Connected communities on Facebook and Vkontakte should be lively, interesting and beneficial for subscribers. Half of the success in social networks depends on the activity of the coworking team. You can attract visitors to your website and communities using useful publications, contextual advertising, and retargeting.

As noted above, you should try to build offline marketing around the coworker 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?

Technically, opening a collective office is simple. However, the success of the enterprise will depend on a number of factors. In addition to having start-up capital and a good team, you need to think about suitable premises, the format of the center, and related services. A coworking space will operate successfully and be profitable if you are able to constantly maintain activity and arouse interest in the center through certain events.

Coworking is a space designed for the collaboration of several people at once. Its dimensions can be different, it all depends on the type of activity that will take place in the room. The space is equipped with the necessary equipment, comfortable furniture, and everything necessary for comfortable activities. A coworking center can become a promising business in the future.

Often freelancers and people who make money on cryptocurrency need space; they are free, independent, and need a common place to work. In appearance, a coworking space can be compared to a regular office. There is also an equipped workplace and furniture for relaxation. The only difference is independence. There may be completely unfamiliar people here at the same time, who have nothing in common.

There are situations when a person simply does not have the opportunity to work at home, and renting an entire office for this is very irrational. Then a coworking center will be the best solution to finish work on your project, and at the same time do it with the necessary comfort. This could become.

Coworking center: advantages and disadvantages

In this place everything is as free as possible. A person is not assigned a desk, a constant change of environment is beneficial. The premises are also equipped with a special lounge, conference room, and sometimes even a gym. Everything is based on the fact that the person who paid the rent should receive maximum comfort from his work.

Coworking has become a good solution for young entrepreneurs who do not yet have sufficient funds to rent an entire office. After all, in addition to this, you need to think about its protection and cleaning, but here everything is much simpler. A good way to save a decent amount.

Recently, many companies have resorted to coworking. But in order to finally understand this concept, we should consider all its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages:

An opportunity to make friends, or just chat with new people. And if representatives of various fields of activity have gathered in the room, this will be a good chance to slightly expand their circle of knowledge.
During the work, you can easily identify real professionals who you can call on in the future for your own project.
Pleasant atmosphere, everything is created in such a way that being in the room becomes as comfortable as possible.
Lack of control, every person feels free, it is much more pleasant to work when you understand that your actions are not strictly controlled. People often come here.
Efficiency. People who agree to rent understand that they are paying money for it, which means it is in their interests to approach the project as responsibly as possible. Otherwise, you will have to renew the contract, and these are unforeseen expenses.

Coworking center has disadvantages:

Waste of time. If a person works at home, he does not need to waste time traveling and back.
Not reliable. When you are in a group with strangers, it is dangerous to leave your belongings unattended.
Lots of distractions. There are many different people nearby who can distract you, ask questions, and sometimes this is distracting. Also, lack of silence and talking can seriously harm work.

But even these shortcomings do not stop people, because the number of coworking centers increases every year around the world.

Coworking as an idea for business.

In this place you can meet people of different professions at the same time. These could be translators, designers, programmers, artists, musicians, and many others. All those people who want to retire and work away from their usual surroundings.

Due to their popularity, these centers have the opportunity to constantly improve. If initially it was an ordinary room equipped with the necessary furniture, today everything is much larger. There are coworking centers that have not only relaxation rooms and a conference room, but also workshops, gyms and even children's rooms, for those who have no one to leave their children with. Conditions are becoming more comfortable and convenient every year. Coworking centers in Moscow are opening more and more often.

Many people use coworking not as a place to work, but as a business idea. After all, if it is so popular, the chance to make a profit from it is huge. However, when deciding on this idea, you need to carefully consider the following questions:

Choosing a room. It is worth understanding that the profitability of the entire project depends on what it will be. People around should want to come to this particular building, which means it should fulfill the following characteristics: be conveniently located, have good repairs, have enough free space and adhere to a businesslike atmosphere.
Purchase the necessary equipment; there should be everything you need for comfortable work.
Recruitment of personnel, it is necessary to hire people who will guard and clean the premises.

A coworking business center will be profitable in big cities. Just like those organized on their own. Coworking is an interesting idea both for organizing a business and for people who temporarily need a work office.

Coworking center plan

How much money do you need to open a coworking space? For this you can. Approximate calculations can be done as follows:

rent of a large premises – from 150,000 rubles;
repair and purchase of furniture – 300,000 rubles;
staff costs - administrator and cleaner, this is another 50-100 thousand rubles;
purchase of computer equipment – 120-150 thousand rubles.

Initially, you will have to spend about 800,000 rubles, the net profit for the month will be 50-150 thousand rubles. If your business does not attract you, then you should study.

It might be useful to read: