Most of the mistakes Coworking spaces make has to do with assuming their tenants, or leasees, enjoy what the owners of the co-working space enjoy.
At the end of the day, a Co-Working Space is a business and unfortunately, their ownership feels their only business plan is to lease as much of their allocated floorspace as possible. Everything else co-working space owners do is for show. These mistakes are killing co-working spaces who make them.
Here are 4 of the biggest mistakes co-working spaces make.
1. Not Nurturing a Professional Cohesiveness
Over 85% of co-working space tenants sign leases for co-working office space just so they can make the professional connections with the other businesses who reside in the co-working space.
The remaining 15% of leasees of co-working space are only there for a short time…3 months or less…and only see the co-working space as temporary office space. (This constant frequent turnover is another issue pledging co-working space that I’ll leave for now to explore in another blog post.)
Business networking is a huge part of why so many business leaders choose to lease co-working office space over leasing their own office space.
Most co-working space owners completely overlook, and many times intentionally ignore, the business networking opportunities they create by putting compatible professionals together.
Unfortunately, most co-working space owners only focus on leasing every square inch of floor space…yes, that does include any storage or closet space they have available.
Creating a Lions Den
A coherent work environment that cultivates business opportunities amongst its tenants, as well as developing business relationships, is not easy to build when there is no control on who is allowed to be a tenant. An open door policy will help reach the needed operating revenue the co-working space needs but will sap any momentum generated from the co-working space marketing.
Too many similar businesses confined in a small co-working space along with a large number of social-only personalities roaming the co-working space will cause tremendous friction. Eventually, the negative vibes created from the lack of cohesiveness will fill the entire co-working space manufacturing a toxic atmosphere which will, in a short time, develop into negatively affecting the co-working space’s brand.
The word quickly gets around the local business community on what co-working spaces to stay away from.
Here are a few amenities focused on building a cohesive professional co-working space environment:
- QUALITY tenant screening
- Mandatory new tenant orientation seminars
- Frequent co-working space sponsored private events/mixers
- Tenant-to-tenant communication and discovery platforms/systems
- Tenant Directory (digital or physical way to deliver tenant’s professional message to other tenants)
- Planned formal introduction between tenants
- Detailed and constantly updated member database (complete with interests, hobbies, skills, needs, etc.) (this is more of a staff resource which, when acted upon, becomes a behind-the-scenes amenity)
- Staff: Community Manager focused on making business connections amongst the tenants.
2. Not Providing a Productive and Comfortable Environment
The co-working space that designs its facility so the tenants can get their work done will be the co-working space that will rule the market.
Getting their work done is what 95% of the tenants want and need. However, that does not seem to be what most co-working facilities are out to do.
Business is business and if a tenant is not getting their business done while at a co-working space then they are going to have to move somewhere where they can get things done.
If tenants are constantly interrupted by loud noises coming from other tenants in the open co-working space common area these businesses will be forced to have to go somewhere else to get their business done.
When a tenant’s client comes to do business and is greeted with large pep-rally in the open space lobby and then offered a seat in a chair that is more fashionable than practical, that tenant’s client’s impression of them is not going to be very good.
A huge mistake co-working spaces make is with forgetting they have tenants leasing space from them at inflated prices. A tenant’s expectation from the owners of the co-working space is at the very minimum uphold their tenant’s professional image. Everything from the flooring, the common space, reception area to the style of furniture a co-working space uses is a direct reflection on every tenant’s professional image. If the place looks cheap, that cheapness reflects on the businesses who lease office space there.
The type of furniture someone is offered to sit in while they wait to do business says a lot about the business they came to see.
Productivity and comfort go hand-in-hand as the most important amenities in a coworking space by far. You can have top-quality events, modern designed desks, a highly-secure front entrance, with a secret wet bar in the basement with free beer on tap, but if a business can’t comfortably get work done in a professional environment, none of that matters.
Amenities that reinforce a professional image:
- Comfortable plush Furniture
- Fast, reliable and hassle-free internet
- ACTUALLY soundproof offices
- Four-person conference rooms for every 2,000 sq ft of office space
- Climate control system for each office suite
- Private office suites of various sizes
- Ops/Facilities Manager who maintains the professional atmosphere with a strong hand (or foot).
A co-working facility should not cheap out here, it shows!
I know tenants who left co-working spaces or decline to sign leases at co-working spaces for the lack of respect the owners of the co-working space had for their brand’s image of professionalism. This is the area I see a lot of co-working spaces claim they do well on, when in fact, they only provide make a token effort.
A non-professional environment will quickly kill any marketing buzz.
3. No Inspiration
A co-working space should be inspiring. Different things inspire different people. For example, if you truly are the best co-working space for entrepreneurs in your city then you better have the most prominent entrepreneurs leasing office space at your co-working space.
Co-working space tenants now have a lot of choices in co-working space to choose from. In the DFW area, there are currently 87 co-working, flex-wall, creative centers. Many are just an area of a building a business owns and set up desks in the open area. But, on the most part, most of the co-working space around the area are business ventures who formally lease a floor or buy a building. Nearly all of them make very expensive attempts to design what they feel business people want in a work environment. Over 75% of them are not inspiring.
Amenities that attract professionals to a co-working space :
- Chalkboard walls in all offices and conference rooms
- Nooks and private lounges
- Big, sexy art pieces on the walls
- Beautiful functional furnishings
- Speaking events with incredible thought leaders held after work hours
- Showcases of amazing work from members and the greater community physically posted in the space or digitally via newsletters or the website
- Guest events hosted by top organizations or thought leaders
Most co-working space organizers lack the connections and reputation to pull off anything inspiring.
Co-working spaces will often overvalue what they feel is inspirational. To maximize their revenue they will ditch private lounges and nooks for more “common area” space, which makes the co-working and office spaces look how the founders view it: a coworking farm focused on putting dollars in the owners’ pockets.
Each area or region of the country or world has different work cultures a co-working space has to match. Get it wrong..well that is again where the word of mouth negative marketing will begin.
Co-working owners need to search out the co-working space experts in their area who have operational management backgrounds. Co-working space experts will help keep your co-working space from not being inspiring to the businesses in your area. What makes for a co-working space expert has to do with the number of co-working spaces in the area they have worked from.
4. Chosen the Wrong Vendors
There is nothing wrong with the owners of a co-working space hiring a tenant to do work for them. Actually, it makes perfect sense to do so. However, when there are several tenants who offer similar services it would be best to choose the tenant that offers all of the services needed rather only one.
Using several tenants who offer the same services is a huge mistakes co-working spaces make. Most co-working spaces owners will use one service from one tenant and another from another tenant that offers the same services as the other tenant. This is done in an effort to make everyone happy, but at the end of the day, it is the owner of the co-working space that gets the short end of the stick.
Co-working space owners and management should select who offers them the best service, experience and learn to live with that. The competing businesses should understand if they are not chosen. Unfortunately, co-working spaces seem to get advice from businesses who do not understand co-working space challenges. As a result, they choose a vendor who does not understand their problems or the industry they say they serve.
Policies that help co-working spaces from making mistakes:
Hire only businesses who are experienced in co-working space.
Get advice from advisors who have not only years of operational business experience but have worked in a co-working center previously.
Maintain consistency of quality by using the same vendor to serve all co-working spaces the owner manages.
Co-working space is a strange business. It not just commercial real estate transaction. Gathering the right tenants to lease office space, common desk, shared desk or just a day pass is all a daily challenge for a co-working owner.
Contact SyncLab Media to learn more about how they can help you with your co-working space.
Let me know how I can help.
Since 2012, SyncLab Media has been a leader in Co-Working Space Digital Marketing. When it comes time to synchronize your business objectives with your digital marketing strategy, contact SyncLab Media. synclabmedia.com co-working@synclabmedia.com
