Coworking spaces were designed with entrepreneurs and small businesses in mind. In the startup stage, flexibility and affordable amenities can be invaluable to productivity.
The most obvious benefit of a Coworking Space is that it solves the money and troubles of finding, renting, and furnishing an office. A professional environment in which to work, receive a client, host a meeting, or have a base for operation can be obtained without the hassle of binding long term contracts.
Coworking space as an innovative work environment has made a huge difference in the world of business. Besides the practical benefits of a workspace without long-term contracts, coworking spaces give small businesses a sense of community.
Where you work can affect your work habits and your motivation. Small business owners see increased productivity after moving to shared spaces – motivated and inspired by the other hard-working people.
The network of other small business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals is one of the key components of coworking and it is the reason why some people opt to use these flexible workspaces.
Members will have a chance to interact with professionals, entrepreneurs, and open-minded people with a vision. They can be both inspiring and important for building strong connections and powerful friendships.
Meaningful business connections will improve their chances of building a successful business. Additionally, by meeting all those people members can potentially find new clients in some of them.
In coworking spaces, members will get a quiet place to work in, but they'll also have a chance to engage in casual conversations. Maybe they’ll even get to know someone better and make a friend. Sharing challenges and successes with a person who understands the struggling world of a small business owner can be very relieving. Remember that human connection is an essential element for thriving.
The first supposed coworking space is traced back nearly 30 years to 1995 in Berlin, Germany. A community of computer engineers came together to socialize, share, and collaborate in their work in what they called "Hackerspace". The purpose of this space was to bring together people of common interest and to provide them with facilities, equipment, and amenities to cater the opportunity of peer learning, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
The term “coworking” was officially coined in 1999 by the American game designer, author, lecturer, and fun theorist Bernard DeKoven. He used the term to reference his vision for the future of working which was rooted in collaboration - it referred to a way of working rather than a place for working.
What was relatively an unknown concept 10 years ago, coworking spaces have transformed the way the modern worker interacts with the business world. Currently, there are about 17,000 coworking spaces across the world, due to the biggest benefits of a coworking space: the opportunity to connect with other individuals.
If you’re working in a home office or independent office, you could be robbing yourself of the important connections needed to drive your business forward. Sometimes, the only thing a small business is missing is the spark that proximity to other successful business owners can bring.