Week 16, 2022

Following a geeky challenge I shared, I elaborated on an interesting opportunity that flex workspaces should explore by looking into 3 apparently random and unconnected search engine trends.

In short I dig into how flex spaces could leverage niche but growing demand to cut through the noise and drop member acquisition costs.

Here’s an interesting reddit discussion about the costs-vs-benefits of office space in central London. In the 450+ thread replies, you can gleam interesting viewpoints from employees, business operators and freelancers.

They mention cybersecurity, hating the commute, being able to focus, coworking memberships and more. Definitely a wealth of ideas and possible pain points to address for humans in your neighborhoods.

Dana Berggren, a commercial real estate broker who opened The Coop coworking space in 2016 has closed their second location after nearly a decade as an owner/operator in the flexible workspace industry. She describes coworking as a "labor of love" that helped many launch businesses and build relationships, but struggled with the management-intensive nature of the business. The closure comes in light of her accepting a position as eXp Commercial’s designated managing broker for Nevada and Tennessee, making it impossible to manage both careers effectively.

Despite ending this chapter, we thank her for a decade of community building and wish her all the best in her next adventure.

In this op-ed in the Guardian, the author shares her take on the issue of remote workers losing their valuable cafe workspaces due to bad behavior from some laptop users. While acknowledging that cafe owners are justifiably frustrated by people who hog tables while spending little, the author proposes a code of conduct: limit stays to four hours with appropriate spending, never take calls, use the smallest table available, don’t ask for charging accommodations, and behave gratefully rather than entitled. The piece contends that cafes provide not only a pleasant work setting but also much-needed human connection for freelancers and remote workers who can’t afford coworking spaces.

For years now, TWIC editors have heard many complain about the cost of coworking spaces, but with a plethora of day pass apps and aggregators, there are more ways for users to access spaces on a short (and more affordable) term.

As for the note in the piece that all coworking spaces are filled with awful people – we implore the author to try out a few of the many MANY different spaces and coworking communities that are filled with some amazing people.

Kurt Patrick from essensys, shares a noteable takeaway from last week’s newly formed ULI Flex Office/Experience Product council (I know, it’s a mouthful) in NYC – that we need to get more lenders, bankers and office property investors into the discussion.

The one key topic that kept coming back to me, in-person and via messages, was that the council is tackling the ridiculousness of when underwriting an office building that contains a flex space operator without a traditional lease, it’s valued as $0, even if the operation is profitable and generating more diversified or higher revenue than the lease would have.

Soooo… who should be in the room? Let me, or Kurt, or the… ULIFO/EPC… know.

Now, I know that Jamie Hodari loves to type up notes on $30 totally low-tech device, but I didn’t realize just how eloquent those typed up words were. In a blog post shared this week, the Industrious CEO, shares an arguably better way to look at the two-or-three days a week conundrum.

Well said Jamie. Well said.

Eamon Leonard from pre-seed syndicate investor Broadstone shared an update on the Baseline project in Dublin, Ireland that was teased a couple of weeks ago. The "hackspace for founders" is set up as a membership-organization, loosely formed around a shared physical space, and notes on their website that they’re "not co-working, hot-desking, or serviced offices".

So why are they in a coworking newsletter? Because friends, over 66 startups and investors have applied for memberships. Already.

So.. is this the next evolution of investors’ shared office setups, a new competing model to coworking, or an opportunity to partner on hosting graduating founders who outgrow these spaces?

The exec team at Hub Australia, namely CEO Brad Krauskopf, CXO Rebekah Murphy and CPO John Preece, reflect on the year so far and what changes could be coming to the flex space industry.

To summarize Brad’s notes: demand wants to consume as a service, landlords in Aus deploying fantastic amenities, to balance risks and costs more management agreements being signed, growth in suburbs actually balanced with CBD return in popularity, groups of brands under one ownership with loyalty programs linking them, and maybe shared resources between boutique firms.

John’s notes include ESC being prioritized and more integration of hospitality-driven addons. Whilst Rebekah’s notes cover continual evolution to adapt to changing worker behaviour and expectations, relaunching of Day Offices, renewed focus on workplace wellness with a new program, responding to dip in Work Near Home demand, and blurring the lines between 5-star hotels and premium workspaces.

Coworking has changed so much. Yet, as it has evolved from a movement into an industry, the essence of coworking has not changed at all. Cat Johnson digs into how to not lose sight of what you’re truly doing (and why).

Taylor Mason from Talemaker shares why you shouldn’t just create content and leave it to die an inglorious death. Instead he shares how to create a content distribution strategy thats give each content concept the life it deserves.

No chain can replicate the stories coming out of your community. Cobot wraps up the two-part series with Cat Johnson, covering why independent spaces need to define who they are for and say it clearly, how the real moments in your space become your strongest marketing, and why AI should stay your assistant, not your voice.

A LinkedIn post shared by Paul Stanton has some great observations and makes a great point for workspace operators. Equinox’s evolution from gym to luxury real estate illustrates a powerful model for flexible workspace operators to create higher-value businesses. By prioritizing emotional connection and community over physical space alone, coworking brands can transform from commodity office providers into lifestyle companies commanding premium prices. This strategy involves first establishing a distinctive feeling and community, then monetizing that loyalty through enhanced offerings, and finally separating brand operations from real estate ownership.

Workspace operators who embrace this approach can potentially escape price-per-square-foot comparisons and instead drive value through brand strength, programming that reduces turnover, and a sense of belonging that transcends location.

Maxim Razmakhin explores if this whole fascination around how many spaces there are, and the percentage we make up of office space, is even the right metric to be chasing.

Place Value explore if the different real estate asset classes have a similar operating DNA.

The team at Flex Workspace Solutions share how they helped a landlord turn a coworking space, who’s operator had decided to move on from the business, into a landlord-owned building amenity.

When staff chase missing information after payment, the issue is rarely the member. So what do you do? Kate Tattersfield shows us how to join up the dots for signups in this post for Nexudus.

Graham Beck from DropDesk shares some key takeaways from the recent GCUC conference in SLC.

They include urbanization driven by climate change, WeWork’s focus shift to SMBs, co’s using workspace tech increase revenue, space operators more open to list with aggregators (13% of rev compared to 3% from traditional brokers), tech-enabled spaces coming in hot, the surge in variable staffing models, leveraging data mining + pre-marketing when picking markers, and how VO revenue saved some spaces.

Cheers to the CBRE Flex Advisory team in the UK for this brilliant video showcasing all the flexible workspace available in the Manchester, UK market.

Manchester has been a frequent topic in TWIC weekly recaps and this video does an excellent job showing all the amazing space that is available in that market. One that is growing faster than London, at the moment.

Sofia Stolberg from PilotoMail shares another Forbes contribution looking at whether coworking (and it’s built in double-edge-sword of flexibility) has a revenue problem, given that Deskmag is reporting that nearly half of all operators are struggling to turn a profit.

The post highlights some remedies, including more cost-effective lead gen strategies, better retention through hospitality, and a veritable paradigm shift in coworking revenue stacks.

Users turn to coworking for flexibility, but often times memberships lock them into specific benefits or offerings based on what they’ve signed up for. Lauren Perrett, founder of BubbaDesk, shared some real life scenarios where their offering specifically allows them to adjust their schedule when real life happens. The space offers a subscription model where members can easily swap days, vary their weekly usage, share memberships with partners at no additional cost, and make accommodations for unexpected situations like child illness or travel.

BubbaDesk positions itself as a supportive environment that adapts to parents’ unpredictable schedules rather than imposing rigid childcare arrangements. We expect to see more and more offerings in the gap between workspace and childcare.

Bryan Froud shares that one McDonald’s in Queen St Mall (Australia) is offering meeting rooms. Whilst this seems odd, it does follow the trend of non-workspace business exploring meeting room side hustles.

From pancake spots, to Starbuck Japan, to IKEA – more and more businesses are dipping their toes or fries into the flex space pond.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published an article that looks at whether coworking spaces can make labour markets more inclusive. (Yes, yes they can – and do.)

Christian Schmitz, Shared Workspace Lead for SALTO shared a recap of his experience attending FLC FES, a two-day coworking event in Okinawa, Japan organized by Yuta Aoki, founder of the Japan Coworking space and Community manager organisation (JCCO). The event took place in Koza Shopping Arcade, which is undergoing regeneration led by Four Cs Inc. to attract startups.

A subsequent report revealed that 42% of Japanese coworking operators are significantly profitable, with larger spaces in cities over one million population performing best, while rural spaces face more challenges despite often receiving government funding.

Mike Sullivan from Alliance Virtual Offices shares an interesting recap on a recent GCUC panel. Taking the note that flex space desks and offices, much like hotel rooms or train/plane seats, are perishable, he looks into how some coworking spaces are generating "unlimited" profits from virtual office products.

I love it when coworking members share what coworking means for them or their businesses (oftentimes both). In this post Joe Harulow shares how he went from avoiding coworking spaces for over a year, to realizing that they weren’t providing space for productivity, but about protecting his sanity.

Read. Reflect. Remember: market the benefits of your spaces, not the features.

Freya Laskowski shares 6 considerations for inclusion into your coworking space’s service (or member) agreements.

The items covered vary, from deciding whether you are/can sublease or offering access as a service, to the levels and pricing and termination of service, to considering a code of conduct and thinking around mitigating risks and liabilities.