Week 45, 2023

Cat Johnson nails why so many indie coworking spaces are thriving, regardless of the news stories surrounding specific names in the flex space scene.

All-in-all, there were 100+ links picked up by my news system related to WeWork’s bankruptcy.

Instead of filling the newsletter with so many links about just 1 brand, here’s a summary of the a few you should probably know about.

• The official announcement and positioning as a strategic action.
• Sarah Travers’ experience competing with the brand.
• Mike LaRosa noting why they’re probably not disappearing anytime soon.
• David Walker’s dive into their historical paradox.
• Why/how David Sacks believes a PE firm will make a fortune here.
• Why ex-WeWork member Rachel Carell, is grateful to Softbank.
• Daan van Rossum’s alternative view of the firms trajectory and impact.
• Tushar Agarwal reminding folks that the firm isn’t completely like Fyre Festival (and have a real, often popular, product).
• Jamie Hodari’s take on the bankruptcy move.
• Eric Newcomer’s look into whether Adam Neumann may return to the firm.
• Brendan Wallace’s exploration at what most coverage is missing.
• And finally, Carsten Foertsch’s analysis of whether they’re down and out.

I think that’s most of it. Almost had to send a second newsletter out just to cover this rapidly moving situation. I didn’t even get to include how many (70+) leases they’ve already asked the court to terminate – let’s just take a moment to discuss a few of these first? Please?!

Marisa Coulton looks at how furious remote workers are making many (maaaany) café and coffee shop owners, and how they’re going to drastic measures like curbing WiFi access to deal with them. The Hacker News discussion of the story is also fascinating – dig through that to see objections to coworking spaces, why some prefer coffee shops and more.

This is a great reminder that there’s a superb opportunity for your spaces here. Give these owners a way to send these remote workers to you (eg discount cards or free day passes) and find ways to send them business (sending over members who want an espresso fix, or even ordering in from them for meetings/breakfasts/etc).

Jessica Ching shares an interesting giveaway that work.life are doing. In short, one lucky winner who tags their colleagues, clients or friends in their post’s comments will win 1 free year of membership. The post? A photo of the offline banner the firm is running in both London and Manchester. A clever way to merge online and offline marketing campaigns.

So far the post has 66 comments, assuming each one tags just a single person, that’s 132 potential leads seeing and engaging with the campaign. Have you run any online giveaways? Any tips to share on what worked and what didn’t? Let us know in the dicussion.

Graham Wong shares that LAUFT are introducing a new cancellation policy, in which if a work session is cancelled 4 hours before the start time, the money goes back into the customers’ digital wallet for use on another day.

This is an interesting move, where most spaces require 24 hours notice, or don’t usually provide refunds for same-day cancellations. Keeping the credit on file is a good way to offer flexibility without foregoing already collected revenue.

What kinds of cancellation policies do you offer and why?

Claire Daniel shares a glowing example of how Mindspace tapped into local trend (Old Street Roundabout construction being terribly terribly delayed) to promote the benefits of their offering.

Do you do outdoor ads, and if so, did they work? Any great examples you’d like to share? Ping them over in the discussion.

iWorkSpaceMail shares details to help provide clarity on the most significant CMRA changes and exactly what you as a flex space operator needs to do now, and in the months ahead.

The post digs is a good resource for anyone overwhelmed by the recent changes and digs into the CMRA background, the 6 changes you need to handle, the current implementation and some FAQs.

Learn all about golf simulator businesses, how they can ensure profitability and repeat business, and the steps you’ll need to take to make your golf simulator business stand out.

WTF has this got to do with coworking? Well nobody wants to rent the space in the basement, or under the stairs, or with windows facing the back of hideous building across the path… but Golf Simulators don’t care about any of those things.