According to coworking statistics, by 2018 there could be as many as 37,000 coworking spaces sprinkled across the globe. Coworking spaces have the potential to transform business-as-usual for freelancers and entrepreneurs by offering them the “water cooler experience” of collaboration and networking while still enjoy all the perks of being their own boss.
Benefits of Coworking Spaces
Whether you’re a fellow entrepreneur or an employer seeking to boost workplace morale, you might be surprised how much a co working space can transform your enjoyment of your job. Here are seven ways.
1. Coworking spaces offer natural collaboration.
Unlike typical offices, where internal politics and inherent competition can sour employees on voluntary collaboration, shared office spaces remove the competition element and provide valuable community. Since each person arrives with different skill sets, the opportunity for feedback, insight, and even mutual endorsement of one another’s businesses makes coworking spaces extremely beneficial.
2. Coworking spaces provide a creativity-sparking atmosphere.
In most coworking spaces, an emphasis on aesthetics attracts professionals who want to get away from sterile office buildings and enjoy a warm, attractive work environment. Since many patrons of these spaces are creatives, the attention to beauty and design primes the creative juices for optimum productivity.
3. Coworking facilitates structure while affording freedom.
Coworking spaces allow clients to exercise job control by allowing them access when it’s convenient for them. One of the greatest draws for entrepreneurs is the ability to set their own schedules. This flexibility often turns into one of the biggest hindrances once a home business gets started, since the lack of routine can make the daily grind a low priority, with low productivity the inevitable result.
Coworking spaces answer this problem by providing accountability without rigid hours. When you’re there, you don’t want to look unproductive. Since you’re paying, you want to show up. Still, there’s no one watching the clock to make sure you’re there by a certain time, nor is anyone upset if you stay home to tend to the child with the stomach virus or leave early for a round of golf.
4. A coworking space can boost confidence.
Especially for home-based entrepreneurs, the ability to point to a brick and mortar storefront as your base of operations helps with those unspoken doubts about your professionalism. Going to work in your home office wearing your jammies sounds good when you’re commuting, but in reality it can be demoralizing when you look in the mirror and see anything but a professional looking back.
Having a pristine, aesthetically-pleasing co working space allows you to embrace your role as a professional by mingling with other professionals. It encourages you to dress the part, which will make you feel like the professional you are.
5. Coworking requires you to hone your elevator pitch.
When you’re regularly rubbing shoulders with other entrepreneurs who want to hear about your business, you’re forced to hone your message so you can clearly articulate what you do and what you offer. With this automatic network, you discover that your elevator pitch will refine and crystallize as you bounce it off others regularly.
6. Coworking spaces link you with others who attach meaning to their work.
There’s not much as demoralizing as trying to work with people who hate their jobs. The opposite is usually true in coworking spaces. Here, you’re surrounded by people who believe in what they’re doing 100%. That enthusiasm spreads. Suddenly you remember all the reasons you wanted to do this in the first place! Not only that, but you might discover new interests you’d never considered.
7. Coworking spaces demonstrate to others you’re a professional.
If you’ve tried working from home, you’ve probably discovered how hard it can be to make others perceive you as a professional. Requests for errands, long phone calls with no point, and constant interruptions can jeopardize your very business. Coworking spaces give you a place to “head to the office” when you aren’t employed by a traditional company or when you’re a mobile employee. Sometimes, you just need to get away.
These are just a few reasons to carefully consider using a coworking space for your business. Coworking statistics tell the story that this is one venue that’s only growing in popularity.
Please share us some other benefits of coworking spaces that might transform your love for your career?
