Startup Spaces: Virtual Offices, Coworking, and the rest
Cover via Amazon
The image of a lonely startup entrepreneur working all alone in their home under their lamp and pulling another all nighter is the most common image for any startup, but that is changing with the need for people to be social and with the advent of coworking. But let’s put some context around this word that is gaining traction among the go-getters.
In the “olden days” you had major corporations that leased out huge amounts of office space to handle all of the experts and administration staff of an organization. But these office costs were normally expensed as just part of doing business. But with leaner times, downsizing, layoffs, and the need for others to “connect” a new breed of professional is being hatched. It’s the coworking space.
During a recent visit to a coffee shop a fellow “road warrior” discussed how by closing up their office they were able to save the company thousands of dollars a month in monthly expenses. It also meant they just might get a “raise” with those cost savings, but I digress.
Today, here are some of the different views of using laptop and getting your work done:
- Home Office – setting up a desk to work from with the expectation of seeing few to no visitors. Saves on travel, get tax deductions, but no social interaction with others. Also, you get to work in sweats if you so choose, but then there’s the ever present,”Our neighbor Sarah doesn’t have a ‘real job” and works from home, let’s get her to watch our kids while we go to the store.”
- Telecommuting – is working from home even though you work for a corporation.
- Coffee Shop – you get to be out and about and can be anywhere for your location. Normally used for a quick meet up with others to discuss an issue or two, usually a sales meeting, but not necessarily conducting a business meeting.
- CoWorking – here’s a short YouTube video that helps explain it. You pay a hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly fee to use a cubicle, desk, or a space to work from. The best part is connecting with other startups and entrepreneurs. See below for more links.
- Virtual Offices – this is where you have a steady address that gives you access to some of the amenities of using an office, but not by a dedicated “staff” for your individual needs. There are also Remote Office Centers that are similar to virtual offices. You are still a solopreneur.
- Virtual Team – is a step above a virtual office because now you are no longer solo and where you hire others to help your company, but do things electronically, i.e. email and using video chat to connect. You could have a CEO in one city and the CFO in another and the developer in still another. You can even outsource your administrative actions to others.
- Office Suites/Executive Suite – offers a nearly regular location to work from with a paid assistant to answer your phone for you. Plenty of amenities for those that are willing to pay for the expense.
- Office Space - The most common view when a business gets rather large and can or needs to afford to lease office space on a regular basis.
In the Denver area there are a few locations that offer these amenities. DaVinci’s The Vault, Density Coworking Denver, Boulder Digital Arts, The Hive Cooprerative, and Kellogg Executive Suites.
There are also other resources such as Coworking Wiki, Coworking Meetups, Coworking Blog, Coworking Community, and last but not least Coworking Registry.
Related articles
- 5 Things To Look For In A Coworking Space (parisoma.com)
- Evaluating the Benifits and Drawbacks of Coworking (freelanceswitch.com)
