Amenities Offered - Feedback

Business/Operations Expenses
1

Hi folks,

I’m wondering what trial-and-error you guys have experienced in offering different types of amenities. I’m talking the “cool” stuff that can get costly but can possibly draw members and allow you to command a higher membership price. I have to look at it from an economics standpoint ie does it produce higher member prices and/or quicker occupancy.

Has anyone offered the following for free and experienced a direct improvement?

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits)

  • Beer on tap (Keg)

  • Fresh fruit water

  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc)

  • Color printing/copying (with a limit)

  • Notary Public

  • Arcades

  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup).

  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials)

  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings).

I’m developing a financial model and would be happy to share it based on member feedback and my research.

Farhan

2

Hi Farhan,
When we started we had in mind offering many amenities but after a couple of months we see that our members do not really value / use them . See my comments on your text.

My answer is that your choices need to be aligned with. 1. your value proposition 2. Client segement/profile 3. Number of members.

Best.

Adolfo

TamboWorks

···

On Monday, December 14, 2015 at 9:17:30 PM UTC-5, Farhan Abbasi wrote:

Hi folks,

I’m wondering what trial-and-error you guys have experienced in offering different types of amenities. I’m talking the “cool” stuff that can get costly but can possibly draw members and allow you to command a higher membership price. I have to look at it from an economics standpoint ie does it produce higher member prices and/or quicker occupancy.

Has anyone offered the following for free and experienced a direct improvement?

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits) Milk is always there for lattes and cappucinos
  • Beer on tap (Keg) Not there yet
  • Fresh fruit water We have Fruity Perrier but consumption is very little
  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc) I would recommend that you start small with a machnie that delivers good coffee/expresso. We started with an Illy Expresso machine that provides awesome expresso and a Nespresso milk frother that adds the cappucino component. At the beginning the numbers did not justufy a large commercial machine.
  • Color printing/copying (with a limit) Of course
  • Notary Public Always a plus
  • Arcades Depends on your client segment
  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup). Depends on your client segment
  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials) Depends on your client segment
  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings). Necessary

I’m developing a financial model and would be happy to share it based on member feedback and my research.

Farhan

3

Farhan,

Many of our customers at KISI say that office automation in general increases the value.

If you can show potential customers a cool smartphone app to unlock the door and in the next sentence tell them about how it makes the office more secure, that usually gives you an “edge” compared to other spaces.

There’s a couple of essential things you need in a space:

  • internet

  • desk / furniture

  • access

  • front desk

  • kitchen

focusing on making those touchpoints awesome might create more value than adding single amenities. If you have beer or water, catered lunch or snacks is more a question of how you position yourself but that can only go on top of awesome essentials.

···

On Monday, December 14, 2015 at 9:17:30 PM UTC-5, Farhan Abbasi wrote:

Hi folks,

I’m wondering what trial-and-error you guys have experienced in offering different types of amenities. I’m talking the “cool” stuff that can get costly but can possibly draw members and allow you to command a higher membership price. I have to look at it from an economics standpoint ie does it produce higher member prices and/or quicker occupancy.

Has anyone offered the following for free and experienced a direct improvement?

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits)
  • Beer on tap (Keg)
  • Fresh fruit water
  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc)
  • Color printing/copying (with a limit)
  • Notary Public
  • Arcades
  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup).
  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials)
  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings).

I’m developing a financial model and would be happy to share it based on member feedback and my research.

Farhan

4

Easy: none. Work on delivering coworking value through connections and community.

5

Hi Farhan,

My reality might be different since my space is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So powerful air conditioning is no luxury - it’s mandatory!

Apart from that I have two coffee machines (a regular one and a Nespresso) and snacks (which coworkers pay for) in the kitchen, where there’s also a microwave oven, dishes & cutlery. One coworker brought a blender and another a sandwich maker, which are both shared with everybody. We sometimes make fruit water with fresh fruit bought on the market nearby.

We have a laser printer, withs prints charged individually, and lockers.

As for the beer, in our case it has proved tricky since some have not made good use of it, unfortunately.

All best,

Gabriela

···

Em terça-feira, 15 de dezembro de 2015 00:17:30 UTC-2, Farhan Abbasi escreveu:

Hi folks,

I’m wondering what trial-and-error you guys have experienced in offering different types of amenities. I’m talking the “cool” stuff that can get costly but can possibly draw members and allow you to command a higher membership price. I have to look at it from an economics standpoint ie does it produce higher member prices and/or quicker occupancy.

Has anyone offered the following for free and experienced a direct improvement?

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits)
  • Beer on tap (Keg)
  • Fresh fruit water
  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc)
  • Color printing/copying (with a limit)
  • Notary Public
  • Arcades
  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup).
  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials)
  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings).

I’m developing a financial model and would be happy to share it based on member feedback and my research.

Farhan

6

The thing I always go out of my way to remind people when they visit Indy Hall is that the coolest stuff - including the beer on tap, the arcade, the 3d printers, the massive art collection, etc…was put there by fellow members. The lights? Installed when a member got married here. The beer in the kegerator? Brewed by members. Even the coffee we buy is selected during member-organized coffee taste-offs. Members organized turning one of our unused bathrooms into a photography dark room and screen printing lab. Bookshelves are stocked with member’s favorite books to share. Our vending machine is provided by a members’ company that fills vending machines with local snacks.

People like stuff, sure, but what happens when they no longer need the stuff? Or when they realize they’re not using the stuff anymore?

In 100% of my experience, people who sign up for the “stuff” are gone the second they realize they aren’t using that stuff. “I’m not using it enough” is the #1 cancellation reason, and 9 times out of 10 it’s used by people who were more concerned about the printer than they were about meeting people when they signed up.

Cool stories, on the other hand, are EXTREMELY sticky. Stories about members attract AND retain. We are psychologically wired to hear stories and try to place ourselves in that story.

When we tour people around our space, they invariably notice the cool stuff. But behind each thing is a story that connects them to other members, and that’s what makes people want to sign up and more importantly, what makes them want to stay.

I can back this up with a bit of research that came from asking our members “What made you decide to join Indy Hall?” and then “Why do you continue paying for your membership?” Both of these were open-ended text boxes (NOT multiple choice or radio buttons), but were remarkably consistent, enough to consolidate the answers based on clear themes.

Nobody mentioned any of the “stuff” - except for the art, though once again our art collection is 100% sourced from our community.

Alex_Hillman_Coworking_catalyst_at_Indyhall__SlideShare_2015-12-16_17-01-21.jpg1680×1050 177 KB

Alex_Hillman_Coworking_catalyst_at_Indyhall__SlideShare_2015-12-16_17-34-33.jpg1680×1050 186 KB

···

On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 8:00 AM, Coworking Arpoador [email protected] wrote:

Hi Farhan,

My reality might be different since my space is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So powerful air conditioning is no luxury - it’s mandatory!

Apart from that I have two coffee machines (a regular one and a Nespresso) and snacks (which coworkers pay for) in the kitchen, where there’s also a microwave oven, dishes & cutlery. One coworker brought a blender and another a sandwich maker, which are both shared with everybody. We sometimes make fruit water with fresh fruit bought on the market nearby.

We have a laser printer, withs prints charged individually, and lockers.

As for the beer, in our case it has proved tricky since some have not made good use of it, unfortunately.

All best,

Gabriela

Em terça-feira, 15 de dezembro de 2015 00:17:30 UTC-2, Farhan Abbasi escreveu:

Hi folks,

I’m wondering what trial-and-error you guys have experienced in offering different types of amenities. I’m talking the “cool” stuff that can get costly but can possibly draw members and allow you to command a higher membership price. I have to look at it from an economics standpoint ie does it produce higher member prices and/or quicker occupancy.

Has anyone offered the following for free and experienced a direct improvement?

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits)
  • Beer on tap (Keg)
  • Fresh fruit water
  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc)
  • Color printing/copying (with a limit)
  • Notary Public
  • Arcades
  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup).
  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials)
  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings).

I’m developing a financial model and would be happy to share it based on member feedback and my research.

Farhan

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7

The thing we sold at the beginning was the ability to make the space your own. I took care of (and still do!) all the stuiff that is not fun to shop for or buy – like desks and chairs and cabinets and so on. Every single other thing here was brought by a coworker and gifted to the community when they left. I bought a table and chairs for the garden, but the translator’s circle, which meets outside weather permitting, bought a much bnetter one so we replaced it. All of the basic furniture I bought is removed when a coworker feels ready to put their own stamp on things.

Our art is also all from the painter’s group that meets here on Tuesdays, and we have a special corner in that room for paintings in progress so folks who are not here on Tuesdays can see them as they develop. We now have two printers, mine which is a good printer but nothing to say wow about, and one a coworker bought and put on the network which is. The music system was installed by a coworker for a party, the barbecue same. If anybody wants some cool thing they can make a pitch which we send to all the coworkers and sometimes it gets bought.

We have an active book sharing corner and a basket where people can share craft/handwork supplies and so on. Never met a person who does handwork who does not have a pile of extra stuff they intended to use once and are keeping because they might use it someday. They enjoy very much the chance to swap out and get something they otherwise would not have thought of.

So you facilitate relationships and the ability to get things, you don’t hand people a package and expect them to like it. I can go through your list if you like:

  • Snacks in kitchen (Mixed nuts, m&ms, cereal, milk, some fruits): We have fruit pretty much all the time, people bring it or I buy some. Food is shared unless you indicate it is not to be shared, I cannot remember the last time this happened. It just works out, sometimes you buy and sometimes somebody else does.

  • Beer on tap (Keg) We only get beer in for parties. Pretty often on a Friday the beer does appear in the frig, but a keg is an event for us.

  • Fresh fruit water: Nope, not a thing here.

  • Awesome coffee machine (not just for coffee but also for espresso, capp, coffee, hot choc): We cycled through several of these, In the end most folks just keep using the regular coffee maker like your mom had. :slight_smile:

  • Color printing/copying (with a limit) Yes. This I did buy.

  • Notary Public: I think it is important to have at least a connection with th eprofessionals your coworkers may bneed. A time comes when you have them in house; until then, I think it is good to serve a concierge function. I just interviewed a bunch, you will find that professionals whoa re not stupid are eager to establish a relationship with a coworking space once they figure out what a coworking space is.

  • Arcades: I think I have the wrong demographic for that.

  • Photography studio (Basic setup, no electronics/photo equipment, just the lighting hardware and setup): Nope. One location had a music studio, and anothe rmay be getting one, but the partner at the new location does sound and lighting so it’;s a natural development.

.

  • 3D Printer / Laser cutter (members pay for materials): Not yet. Two years ago we had a guy who gave classes on 3D printer use and he had it here on occasion but it was not used that much.

  • Lockers (where desk members can store their belongings).I go back and forth on this. This is the kind of thing I would get and occasionally get asked about but it’s a space suck. We do have metal cabinets in our warehouse location and product cages in another location – both cater to retail, transport, webshops and import/export – but not in the office locations. But I might go there yet.