Hi everyone,
I have been doing a research on coworking space business and found a surveyed statistic that claims the BEP takes 13 months on average (2017 coworking space survey ).
The more important thing is to find out if this number was either smaller or bigger in previous years, in order to draw some implications.
If anyone has any information or researched statistic on this could you please share it to me? I would very appreciate that
Thank you
HI Tra Le
We are also moving into the direction of starting up a coshare space in downtown Berkeley. Can you let us know how you came to the BEP?
thanks
On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 3:29:01 PM UTC-8, Tra Le wrote:
Hi everyone,
I have been doing a research on coworking space business and found a surveyed statistic that claims the BEP takes 13 months on average (2017 coworking space survey ).
The more important thing is to find out if this number was either smaller or bigger in previous years, in order to draw some implications.
If anyone has any information or researched statistic on this could you please share it to me? I would very appreciate that
Thank you
Based on my consulting, owning a space, and running a local coworking alliance where we are pretty open with our numbers, I agree that a lot of spaces will be cash flow positive by the 13th month.
This really depends on several factors. Most coworking spaces today are over 75% offices. Offices are easier to sell because they are taking market share versus creating a new market like hot desking plans.
A lot spaces today are larger, around 20,000 sq. ft. and going up to 100,000 sq. ft… This is different than it was 5 years ago. Larger spaces have more staff and a lot of fixed overhead. However, they also put more money into marketing and have a lot of size options that meet the needs of different size companies. Basically, they have a larger pool of people to attract members from. I have noticed that size doesn’t really effect the B/E monthly cash flow timeline, it effects the timeline of them making back their money.
B/E happens much sooner if you pre-build a community if you are going to have more hot desking and permanent desks. People join these spaces for the people. You need a momentium or else you are selling empty space.
Overall, I think 13 months is a likely scenario of B/E. However, you need to make sure you have enough money to sustain all of the losses that will happen in the months leading up to it…plus some.
Hey Tra,
I am wrapping up a new coworking business model calculator that will help you see your ESTIMATED profit or loss after a year of being open. This has been a long way coming and it’s based on my consulting of spaces for over 9 years. I thought it would be a helpful tool for people that are just looking at spaces and want a back of the envelope idea based on years of watching spaces grow.
You simply answer your space’s size, rent, the average price of a 1 - 2 person office in your area, if you are going to hire someone, and your coworking model and it will show you your estimated P/L of your 13th months.
I am open to any feedback.