Hi all,
So I need your thoughts and input on the subject of opening a co-working space. I am currently in the process of applying for a government funding program for New Startups.
My area of expertise is the Media Services Section (Video Productions, Graphic Design, Motion Graphics etc), I have worked as a freelancer for almost 7 years now, sometimes working from home and sometimes working in-house for other Production Houses on long term projects.
I found out about the Government Fund and I decided that, hey, maybe its time for me to open my own Production House, so I started developing my business plan a while ago for a Media Production Company. Fortunately I stumbled across co-working about a month ago and it has changed my plans (for the better I think). The idea of a community of Creative Professionals all working in the same space is so intriguing. I have experienced first hand problems freelancers face when working from a home offices or cafes. We all know these I wont get into them here because that`s not where I want to end up.
Now because of this I had to change my whole plan and develop a new concept that would incorporate both (co-working and a media production house).
From what I have seen online most co-working spaces work by renting out the space to tenants (I know its not only about the space, its about community and interaction).
So what I would like is to combine both my original business idea with co-working.
How it would work:
The company will serve as a co-working space for Freelance Professionals in the Media section, with all the standard facilities of a co-working space, but will also
have a Media Production Department and all the relevant facilities (Green Screen Studio, Backdrops, etc).
The media departments role:
- Find Jobs (Video Productions, Photography, etc)
- These Jobs will be posted in a jobs opening section in our members online system.
- They can find jobs that matches there skills and knowledge and apply for the opening.
- Members will be paid for their services (the amount will be on a job to job basis, depending on the scope and size)
- If no relevant members are available for certain jobs then our Production Department will contract non-members to fill the positions.
- The media department will handle the management of the project.
This way our members not only can use the co-working space for there own jobs, but they can also find job openings from us. This service is also based on membership plan, meaning that to use the Job Opening Section they will have to have a Premium Plan.
I would like any thoughts about the concept of having a Media Production Department within a co-working space filled with Freelancers that do the same job, does conflict of interest arise?
Remember though that premium members will have first pick at these job opening and only after there is no available or qualified person will we look outside our member pool to fill positions.
Thanks in advance
