I’m so glad Jeannine posted this. It may seem simple, but this co-creation process is powerful.
Lemme give you a peek into your potential futures:
In future one, you fill up your new room with all of the “stuff” we’ve suggested I’m this thread, and announce “come to my new Coworking space!”
A week or two pass, and you come back to this list and post like many others, “where do I find members? How do I get them to understand Coworking?”
In future two, you announce “I’m opening a new Coworking space and need help! Come by at X times to help with painting/building furniture/etc etc. I’ll supply some food and drink for while we work together”
As Jeannine suggested, the people who show up may not become members (yet) but they become invested. This helps in two ways:
-when they describe it to people who might be members, they won’t just focus on the stuff, they’ll talk about it as the experience they had with you co-creating it, they people they met, etc this is an important virtuous cycle to kickstart EARLY because it gets harder later
-it starts to shifts YOUR brain from “me” to “we” which will pay off long term
There’s a hidden benefit in here, too: if you can’t get anybody to show up and help paint or put desks together…your gonna have an even harder time getting people to join with paying memberships. Consider this participatory soft launch a litmus test for if you have people who actually want the thing you’ve set out to create.
Most importantly, though…this stuff is fun. Making things is rewarding. Making things other is 10x rewarding. Don’t forget to have a good time.
-Alex
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indyhall.org
On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Jeannine [email protected] wrote:
About the soft launch:
One of the best things I did when we moved to the second space was to open while it looked like this:
Yes, I know, the tragedy of child labor, terrible, isn’t it?
Aaanyway. I didn’t do this because I was so clever, I did it because we needed to keep running. So the members I already had worked around it. And told their friends and put it on their Facebook and you know, more people came to help. Many did not become members, but they did become supporters and some of them are still hanging around. Don’t limit yourself to recruiting new members, the power of working together is not in who you know, it is in who they know, the second circle if you like.
Going through transitions together makes for a stronger bond.
But without a coffee maker you are totally lost, my friend. During construction a keg or a crate depending on local taste does not come amiss. Throw a couple of construction parties
Cheers,
Jeannine
On Friday, July 26, 2013 7:10:48 AM UTC+2, Sean Qian wrote:
Thanks for all the responses. Everyone has be so helpful and insightful!
I get more and more excited about opening up the space every day.
There are a lot of renovation plans I want to implement at the place before I open it to the public but in the meantime my core group of friends want to start using it asap.
I’ve decided to go ahead with a ‘soft’ launch with them. They’ll receive significantly discounted rates with the understanding that the place will be “evolving” as they’re in there.
This is my to do checklist for getting the place up and running:
Power points for each workstation
Wifi internet connection
Some lockers or lockable filing cabinets
Coat of fresh paint
Digital door lock
Fridge
Chairs
Lighting
Website
Printer/Scanner
Google calendar
Thing I already have:
Desks
Power + Water
Kettle + Microwave
Anything I’ve missed?
On Friday, July 26, 2013 4:34:32 AM UTC+10, Jeannine wrote:
I also have a small space and started in an even smaller one.
- So far, I think I’m going to have 3 membership packages - an all access pass, 3 days a week, and the casual 1 day a week. How can I keep a track of who comes in and when? Is the only solution to purchase/create some kind of management software like Nexudus or Cobot? I’d like to not have to sit at the front desk all the time.
I use Google Calendar, it works very well. For folks who are less savvy I do the bookings for them, they just send me an email. Otherwise they just send me an invitation for the booking and I accept it or don’t, to confirm availablity.
I have a strippenkaart, it’s what the Dutch used to use for the bus. They pay in advance for 8 or 10 visits, and these can be used whenever. It ranks in booking after people with a regular booking, so they can’t cancel folks who always come on Tuesday or what have you. But that has not yet been a problem. A lot of writers, programmers,a dn other people who work on project basis like it a lot, they can come every day for a week and then not again for awhile. I don’t have a time limit on mine, in a larger space that might be necessary.
- Let’s say the office has 85m2 of usable workstation space after the kitchenette is taken out, how should I calculate how many members I can there at any one time, and how many members I can have there overall?
I played it by ear. You can in a small space. At about 50% occupancy I went looking for a bigger space.
- Should I concentrate my advertising/marketing towards other migration agents or similar professionals or be more broad?
Go broad, it’s more fun. Nothing like sharing office space with a circus or a theater group. Yes, really.
- What are some must have things? Photocopier/Printer? Couches? Water tank? I will supply a small fridge, microwave. coffee machine, kettle, tea and coffee beans.
Printer and here a scanner.
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