Space Utilization Rate

I’m new, cautiously excited about starting a cowering space… and very thankful for this resource.

Quick question: As I look to put some basic assumptions together, can you tell me how to figure space/capacity utilization? For example, if I were to sell 30 memberships that allowed unlimited access (not dedicated desks, but unlimited access to the space), what can I expect in terms of how many members might visit each day?

What I’m trying to get at is my required inventory. If I have 30 workspaces, can I safely sell 40 memberships for those seats?

Thank you.

Hi Eric,

Sorry this is unlikely to be the answer you want to receive: it depends.

Your safest bet would be to find your community members before you lease the space and ask them how often they expect to use it. They’ll only be marginally better at predicting their own behaviour than any of us are at trying to guess it. But if you involve them in the decision they’ll be more forgiving if it feels too busy or too quiet.

Hope this helps,

Jon

···

On Mon, 1 Feb 2016 at 12:52 Eric Wulf [email protected] wrote:

I’m new, cautiously excited about starting a cowering space… and very thankful for this resource.

Quick question: As I look to put some basic assumptions together, can you tell me how to figure space/capacity utilization? For example, if I were to sell 30 memberships that allowed unlimited access (not dedicated desks, but unlimited access to the space), what can I expect in terms of how many members might visit each day?

What I’m trying to get at is my required inventory. If I have 30 workspaces, can I safely sell 40 memberships for those seats?

Thank you.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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They’ll only be marginally better at predicting their own behaviour than any of us are at trying to guess it.

This is 100% correct :slight_smile:

It depends on the people, it depends on what they’re coming to the space for, it depends on traffic/travel, it depends on weather…so many things.

This Quora answer which might help you with thinking about your utilization figures - it’s a little bit of a different way of thinking about what you’re tracking and what you can expect.

As an aside, I’d encourage you to reconsider “unlimited” access as your base membership. For that, I put together a guide to designing memberships that optimize for community that I hope helps you!

-Alex

···

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Markwell [email protected] wrote:

Hi Eric,

Sorry this is unlikely to be the answer you want to receive: it depends.

Your safest bet would be to find your community members before you lease the space and ask them how often they expect to use it. They’ll only be marginally better at predicting their own behaviour than any of us are at trying to guess it. But if you involve them in the decision they’ll be more forgiving if it feels too busy or too quiet.

Hope this helps,

Jon

On Mon, 1 Feb 2016 at 12:52 Eric Wulf [email protected] wrote:

I’m new, cautiously excited about starting a cowering space… and very thankful for this resource.

Quick question: As I look to put some basic assumptions together, can you tell me how to figure space/capacity utilization? For example, if I were to sell 30 memberships that allowed unlimited access (not dedicated desks, but unlimited access to the space), what can I expect in terms of how many members might visit each day?

What I’m trying to get at is my required inventory. If I have 30 workspaces, can I safely sell 40 memberships for those seats?

Thank you.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

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Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.

Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com

Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast

Thanks for sharing these two links Alex, its great to hear how you approached and solved these questions at Indy Hall.

Best,

John Newman

General Manager

···

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 9:26:20 AM UTC-5, Alex Hillman wrote:

They’ll only be marginally better at predicting their own behaviour than any of us are at trying to guess it.

This is 100% correct :slight_smile:

It depends on the people, it depends on what they’re coming to the space for, it depends on traffic/travel, it depends on weather…so many things.

This Quora answer which might help you with thinking about your utilization figures - it’s a little bit of a different way of thinking about what you’re tracking and what you can expect.

As an aside, I’d encourage you to reconsider “unlimited” access as your base membership. For that, I put together a guide to designing memberships that optimize for community that I hope helps you!

-Alex


The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.

Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com

Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Markwell [email protected] wrote:

Hi Eric,

Sorry this is unlikely to be the answer you want to receive: it depends.

Your safest bet would be to find your community members before you lease the space and ask them how often they expect to use it. They’ll only be marginally better at predicting their own behaviour than any of us are at trying to guess it. But if you involve them in the decision they’ll be more forgiving if it feels too busy or too quiet.

Hope this helps,

Jon

On Mon, 1 Feb 2016 at 12:52 Eric Wulf [email protected] wrote:

I’m new, cautiously excited about starting a cowering space… and very thankful for this resource.

Quick question: As I look to put some basic assumptions together, can you tell me how to figure space/capacity utilization? For example, if I were to sell 30 memberships that allowed unlimited access (not dedicated desks, but unlimited access to the space), what can I expect in terms of how many members might visit each day?

What I’m trying to get at is my required inventory. If I have 30 workspaces, can I safely sell 40 memberships for those seats?

Thank you.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

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Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Alex, thank you. That is a very helpful perspective and I greatly appreciate the information.

These links are a huge help for me too! Thanks Alex for sharing & thanks Eric for asking the question.