Converting your office space into Coworking?
In the recent past, many corporates and serviced offices are converting their offices into coworking. Due to the rise in demand for corporates going for flexible hours, most of the service’s offices are converting their spaces into coworking and there are many people willing to buy those spaces. Below are the few things one needs to consider while converting their office into coworking.
- Cost
- Location
- Layout and design
- Amenities and facilities
- Pricing
While deciding on a price for your workspace the way you market and who are your target audiences needs to be considered. You need to consider the current market price and the price offered by your competitors as well the locality you are in and the services that you would offer. The psychological factor is important when deciding on a price. Also including GST in the price would be helpful for the members to know the final price and make their decision easier. You can have 2 to 3 membership plans which would make the sales process easier. Once you have opened your space to the clients you can offer a promotional offer where you could attract more members.
- Hiring the right staff
- Knowing who your customer is
Converting your office into a coworking space involves a lot of money as you may require to buy in some furniture, you may require to change the layout of your current office to make coworking possible. You need to be able to provide various amenities and facilities to your members. For instance, your existing air conditioning system would require to be replaced if you would have a larger number of members. Some spaces would be needed to be redesigned as per specific needs. You may require some health and safety requirements for various office sizes.
The most important factor when you convert your office into a coworking space is the location. One needs to consider the demographics of the region and the demand for coworking in your location you also need to think about future growth too. Members prefer a location that is easily accessible 24/7, and the location should be an ideal one especially if the nature work of your members would require meeting clients every single day. Members would not prefer if your coworking space is not located in the heart of the city as communication would be a great hassle.
Coworking places are often open spaces which allow flexibility of movement to its members, you won’t find a cubicle in a co-working space, in case if someone needs privacy there are open floor layouts which have private rooms, conference rooms, etc. Whereas in corporate offices there are big teams which use open floor layouts and there are private cabins for managers and senior officials. This design works fine in the case of larger members but in the case of small teams would require a different layout, so one needs to think about the layout and design while converting your office space into coworking.
Apart from the basic facilities like Wifi or a coffee machine, your coworking space should be able to provide other facilities like Free and easy parking which would make it easy for the members to get to their workplace. Fully equipped conference or meeting rooms where they can have their meetings without any disturbance. Kitchen/lounge areas/gaming zones as they mostly work flexible hours and at odd hours there should be a place where they can have a quick break and rest.
Hiring the right staff is important for any organization the success of the organization depends on them. The peoples you hire represent the company and they are the people who would make your company grow, hence you need to concentrate on finding the right people who would be the backbone of the company. A smiling and friendly community manager who is willing to go that extra mile to help its members would definitely be an asset to the company.
Once you convert your office into a co-working space you would also need to know who would be your customer or how do I get my customers? There are various websites where you can list your Coworking space. Know the type of users you are looking at e.g. small companies or freelancers etc. Hosting events is a good way to attract members wherein they get to see the space and interact with the staff also you can introduce free trials for potential clients and referral programs to increase the members.
To sum up, if you are planning to convert your existing office into a working space you need to be clear as to what is your main purpose of doing so and also consider all the above factors. Coworking spaces need attention to details and day-to-day issues so there should be professional teams to handle it.
