An arrangement where workers of various companies share an office space to make way for cost savings & convenience by the use of shared infrastructure like equipment, utilities, and custodial services, co-working is seen to be a sought-after option these days.
Co-working spaces have no hassle of maintenance cost and promise a superb ambience. So, the like-minded community prefers to opt for co-working spaces as there is a great possibility of networking as well as growth.
Here’s Why Shared Spaces Are Booming: Businesses are looking to host satellite teams in new cities without having to burden themselves with getting a large new office, and even freelancers rapidly want a space that inspires and boosts creativity.
In co-working spaces, one is also surrounded by a like-minded community which helps a lot to learn, has flexible work hours, there’s a professional setup and there is ample of scope for collaboration opportunities. The lock-in period of regular leasing is 3 years, whereas the lock-in period of co-working spaces is 1-3 months. So, you can just give a notice and opt-out of it as per your convenience. There are many distractions at a home office or café but co-working allows for much more productivity. Nonetheless, co-working startups also face some challenges. Having competitive pricing, providing space at an accessible location, offering facilities like internet/wi-fi, conference and meeting rooms, locker facilities, game zones, pantry services, and a suitable working environment is what the co-working spaces are struggling with.
As the market is price sensitive, they also have a challenge of being pocket-friendly and keeping up with the ambience of the place. Amitoz Pal Singh, the Founder of SpaceJam said, “We, at our co-working space, are a very diverse community. Here you will meet designers, developers, artists, bloggers, influencers, CAs, and even lawyers; it is a one-stop solution for networking opportunities.”
Speaking on why one should choose the co-working space as a future of work, Vidur Pratap Bansal, the Founder of Workcave co-working in Chandigarh, said, “They are the best and offer flexibility when starting up. It is 100% economical and hassle-free. There is no monthly fixed liability too in terms of rent and security fees. One doesn’t have to go for leasing the office space; one can do experimentation and it also helps when one is expanding the business operations.”
Various Opportunities of Co-working: Co-working spaces are a hit amongst both SMEs as well as big corporates. But why? There are many financial commitments to be completed beforehand not just by emerging startups but also by established companies.
A new operating business office requires taking care of everything – from choosing the preferred site, sorting out lease & purchase negotiations and getting equipment to maintaining infrastructure and setting up tech facilities. However, co-working spaces save a large corporation’s time and resources most effectively and efficiently. So, not just the solo entrepreneurs but also the established corporates are walking the road of shared co-spaces.
Hit by the COVID-19 Wave: The small co-working spaces found it difficult to sustain the COVID-19 storm. The key challenge in front of the co-working industry turned out to be that small players and freelancers were hit the most during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Low occupancy and increasing costs made co-working operations unviable and fringe players made an exit, which led to the closure of many units.
As the economy is already facing the heat and the co-working concept is seen to be in doldrums, many are not willing to invest in additional overhead for the coming 2-3 quarters. As the co-working industry has not been able to survive well during the COVID-19 wave, all the expansion plans are put on hold.
Talking about the present situation in post-COVID era, Param Kalra, the Founder of Starthub Nation, Panchkula said, “During lockdown, everything was shut and things took time to pick-up but work from home isn’t that productive and the baseline of co-working spaces ecosystem is that people needed to collaborate. Even we were affected as people were scared and uncertain, but now things are returning to normal. Our occupancy was down to 10 percent but now our Mohali space is completely occupied.”
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