What is coworking and what are the advantages?

If you are a freelance professional looking for a workplace to call your own that is not too expensive, coworking can be a great solution.

What is coworking?

If you've ever walked into a commercial building looking for a professional and ended up in the wrong room, talking to someone from a completely different area, you've certainly experienced coworking in a somewhat unusual way.

This is because, When we talk about coworking, we are referring to the sharing of physical space by companies or professionals from different areas, with the aim of reducing infrastructure costs.

So, if you've ever entered a building looking for a lawyer and accidentally bumped into an accountant's office, know that it's likely that this space uses a coworking scheme.

The idea was created to help freelance professionals who wanted to find a physical space to work or even provide services, but without having to bear all the costs.

In this way, in this system, professionals share physical spaces, systems, resources and even address promotion strategies, which makes everything cheaper for everyone.

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What are the advantages of coworking?

For those who are not yet familiar with the concept of coworking, the idea of sharing space with other professionals, who sometimes come from completely different areas, seems a bit confusing.

However, we must understand that there are different types of coworking, and the first of them is the one where only the building is shared, so that each professional has their own room, or even each company has its own floor.

The second model, widely used by beginner freelance professionals, involves sharing rooms, where each person has their own desk, but all physical resources are shared.

If you work with clients, this second model may be a little more complicated, but the first one can work well.

If your idea is just to get a physical space for your activities that depend solely on you, the first model can be a smart way to save money.

See below 2 of the main advantages of coworking.

1. Cost reduction

When we talk about coworking, the main advantage is cost reduction, since the costs of maintaining a professional space are responsible for interrupting the dream of working independently.

Rent, furniture, utility expenses, condominium fees, advertising materials, space cleaning and equipment are just some of the costs that should be included in the planning spreadsheet.

Therefore, even an office can become a distant dream for professionals and start-up companies.

That said, with coworking it is possible to share these expenses with other people, which makes the dream of having your own space cheaper.

2. Exchange of experiences and networking

Remember the example we gave earlier, about the client looking for the lawyer's office and ending up finding the accountant's office? As unusual as it may seem, this is one of the advantages of coworking.

Most customers leave this experience thinking “there’s an accountant here too, good to know!”

However, this contact can also occur directly, so that a professional indicates a colleague from the same building, who works with what the client is looking for outside of their duties.

Therefore, if you want to exchange experiences and invest in networking, this concept is very useful for these purposes.

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Can a building with several offices/rooms be considered coworking?

When researching coworking, you will see explanations that relate the concept to the sharing of direct spaces, that is, rooms designed to accommodate several professionals.

Therefore, coworking spaces are usually spacious, with several tables and preparation to provide an acceptable level of privacy while sharing space.

This raises the question: considering that coworking spaces are portrayed in this way, can we consider a building with separate rooms/offices as belonging to the concept?

Yes, although the most popular application of this concept is that of a large shared space, having an office or a room in a development with more professionals offers the same advantages.

After all, you only bear the cost of the room, and you can share expenses, reception, and many other items with other professionals.

Additionally, there are coworking models where each company operates on a specific floor in a building.

Ultimately, the objective of reducing expenses is achieved in all cases, so they are within the concept.

When is it worth joining a coworking space? What should you consider?

To join coworking, it is important that you reflect on the advantages of the concept: are they really advantageous for you and your business?

Is sharing expenses worth a certain loss in privacy or even in your company's image, given that your address is not just yours?

Furthermore, although this concept offers advantages in reducing expenses, it is important to know whether these are justified, even if reduced.

In some cases, continuing to work from home on certain activities offers more advantages than renting a space.

Therefore, evaluate your case carefully to make an advantageous and loss-free decision.

Roberta July 29, 2024