With the advent of laptops and increasingly accessible and fast internet connections, working from home is enjoying great success. With them, many digital nomads take advantage of their entrepreneurial freedom to change offices regularly. Among these workers, some choose co-workers whose benefits are greater than one might imagine.
The idea of this article is to provide feedback on coworking and office sharing in other companies, not on coworkers in the spaces dedicated to this activity.
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a primarily economic interest
Office sharing is often and above all an economic interest. The cost per square meter often depends on the city where you are located, adding a few workspaces optimizes the workspace and therefore reduces the cost of rent.
In the same way, it is quite possible to consider deducting a good number of fixed and variable costs associated with managing a company. Of these we can easily think of all the consumables (coffee, electricity, internet line, printer, cleaning cost, etc.) related to managing the business.
A common living room, with a reservation system, also makes it possible to limit “dead” spaces that will not be adequately exploited by your structure.
But why not go ahead and share the software license, for example? It is often more interesting to create an additional account than to take a new full subscription.
In the same logic, if your companies have substantial results and the agreement goes well, coming together makes it possible to target larger/practical/prestigious premises than you would if you were single and bought together.
get out of your comfort zone
The second consideration of coworkers is also to let you meet people. One of the main problems with entrepreneurship is loneliness.
“Typing inert” in offices that are not yours, you meet other people and are no longer alone. If the social side seems obvious, it is not uncommon for these meetings to generate additional business for you or your host.
In fact, it is relevant or complementary to seek to peer with people in the field of activity in which you work to force luck and why not, to be able to simultaneously respond to customer requests or significantly Simply ask for help around you.
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pull yourself up
If you’re confident and caring enough, try setting up some common rituals. For example, the Friday morning breakfast where we summarize the week where 2 (or more) companies that co-operate can participate and exchange.
Interest? Talk about its problems and think more mindfully about solutions. Having outside contributors, who are therefore philanthropic, and who don’t have a nose in your handlebars, is a huge advantage for bringing in new ideas that you might not have even thought of.
In this sense, incubators are particularly well suited to this practice and offices are ideal places to find partners.
Requirements for a work agreement
Obviously, we have to come together for this to work. This is why it can be easier to get along with friends between structures that don’t know each other.
But that’s not all, especially if you’re in an open space, so it should be valid that everyone knows how to behave in an open space for everyone to limit noise. Also think about security, for example giving strict instructions on sharing keys or alarm codes. If your roommates aren’t responsible and leave everything open, this obviously may not work.
Set the rules and don’t hesitate to write a contract governing them. The exchange of money also seems important because nothing is free.
The easiest way is to have a company that has contracts (rental leases, electricity contracts, etc.) and pays rent bills every month. Include a clause to easily conclude your agreement with the least amount of delay so that the inviting company can turn around to provide, for example, an expansion of your team.
Of course, you’ll need to verify the legal viability of the thing with your lessor and your insurance to avoid potentially significant inconvenience.