In many ways, there has never been a better time to launch a new business. However, the statistics show that the vast majority of ventures fail to achieve their goals. This is often due to excessive overheads, which is why co-working spaces continue to grow in popularity each year.
There’s no doubt that this solution could be your key to success. But it’s important to remember that this type of working environment serves up a few unique obstacles. Use the guidelines below to overcome those issues, and they will not be a problem.
What are you waiting for? Let’s get to work.
Establish A Sense Of Privacy
By choosing a co-working arena, you immediately sacrifice some of your privacy. However, that doesn’t mean you should be completely open. Even if those people sharing the area aren’t competitors, their presence could be fairly disruptive.
This is especially true when communicating with clients. An office phone booth is particularly ideal if you share an open plan environment. Cutting out that outside noise will bring benefits for both you and the customer. If nothing else, it’s easier to stay organized in a space that’s all yours too.
It can also pay dividends to have a set schedule for joint conference rooms as it will prevent disagreements. If you ever find yourself needing to meet a client when the space isn’t available, you can always take them for a business lunch.
Protect Your Work
We all want to trust the people we share our business arenas with, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. For starters, it could help you avoid the damage caused by their potential dishonesty. Secondly, knowing that you’ve taken the right precautions will allow you to relax and focus on the job at hand.
In truth, internal protection should be an important factor for all businesses. After all, employees are just as likely to be the culprits. Therefore, having the right insurances and contract agreements in place are crucial.
Of course, if you handle money and cheques within these premises, you must keep these protected too. Make sure that you also install some CCTV cameras. That way, if something does happen, you’ll have evidence.
Maintain A Positive Relationship
There is a huge need to take greater care when working in this way. However, the benefits extend beyond the reduced rental costs. Building a strong relationship can be beneficial for both parties, and is something you should always look to do.
Without necessarily working together, you can offer advice to each other. Alternatively, skills trades can be a great way to reduce the costs of running a business. In some cases, it may be possible to place bulk orders on stationery or run joint marketing campaigns. Again, this can only work wonders for everyone.
Simple pleasantries go a long way while you can also include them when celebrating an employee’s birthday for example. Those small gestures, combined with emotional support, should be all that’s required. For minimal effort, the rewards can be huge.
