What is a coworking space?

Coworking essentially is an environment where several workers from various different companies work in a large office space, while sharing infrastructure and cost, at the same time having a sense of community and collaboration for mutual benefit. 

This is the new way of working, it’s a natural outcome of the sharing and gig economy which is taking over our lives in all aspects. They offer what a traditional office offers, and much more in terms of the overall vibe, culture and various services. Above all, they offer flexibility, both in terms of rental contracts and plug and play infrastructure to new age startups which thrive on VC money and can potentially go bust or boom within a matter of days/weeks/months. 

Modern world is changing ever so fast with technology that it’s hard to imagine being tied to a long term office lease anymore, besides a few exceptions. Most businesses now are immensely mobile and highly lucid. Coworking spaces accommodate the way society by and large is going to work going forward. These shared workspaces offer packages of office-like amenities such as hot-desks, private meeting rooms, Wi-Fi, printer, reception, pantry, coffee and more. Often, they do also offer community,  startup resources ranging from digital assets, and even coaches and advisors.

Who is it for?

These spaces are ideal freelancers and startups because they offer the ability to scale up or down team members, extremely low onboarding and set up cost due to shared infrastructure and these spaces often provide the much needed networking platforms through various community activities that the coworking operator runs. However, over the years, especially after the Corona crisis, many coworking spaces have reported a steady inflow of diverse clientele which ranges from SME’s to even big corporations. Big progressive organizations are jumping on board for the benefits to their employees, from increased happiness and productivity to networking opportunities with people outside of their own domains.

Types of coworking spaces

While most co-working spaces are alike, however with time as they gain popularity and more and operators are getting exposed to a variety of business types, an ecosystem of unique centers is also evolving.  For e.g Crosscoop, which could be classified as a “specialized coworking” its a coworking center in cybercity Gurgaon which has created a niche for itself among Japanese companies by offering bilingual support and thus dispelling any communication anxieties clients may have and to reduce communication gap. Another one which is sort of at a tucked away location in Hauz Khas village, known as “A little Anarchy” it’s quite popular among media people for its excellent audio and projection set facilities. Besides regular screenings, seminars and other playful activities are organized by the community.  Few such as “upstage club”  “the executive center” and “Atelier” are great for clients that looking for “high end” luxury service element, these centers would typically have plush expensive furniture, commercial kitchen with 5 star chefs offering exotic food and beverages, basically have an element of luxury in all their services and amenities. Another type could be the “barebone/accelerators” which have the typical look of barewalls with exposed duct pipes on ceiling giving it a minimalist feel with large open spaces and less furniture. Very easy going casual vibe which provides a relaxed, collaborative environment for innovation are typically preferred by software developers and other gig economy tech startups. 91 springboard, investopad, thinkvalley and innov8 are good examples. Then there are some “all rounders” like Wework, Coworks, Workwell, executive center, etc which offer a bit of everything. Then there are some which provide niche “virtual spaces and meeting spaces” too, which basically means providing a professional environment on an as-needed basis to users. Users can book spaces by the hour or select days in a month.  Even though all coworkings provide virtual and meeting spaces purse but few really excel at it with exceptional secretarial services like company registration work, taxation, audit etc. 

If you are toying around with the idea of moving into a coworking space, it’s a good idea to get a first hand feel of various spaces in your desired geographic area.