Facebook Groups, Google Groups and Slack Groups are all great potential resources to answers to your coworking questions. That being said, ask a question like, "What CRM do you use?" and you'll get 20 different responses.
When you ask a group of relative strangers for advice, honor your business by getting some context on their brand values and who they serve before you decide if the advice they give aligns with your brand and who you serve.
More on how to do that in this episode!
In this episode, we talk through three keys to getting what you want out of 2019 (or anytime you're in goal-setting mode).
This is the process my business coach (Simone at Cultivate Advisors) uses with all of her clients. It forces discipline upon those of us that love to work at the idea-level but get a little worn out once we have to dive into the details.
There's no fluff in this process - it's about identifying three things you want to focus on in your business in 2019 and taking the action steps to achive those goals. If you're committed to results in 2019 (or anytime!), have a listen!
This week, Kevin Whelan has deep expertise in marketing that he is applying to Coworking Spaces. I have been working with Kevin on some strategic projects for the Global Workspace Association and Kevin is the outsourced CMO for IQ Office Suites, a coworking space with 5 locations in Toronto and Vancouver.
I've been really impressed with Kevin's deep marketing expertise and his application of them to the coworking industry and was thrilled when he agreed to share his advice on how to approach Google Ads.
This episode covers:
Get the full show notes at www.everythingcoworking.com/97
Michelle Bodick, Managing Director of Sales and Marketing for the Americas at Instant Offices shares their research which reports that 68% of the coworking market is run by independent operators.
Instant has a strong research group that frequently publishes industry data. As business owners, we all love data that helps us learn more about where we sit in the industry and where things are going to help us make better decisions.
The Instant Offices report is full of industry stats and perspective. If you're looking for stats for your investor deck, this is a great resource.
Sometimes we commit to something verbally but don't think about the workflow required to get there. What actions do we need to take? What behavior do we need to model? What language do we need to use to commit to that goal?
This episode dives into a personal experience I had recently that left me reflecting on what I commit to publicly and whether my actions are aligned to those goals.
In this episode, I talk with Ellen Kim, co-founder of Temescal Works in Oakland, California. Ellen is a member of my Flight Group program. She was in the pre-launch Flight Group program and then graduated into the “In Flight” Group program after she opened her space. She created a hyperlocal coworking space in a building that she bought with 11 of her neighbors. For any of you looking for success stories in creating a meaningful community and a successful space in a local market, this one’s for you.
One of the most challenging aspects of starting a business is dealing with administrative tasks like payroll and finding affordable access to healthcare for your team.
In this episode, I talk with Peter Zinn, whose role is “The Strategic Partner to the Coworking Industry" for TriNet about how to get access to HR benefits for your team as well as your members.
Peter knows this all too well as a recovering entrepreneur. He shares his story and details on how to learn more about working with TriNet through our very special GWA discount.
You've hosted your grand opening and you're live! You feel like there should be a light at the end of the tunnel but you're still feeling the overwhelm of giant to-do lists and feeling like you can take a breath and try to think straight.
That to-do list isn't going away but make sure you force yourself to take an hour or two to focus on these 6 buckets in your business. Prioritize the to-do-list beyond the urgent items such as "the lock system isn't synching with my space management platform yet."
A major success driver for small business owners is focusing on the 20% of the activities in your business that drive 80% of the value. In this episode, I walk through 6 things you should focus on after you launch your coworking space.
The Instant Group reports that 68% of the market is made up of operators outside the top 6 national companies. So 68% of the market is not WeWork or Knotel or Regus or Premier Business Centers. We are, however, seeing the market share by number of locations grow for the larger operators.
The estimated share for 2018 is 36% of the number of locations held by the top operators. But those operators are generally taking large spaces in central business districts. That leaves a lot of market opportunities for successful independent operators that want to make a local impact.
Here are five powerful reasons it can pay to be small but mighty.
At the time of this recording, we're a few weeks out from the 2018 FlexOffice Conference. This week, I share my primary takeaways through my lens as a primary conference organizer and industry member.
In this episode, I go through a framework for implementing consistent team meetings as a part of your leadership system for running a successful coworking space.
You can have the right location, a gorgeous space and a great community and still have the wheels fall of of your business if you don’t have the right systems in place to ensure that the team is aligned with and accountable to your organizational goals.
Weekly meetings are a great way to ensure a regular check-in against KPIs and also to help develop a strong culture, recognize team wins and provide consistent feedback to enhance performance.
In this episode, I go through a framework for implementing consistent team meetings as part of your leadership system for running a successful coworking space.
You can have the right location, a gorgeous space, and a great community and still have the wheels fall off of your business if you don't have the right systems in place to ensure that the team is aligned with and accountable to your organizational goals.
Weekly meetings are a great way to ensure a regular check-in against KPIs and also to help develop a strong culture, recognize team wins and provide consistent feedback to enhance performance. See the full show notes here.
This week we're shifting from working on the "how" to working on the mindset challenges that often prevent us from making progress and living our best lives.
I am highly trained in the “how” department. So much so that my analytical rigor as an MBA grad from the top business school in the country might have squashed some of my intuitive side. I got to a point in my post-MBA career when I was really stuck and wasn't able to move on to the thing I could sense deep down was next for me.
Fortunately, I found Rita Hyland. Her website describes her coaching practice as "a place where leaders come to reclaim their purpose, clarify their vision, and reconnect with their true voice."
She did exactly that for me. Not just once, but twice :-) The first time I worked with her was the process that birthed Enerspace, my own coworking space. It was a life-changing process that gave me the awareness and the tools to work through mindset issues as they come up. And as entrepreneurs, we are all managing mindset issues on a daily basis.
Rita is an entrepreneur, coach, speaker, wife, and mother of three active children. In this episode, she talks with us about how to recognize common mindset barriers that keep us from pursuing our best lives.
See full post here.
In this episode, I do a problem-solving session with Anthony Vetesse of Synchronous Solutions Coworking in Detroit.
He reached out and asked for some help figuring out why he can sell his open space memberships all day long but struggles with his offices so I invited Anthony on to work through this in real-time and record it so we could share it with you.
We go through a review of the Detroit coworking market, his unique location and culture, the health of his community, his core member profile, his product mix, his pricing, his marketing tactics and where we think his sales funnel could be improved to help solve the problem.
See more here.
This is the final episode in a three-part series on the Coworking Sales Funnel. If you missed episode #84 and #85, make sure to go back and listen.
In this last episode of the three-part series I cover:
This is the second episode in a three-part series on the Coworking Sales Funnel.
If you missed episode #84, make sure to go back and listen.
Make sure to tune in next week for episode #86 for the third and final episode of this series.
In this second episode of the three-part series I cover:
>Converting website visitors into tours.
>Leakage points in this section of the sales funnel - the most common reasons you're losing prospective members at this stage of the sales process and how you can plug those leaks.
>An illustration of sales funnel leaks with Anna from Atlanta.
This is the first episode in a three-part series on the Coworking Sales Funnel.
There’s a lot to cover on this topic and I want to keep it digestible. So make sure you tune in next week for episode #85 for the second part of this series.
In this first episode of the three-part series I cover:
>Does your product mix support your pro-forma forecast and expectations? If not, suggestions for how to adjust.
>An overview of the Coworking Sales Funnel - start with the end in mind - what's your end goal for the space? Then we work back up through the funnel to make sure all of the steps in your sales process drive toward your goal.
>The top of the sales funnel - how to drive relevant visitors to your website.
See the full blog post at www.everythingcoworking.com under Coworking Resources/Blog
> Creating the right tech stack in a coworking space is critical to keeping yourself sane, creating time for strategic work for you and your team, and to creating a positive, friction-free experience for your members.
> Being committed to the core parts of your business that automate your processes as well as keep things like onboarding and conference room reservations simple for members are what separates the good from the great coworking businesses.
That being said, the tech and tools aspect of opening and running a coworking space is one of the most overwhelming for many operators.
I’ve been there myself and I work with operators like you each and every month to make sure they don’t get stuck in the land of…
...analysis paralysis!
I can tell you’re trying to stay focused, make the right decisions and keep moving!
This episode walks through the just-released 2018 Coworking Tech and Tools Guide which you can download here.
In addition to my own experience, I see a lot of businesses, P&L's, pro-formas, etc. and have pieced together what I think are factors that contribute to the failure of a coworking space.
No matter how emotionally committed you are to getting a space up and running, make sure that you're avoiding these pitfalls as you go through the design of your business, selection of your space and fund-raising.
If you have any feedback or questions on this episode, please reach out to me at jamie@everythingcoworking.com!
I generally see two types of mindset out there on opening a coworking space. There are the folks that will start selling the story to anyone who will listen before they’ve even signed a lease. Then there are the folks that want to get the space built, furnished and wrapped up on a bow before they start touring potential members. There are shades of these types but for today, we’ll focus on these two ends of the spectrum.
The “Story Seller” as we’ll call her, is campaigning on behalf of this space on day one both through word of mouth and through social media and a strong online presence. She is both strategic and scrappy.
The “Bow Boy,” as we’ll call him, believes that people won’t buy what they can’t clearly see, touch and feel. They wait until they have a shiny new space with an “open” sign on the door to start attracting members.
The Story Seller will have a faster return on her investment.
Learn more about these two characters in this episode.
Mara Hauser covers the design process for coworking spaces from identifying your core user to branding to determining your program. Join us for a unique opportunity to hear from a successful coworking space operator who also owns a corporate interiors design firm!
In this episode, I talk with Kyle Coolbroth, Co-Founder and CEO of Fueled Collective which the coworking industry’s newest and most unique franchise player.
Kyle is an industry veteran - he and his co-founder Don Ball started COCO in January 2010.
Kyle shares:
Brad Krauskopf, founder of Hub Australia, shares his experience going from one 2500 square foot location to 7 locations across Australia. How he has reshaped his model to better meet member needs, how his organizational structure has changed to fuel growth and how his own role has evolved.
Garrett Tichy is the Founder and Owner of Hygge Coworking. A strong advocate for Charlotte, Tichy is well-known for his natural ability to build diverse and inclusive communities of professionals – both online and in-person – who appreciate and thrive on the power of connection to elevate an initiative, a workplace and a city.
Before founding Hygge Coworking, Garrett was the owner creative digital marketing agency. This gives him a unique leg-up on applying marketing concepts to local businesses such as coworking spaces. Garrett facilitated a marketing break-out session at a recent industry event and his expertise and perspective drew me in and I accosted him in the hallway and asked him to be a guest on the podcast and help other owners be better marketers.
You are really going to enjoy today’s guest, Antony Slumbers. He is the keynote speaker for the 2018 FlexOffice Conference hosted by the Global Workspace Association and NAIOP. He's also a forward-looking, big picture thinker so put on your thinking cap!
The conference is September 12-14 in Austin, Texas. If you are in the shared workspace industry, this is a do-not miss event. Attending the conference can help you to stay on top of quickly evolving industry trends and it’s an opportunity to make connections and build relationships well beyond what you can accomplish through social media.