The demand and interest for coworking spaces has risen rapidly. With coworking being a somewhat new concept especially around Southeast Asia, it is easy to make false assumptions on this foreign working style. People often picture that coworking spaces are flocked with young tech or creative startups and freelancers working in a big shared building. It’s simply not true. The coworking industry is a vast network of spaces of all kinds and community styles.
Read also: 7 Reasons Why Coworking Can Help You Grow Your Revenue
While the industry is fast growing globally, many people have misunderstood what the term (coworking spaces) actually is and what it offers. We decided to clarify the confusion of the most prevalent coworking myths. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
It's not always as costly to cowork as you might believe. If the expenses of a stand-alone space - inclusive with buying office furniture, printers and equipment, as well as cost of renovating the meeting rooms, wiring the space, and the list goes on - are being considered by entrepreneurs, coworking spaces can be the same or lower price than a traditional office, depending on the areas and types of coworking spaces.
On the flip side, coworking space leasing costs can be compensated with thousands of eyeballs on your product, your team, and your logo, if you’re looking at it from the company growth and advertising viewpoint.
You might always heard that coworking spaces are built for freelancers and startups, but don’t believe in it. In fact, coworking space is a broad ecosystem of companies, industries, and people from a wide range of ages, experiences, backgrounds, nationalities, and skill sets. With the advancement of technology across the globe, now coworking spaces are also packed with remote workers who work with teams from other countries.
Although it is feasible that most startup founders are the kinds of coworking people, yet this does not imply that other employees from various backgrounds and sectors won’t fit in.
While many people assume that coworking spaces are mainly designed for small businesses, but in recent years, we have seen many MNCs joining in the coworking scene. You may be surprised that even big companies acknowledge the importance of flexibility and functionality of coworking spaces. Some people use them as their headquarters while larger companies sometimes use them as additional hubs for their staffs.
If you "Google" coworking, you may come across so many stock images online, and all you can see is coworking spaces are primarily populated by 20s hipsters. Unfortunately, those photos don't reflect the true diversity that exists within the growing coworking scene. With more amenities rolling out, it has made the early days of hotdesking in makeshift venue are long gone. So, if you're interested to join coworking space, never hesitate, you'll fit right in.
Read also: Hot Desking Kills! Or does it?
Perhaps coworking spaces are mostly geared toward tech or creative startups, but in reality nowadays the coworking members hail from a broad variety of industries, such as marketing, HR, education, services, finance, engineering, blockchain, NGOs, automotive, retail, oil and gas, as well as construction. People from almost every industry are working from coworking spaces.
Coworking provides a range of workplaces, as opposed to a coffee shop where everyone competes in limited seats and restricted access to power supplies. There are several membership options for open coworking, dedicated desks, private offices in many coworking spaces. If open, shared coworking space isn’t your thing, there are also private booths, hot offices (private rooms that can be rented on a daily basis), private offices, etc.
On top of having abundance of power outlets, coworking is superior to working in a cafe that comparing them both isn't even fair. What a coffee shop has to offer you, so do coworking spaces. Furthermore, the cafe bar stationed in-house in most of coworking spaces provides your daily cuppa. And what makes it different from a cafe is that, you'll be surrounded by a community of experts to collaborate and network with and also office amenities such as meeting rooms, collaborative work areas, silent spots, and many more.
You may depict coworking space as a hive of activity, with continual chatting, and keyboard clacking. Plus, some believe that you have to be a super-social extrovert in adapting yourself in a shared workplace. Although coworking often generates a vibrant, lively environment, this is only a page of the story. In reality, people are primarily in coworking space to do their work, not to socialize all day. So, fret not if you're not bound into extrovert group as many introverts and ambiverts are also joining coworking.
Read also: What to Expect on your First Day in a Coworking Space
It all goes back to you, find a workspace that best suits your personality and working style. You may select open coworking space if you want to be in the middle of all activity or otherwise the dedicated coworking desk and private office suite are good options for those who prefer quiet space with sense of privacy. But even if you're working from the open shared space, in case you'll be having a meeting or attending a call, then you may just use the conference room or phone booth provided within the space.
Don’t let these stereotypes put you off into making the leap while you're exploring bigger opportunity lies within coworking spaces. With the coworking trend on the rise there are sure to be more myths that come along with it. One tip is to be open-minded when it comes to change and especially when trying a new coworking space. What you discover when you are doing will surely surprise you! So if you're started to change, don't waste your time, hit us up at info@flyspaces.com , and our local Space Experts in each of our key cities will contact you promptly. Or simply head over to FlySpaces for a seamless inquiry.