November 9, 2011 at 18:12Coworking in an Internet Cafe: Getting Started
Monday, eight in the morning, snapping an alarm bell. It's time to get up and go to work, despite the strong desire to sleep for another half hour. So the day begins with most office workers.
However, sooner or later, many of us come to understand that the world is not limited by a single work. And the search for options begins. The most persistent and courageous immediately switch to remote work from home. However, it often turns out that a sharp change in the working regime is not good. In such cases, laziness gradually overtakes the desire to work, personal efficiency drops, and the newly freed up freelancer spends additional free time on pointless surfing on the Internet and watching TV. Soon, a person realizes that office work was not so disgusting.
Подобная проблема вытекает из одного личностного фактора — наличия или отсутствия силы воли. Кому-то ее не хватает и человек постоянно откладывает важные дела на потом ради отдыха и развлечений. Офис же в данном случае служит неким катализатором, который стимулирует силу воли и заставляет отречься от личных соблазнов хотя бы на восьмичасовой рабочий день. Но что делать если работа в офисе надоела до чертиков, а дома невозможно собраться и начать зарабатывать деньги продуктивно?
Ответ напрашивается сам собой — это коворкинг.
I would slightly modify this definition by adding the thought that I described in the two paragraphs above:
And it would seem that here we found a magic pill and a middle ground at the same time. But not everything is so simple, because there are quite a few coworking centers , and the tariffs for renting a workplace are mostly monthly. How many people do you know who are willing to pay monthly for renting a workplace instead of working at home, albeit not so efficiently? Do you know a lot of those who, having left the office, immediately switched to coworking? Frankly, I personally know only a couple of such people.
In general, coworking centers are currently not in the best position, mainly because the Russian mentality still cannot get used to the fact that it is customary to pay with money for any services. And of course, the fact that the cohort of freelancers and entrepreneurs is extremely small in comparison with the same office workers is disappointing.
Opening a coworking on the basis of rented office space, actually starting a business from scratch, purchasing office equipment and computers is financially quite difficult and disadvantageous for both the lessee and the lessor.
With a little thought in mind, it was decided to open a coworking center based on an existing Internet cafe . The main criteria for selection were:
The best, and in fact the only candidate for this role turned out to be a cafe " 5.3 GHz " (I wonder how much longer will the actual title?) , Located in the center of St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospect, 11. It is noteworthy that the spirit of the usual "computer club" here and does not smell. The position of the café team stands for regular gaming events, corporate trainings and educational seminars. So the basic requirements that coworking must meet are " 5.3 GHz " that fully satisfies.
Nevertheless, the working conditions had to be adapted to the concept of Internet cafes. If we give an example of a subjective list of advantages and disadvantages of a standard coworking center, then they are below:
Cons:
Pros:
The pros are already obvious, but it was decided to negate the cons. And I would also like to argue them from my point of view.
As a person with experience working as a freelancer, I don’t quite understand why I need to pay for a separate meeting room if I can solve most problems in instant messengers or Skype without personal meetings.
So we just excluded the cost of renting a meeting room from the price list for renting a workplace. Well, if there is a strong need for a meeting, then a spacious hall will be at your service.
Also raises the question of monthly rent. Perhaps this will seem extremely convenient to someone, but I advocate that a person can choose the time for which to rent a workplace. I think that this may be especially true for someone who has just left the office and wants to try his hand at the freelance field, but does not want to change his habits and regime so dramatically, or is not able to work at home constantly. Therefore, it was decided to introduce payment both hourly (which is the standard for Internet cafes) and flexible coworking packages for a week or a month.
And of course, newly made freelancers need help to maintain their willpower. As the roughest example: control or blockVkontaktedistracting sites from outside. In Internet cafes, administrators can choose different sessions on computers that differ in a set of rights. For example, a client may ask to restrict access to browsers, but leave the ability to run local programs. Or exclude the possibility of starting computer games during a working session. It turns out a kind of motivator, but completely voluntary.
Of course, it is too early to say that this approach to organizing coworking will fully pay for itself and will be beneficial for both parties, but the first customers are already pulling up and are satisfied with their productive work.
In the future, I would like to keep you updated on the events taking place in our newly minted coworking center. And now I will be happy to answer any questions and listen to your wishes.
However, sooner or later, many of us come to understand that the world is not limited by a single work. And the search for options begins. The most persistent and courageous immediately switch to remote work from home. However, it often turns out that a sharp change in the working regime is not good. In such cases, laziness gradually overtakes the desire to work, personal efficiency drops, and the newly freed up freelancer spends additional free time on pointless surfing on the Internet and watching TV. Soon, a person realizes that office work was not so disgusting.
Подобная проблема вытекает из одного личностного фактора — наличия или отсутствия силы воли. Кому-то ее не хватает и человек постоянно откладывает важные дела на потом ради отдыха и развлечений. Офис же в данном случае служит неким катализатором, который стимулирует силу воли и заставляет отречься от личных соблазнов хотя бы на восьмичасовой рабочий день. Но что делать если работа в офисе надоела до чертиков, а дома невозможно собраться и начать зарабатывать деньги продуктивно?
Ответ напрашивается сам собой — это коворкинг.
Coworking (Eng. Co-working, working together) is a model of work, which consists in the fact that instead of working at home, people (often freelancers) rent a common room, remaining independent and free, but without experiencing a lack of communication working together, sharing ideas and helping each other.(c) Wikipedia
I would slightly modify this definition by adding the thought that I described in the two paragraphs above:
Coworking (Eng. Co-working, working together) is a model of work, which consists in the fact that instead of working at home, people (often freelancers) rent a common room, remaining independent and free, but at the same time tuned to work, and are in a working atmosphere to stimulate their willpower.
And it would seem that here we found a magic pill and a middle ground at the same time. But not everything is so simple, because there are quite a few coworking centers , and the tariffs for renting a workplace are mostly monthly. How many people do you know who are willing to pay monthly for renting a workplace instead of working at home, albeit not so efficiently? Do you know a lot of those who, having left the office, immediately switched to coworking? Frankly, I personally know only a couple of such people.
In general, coworking centers are currently not in the best position, mainly because the Russian mentality still cannot get used to the fact that it is customary to pay with money for any services. And of course, the fact that the cohort of freelancers and entrepreneurs is extremely small in comparison with the same office workers is disappointing.
Opening a coworking on the basis of rented office space, actually starting a business from scratch, purchasing office equipment and computers is financially quite difficult and disadvantageous for both the lessee and the lessor.
With a little thought in mind, it was decided to open a coworking center based on an existing Internet cafe . The main criteria for selection were:
- fully prepared infrastructure
- the presence of a cafe where you can dine at the height of the working day
- presence of computers by default
- proximity to metro or city center
- convenience of workplaces
- Default wifi
- standard amenities
- working atmosphere
The best, and in fact the only candidate for this role turned out to be a cafe " 5.3 GHz " (I wonder how much longer will the actual title?) , Located in the center of St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospect, 11. It is noteworthy that the spirit of the usual "computer club" here and does not smell. The position of the café team stands for regular gaming events, corporate trainings and educational seminars. So the basic requirements that coworking must meet are " 5.3 GHz " that fully satisfies.
Nevertheless, the working conditions had to be adapted to the concept of Internet cafes. If we give an example of a subjective list of advantages and disadvantages of a standard coworking center, then they are below:
Cons:
- monthly pay for the workplace
- not all bonuses are available for a standard fee (for example, a computer, printer)
- the price tag for renting a place will not suit everyone
- lack of control over the workflow from the outside
Pros:
- working atmosphere
- availability of a meeting room
- your workplace or office
- the opportunity to sit in the office seven days a week
The pros are already obvious, but it was decided to negate the cons. And I would also like to argue them from my point of view.
As a person with experience working as a freelancer, I don’t quite understand why I need to pay for a separate meeting room if I can solve most problems in instant messengers or Skype without personal meetings.
So we just excluded the cost of renting a meeting room from the price list for renting a workplace. Well, if there is a strong need for a meeting, then a spacious hall will be at your service.
Also raises the question of monthly rent. Perhaps this will seem extremely convenient to someone, but I advocate that a person can choose the time for which to rent a workplace. I think that this may be especially true for someone who has just left the office and wants to try his hand at the freelance field, but does not want to change his habits and regime so dramatically, or is not able to work at home constantly. Therefore, it was decided to introduce payment both hourly (which is the standard for Internet cafes) and flexible coworking packages for a week or a month.
And of course, newly made freelancers need help to maintain their willpower. As the roughest example: control or block
Of course, it is too early to say that this approach to organizing coworking will fully pay for itself and will be beneficial for both parties, but the first customers are already pulling up and are satisfied with their productive work.
In the future, I would like to keep you updated on the events taking place in our newly minted coworking center. And now I will be happy to answer any questions and listen to your wishes.