Want to rent a desk in a co-op work space?
Renting offices is expensive, and often problematic. You have to tie yourself in to a lease, pay a deposit and ensure that your business is viable enough at all times to support it: there is very little flexibility. Which is why, I guess, the concept of sharing office space has taken off hugely in the US. There is a whole culture around it, and there are many permutations of the same offering.
The gist of it is that instead of tying yourself to a long lease, you simply rent a space for a desk in a big office, and share it with others who are there under the same arrangement. The advantages are obvious:
- You pay only for the space you use
- You share the office with other cool people
- You are not tied to a lease
- You can add space as you can afford it (if your team grows, for instance)
- You often get the benefits of a receptionist, and business equipment
- You have access to good bandwidth, that you for per usage
You can explore the world of coworking by following the links from this excellent wiki on the subject
Well… Gareth Knight, Brett Haggard and myself would like to arrange a space like that for web workers in Joburg. We still have to finalise details, but the space would probably be in the Rivonia/Sandton area, and would cost about R1000 – R1500 per desk, per month. There wouldn’t be a lease, and I’m sure there would be some sort of crowd law that would ensure that everyone is creating a fun atmosphere, that is conducive to producing good work.
Gareth is going to be running a start up, Brett will run Hypertext Media (custom magazine publishing) and I will play around with some new ventures that I am starting soon.
We are trying to gauge the interest of others who would want to participate, so that we know how big a space we need to find. If you are a freelancer, work from home or runs a small company and want to save on office rent and mix with a cool crowd of people, get in touch with us. You can email me at eved AT ideabank.co.za or leave a comment below. There is no obligation, but please only express interest if this is genuinely something you would want to do. Let us know how many people you would be bringing with you, and if you have a finite time for which you need the space.
We would probably get this going from January or February.
10 Comments to “Want to rent a desk in a co-op work space?”
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Sounds interesting. When will you have office space to take a look at? Could even look at providing some sort of special legal service for people in the office space too if we take up some space there.
For once the “platteland” is ahead of the city slickers.
We have been using ‘virtual’ office desks in George for the last two years.
Comes with included adsl, phone answering service, shared boardrooms, kitchen, etc.
Check it out at officereliance.co.za
@pauljacobson Let’s talk!
@imel Looks amazing! We should also talk …I am sure you could give us oodles of tips and insight :-)
I’ve been pining for exactly this sort of office space for years now. Freelancing sure can get tediously boring. Good on you guys for getting it organised.
I would love to join something similar if it were nearer me (Pretoria) but there’s no way I’m going to give up my extra morning sleep just so I can spend it in traffic commuting to Johannesburg.
Sigh.
@Diaan I’m also based in Pretoria, which is why the coop space works so well for me: I need to have a desk in Joburg for the two days or so per week that I am there, but I need space in Pta too. I am looking to move office premises in Pta early next year, and would be keen to set up a coop here too. So let’s talk!
Pretty interested at that price. Let me know if you guys get this off the ground
Definitely interested.
There is a concept like that already – but a bit more pricey offered by Regus – bought out offices of Habitaz – but there is def a market for people like me who want a place to locate as a base for meetings and so on.
@Bhavesh Yep, Regus also offers a rent-an-office setup, but there is a big difference here: this is a co-op situation so we all share in the cost of bandwidth, receptionist, coffee etc etc. More importantly, the office is open space, creating a fab vibe and energy for people who work in a similar industry ie the online space. Regus is far more formal and “posh”. This is more about an awesome work environment, surrounded by colleagues and at an excellent price. Hope you can join us :-)
I would LOVE something like this! Is it still in the pipeline? What abt keeping the jhb and pta peeps happy and setting up inbetween… Kyalami business park?