Restless at-home workers improve by collaborating face to face
Home-based workers say “coworking” balances freedom, teamwork
Coworking groups are meeting or forming in more than 40 U.S. cities
The trend comes as single-person businesses increase
“The reason people work alone, is because they’re looking for freedom,” said Bachman, a 34-year-old Web developer who telecommutes part time. “It may be ironic that you crave isolation, but you also want to be socially interactive with others like you.”
“Starbucks was a place to get out of the house and be around other people,” said Sherry Heyl, a Jelly coworker and home-based social media consultant. “But you can’t turn to the person next to you at Starbucks and say, ‘Can you look at this proposal and tell me if it looks all right or check it for typos?’”
There are so many people I admire but if you ask me to list the top 10 people I admire, I would have to name Randy Pausch as one of them. A young college professor who chronicled his battle with cancel and delivered the kind of lecture that not only make you stop to pay attention but also touch your heart and soul. It is the kind of lecture that makes you ask yourself, if I knew I was going to die and had a chance to sum up every thing that is important to me, what would I say? It’s not a sad lecture; in fact, it is uplifting as it makes you want to think about your dreams and achieving it.
How does it apply to entrepreneurs? We are often so scared to make decisions or take opportunities that is presented to us, fear rules over us. There are also some of us who are in jobs we don’t like, doing work that we know we were not meant to be doing…. but too scared to step away from the familiar habits that we have been in for so long to follow our passion and dream.
“It is not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed. It is the things we do not. Find your passion and follow it” – Randy Pausch
A quick plug for Freelance Camp: If you are a freelancer, find out about Freelance Camp! An ad-hoc gathering of freelancers to share and learn in an open environment. There is one in Vancouver – www.thenetworkhub.ca/freelancecamp/
According to the Elance report, the economic downturn is no longer the primary force driving professionals to start a freelance career. Less than 5 percent of those surveyed said they were working as a freelancer until they could find a full-time job, and less than 25 percent said they became freelancers after a layoff. Over half of those who responded to the survey said they began freelancing to be their own boss and work on projects they loved, and almost 80 percent of respondents said the ability to have control over their own work schedule was their favorite part of working independently.
Coworking is more than just a distributed-working model. It’s a philosophy and an exercise in community-building. Coworking offers numerous opportunities to implement sustainability/greening initiatives in the workplace. Coworking also helps address several of the objectives proposed in the Greenest City action plans and programs. Here, we focus on the following aspects – affordability, sustainability, diversity, focus on the creative city/creative economy, and local economic development.
So how does coworking fit into the “Greenest City in the World by 2020″ proposed by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson?
AFFORDABLE By sharing offices and resources with each other, the cost of rent for each business is brought down significantly. The community built in at a coworking space provides more than workspace, it provides smart solutions and networking opportunities with other businesses in the same space. As cost of doing business and real estate increases, coworking helps lower the pressure of inflation by spreading the cost of acquiring a professional space to work.
SUSTAINABLE Sharing resources among businesses means we cut down a significant amount of wastes compared to if each businesses set out to have their own office space. From paper, utility, napkins and supplies – a community sharing resources to cut down waste helps set the foundation for a micro sustainable micro-city in each coworking space. Bikes are encouraged mode of transportation and most coworking spaces such as ours have installed showers for people who bike to work.
DIVERSITY Freelancers, startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs from various backgrounds and phases are found in coworking spaces, the diversity is vast but that’s not all that is exciting – it is the innovation and mutual inspiration that comes with diversity that is particularly important for a sustainable and creative city. The brain power that arises from bringing like-minded folks from diverse professions together in one place is powerful.
CREATIVE CITY Productivity isn’t the only significant benefit developed as a result of coworking, there is also an increase of creative input. Diversity of skills in one room is a unique strength of coworking. Freelancers, entrepreneurs, small business owners collaborate on joint projects, consult each other and have even started companies together.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT By creating an affordable, flexible and smart space for people to work from, coworking nurtures and breeds a collaborative culture within the space. The collaborative culture gives rise to a community – strangers becomes coworkers who share ideas and interest with each other. Professional and personal relationships are built from working with other businesses in the same space. This gives each coworking member a powerful network of professional and personal resources through the other members of the coworking space. The flexibility in lease agreement gives breathing room to new businesses uncertain of their financial situations and alleviates the tremendous amount of stress that comes with a long term iron-clad contract. Coworking breeds a collaborative community that supports each other and more importantly, it nurtures businesses that grows up and give back to the local economy through jobs and investments.
At The Network Hub we have provided a launch pad for more than forty companies during our 4.5 years of existence and our involvement in the local freelance/entrepreneur/tech communities is well-known. We enjoy building community and look forward to continue our work in strengthening the local entrepreneurial community.
The coworking movement is one that has every one rethink how they work. With technology giving us the ability to work wherever and whenever we want to, it then creates a unique situation where we crave for colleagues and social interactions after being cooped up for a long period of time.
“As working from home becomes more and more common for creative professionals – be they freelancers or otherwise – the need for social interaction in the workplace has become increasingly more apparent. While home offices allow the flexibility to do what you want, when you want, it is important to question how our environment affects both state of mind and productivity.”
“By bringing like-minded folks from diverse professions together into one place, you create a very powerful contingent of brain power.”
When you are operating a business, you want to minimize your expenses as much as possible and commercial lease is a huge expense for most people. Freelancers, part-time workers, self-employed, startups, entrepreneurs and even small businesses find themselves saving thousands of dollars. With shared resources such as internet, printer, fax, meeting room and included amenities such as utility, cleaning expenses and access to networking events usually organized in the space - coworking has huge benefits at significantly lower pricing.
Welcome to the world of coworking, where freelancers, part-time workers, the self-employed and start-up principals trade in their temporary work spaces at coffee shops and living rooms for a shared office.
“I’m a very collaborative person and I noticed that when people are doing freelance work or have their own business, it can get very lonely,” Rokusek (right) said. “It’s nice to have a space where folks can work on their own projects but also have a sense of collegiality.”
“The coworking movement is about collaborating with people,” he said. “It’s a great place for impromptu brainstorming sessions. If you need creative minds for projects, it’s the kind of place to find people who are willing to help. It’s also a place with the kind of energy you can’t get at a coffee house.”
We often get freelancers who come into the office thanking us for opening a coworking space. Freelancers who operates out of the house or coffee shop, especially those who have been working from home for a long time crave the casual conversation with “coworker” or they are hoping for separation between work and home. Coworking spaces are set up for freelancers who enjoy the casual chatter or the ability to bounce ideas off of each other but still be able to go back to their desk and focus on their own work.
Follow Elizabeth Millard who is a freelance writer from thelinemedia.com who explores coworking through the lenses of a freelance writer.
As a typical freelancer, I sometimes crave the coziness of other people’s presence while working, and head out to a Dunn Bros. orMay Day Cafe, but anyplace I go tends to be the same: people working near each other, but definitely not together. If I was attempting to hammer out some prose at a coffee shop and a fellow cafe denizen turned to ask what I was working on, I’d likely respond by moving to another table.
“People have basic social needs,” notes Becerra. “Just because you’re working for yourself doesn’t mean you can’t fill those needs, too. That’s the idea behind this, and we think it’s an amazing model. We believe it can really evolve in even more exciting directions.”
“People can bounce ideas off each other about their work, but they can also just have a conversation. I think people who work in traditional offices take that for granted, the little moments of connection during the day. But it’s something that many of the self-employed don’t get on a consistent basis.”
The Network Hub provides coworking, shared office, office space, phone answering and mailbox rental for developers, designers, solo professionals, small businesses, startups located in Downtown Vancouver Canada.
We often get freelancers who come into the office thanking us for opening a 
