RIP Workspace. The Hard Discussion.
Reposted from the Coworking Google Group:
The closing of Workspace in Vancouver is really, really sad news. I only visited workspace for the first time in this past year, but it’s always been an inspiration from a space design/utilization standpoint for me. I met with Dane while I was there in February, and have the utmost respect for him, his approach, and his involvement over the years.
I can echo that we’ve continued to grow despite (or thanks to) the recession. Great things are happening for many of our members, and we seem to be coming out of a slight summer “lull” of activity and our office has been teaming with people for the last 2 weeks.
We, and transitively, the entire scene, has seen a rejuvenation underway for the fall. Barcamp planning is underway. New event ideas are springing up every day. Peoples’ businesses are taking off. Things are good right now.
Now, the hard discussion. I hope nobody thinks that I’m crass in bringing this up so quickly, but I kept quiet after the last significant space closing hoping that someone else would bring up these issues, and they were not approached. This is where things get hard for coworking. Bad things will happen. My heart hopes that no bad things happen to anyone that any of us know, but it’s inevitable, and healthy.
My thesis is that in order for coworking to be truly mainstream, it needs to fulfill both successes and failures. Like, massive successes. And colossal fuck ups. Coworking will never find its way into business textbooks until both sides of the scale have been tipped. We need case studies from both ends of the spectrum to study the longevity of this business concept, this movement, and this way of life.
What strikes me as a valuable lesson with the Workspace closing comes from the e-mail they sent to their members:
The new owner mentions that they took on workspace’s pre-existing debt as a public service, and I have to imagine that even making it just past break even while sustaining any amount of debt is bad for the spirits of the management team, which trickles down to the membership.
This reinforces why we believe so strongly in bootstrapping. Spend money like you don’t have any. One of my favorite lessons/stories from Geoff is how he runs his businesses as if there was a recession all the time, so when there actually is a recession, it’s business as usual.
Taking on debt as a public service is a bad move. You’re not helping anyone in the long run. There’s an immense value in remaining introspective and purposeful with your coworking space. There is no value in a space that’s packed full of amenities, but accrues more debt than members.
Furthermore, I think it’s interesting that Workspace kept the problem from its’ members. I won’t speculate why because that’s unproductive, but it certainly makes me think how I would approach things if we were in hot water for any amount of time.
In recent months we’ve seen the fall of two longstanding coworking spaces: Cubespace, and now Workspace. Both were large spaces, with significant communities that called them home over a long period of time. Cubespace let their community know that there was a problem, but only after it seemed too late. The community’s response was positive and supportive, but wouldn’t support as more than a band-aide. Workspace shocked its members with an abrupt notice. Ripping of the band-aide, to continue the metaphor.
I’m frankly not sure which I prefer, and while I hope that I’m never in the position to make the hard decision that those space owners made, I hope we can all learn from the things they’ve done during their time open.
I hope that we can have this discussion out in the open, candidly and intelligently, and all turn this disappointing news into something we all can reflect on.
This is really sad to hear; WorkSpace was a beautiful, really nice space. Best of luck to everyone involved on your next venture!
Great post Alex. You nailed it on a number of points. It was great to meet you while you were in Vancouver. The closure of our space is definitely a sad moment for me but during the 3 years I worked there I met so many great people and learned so much that I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’ve been following IndyHall and I am continually blown away by how you guys knock it out of the park in every department. I’m planning to head to SXSW this year so hopefully we can catch up and bounce ideas around. Keep up the great work, brother. As far as I’m concerned you’re leading the way!
May your excellence deepen and your enemies be vanquished swiftly.
Dane,
I’m really glad to hear you’re in good spirits, and coming away from this feeling positive.
Do you mind if I start signing e-mails this way? What an AWESOME quote!
I am sorry to hear about a coworking spacing closing it’s doors. Debt and funding raises the bar of “success”. The post has some great points Alex, great read.
Most definitely you should use it for signing emails. It’s especially effective on Linked In.
Alex, can you go into what “Spend money like you don’t have any” really means?
Alex, can you go into what “Spend money like you don’t have any” really means?
As I said this weekend, it's a mode of fiscal planning. Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to spend it.
It all comes back to our iterative approach. We spent/invested where the need was strongest, based on what we had available. When more resources became available, we spent/invested more. Not just because more resources became available, but because the need we spent on presented and verified itself.
In a generation of business people where investment/venture capital has become glorified as a “right of passage” rather than a strategic business move, I so often see mistakes made that could be avoided if they took the iterative “spend money like you don't have any” approach.
As I said this weekend, it's a mode of fiscal planning. Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to spend it.
It all comes back to our iterative approach. We spent/invested where the need was strongest, based on what we had available. When more resources became available, we spent/invested more. Not just because more resources became available, but because the need we spent on presented and verified itself.
In a generation of business people where investment/venture capital has become glorified as a “right of passage” rather than a strategic business move, I so often see mistakes made that could be avoided if they took the iterative “spend money like you don't have any” approach.
I meant to comment on this a while back. How much to spend? We are now one day away from our grand opening of the Creative space, Barrie Ontario's first co-work space. There are a couple main things people mention/recognize (members and guests) when they come into our space. Surprisingly none of them are big buck items if they cost anything at all.
1. “This space looks cool” Ikea/Office Depot furniture and chairs and some feng shui savvy. Placement of furnishings cheap or expensive make a room.
2. “I love the creative vibe” People are at other desks sharing interacting co-working. Leave the brainstorming stuff on white boards for a while.
3. “I could work here” People see themselves “fitting” the space. Which I think speaks to the friendly welcomes most people get. It's funny how no one can enter without a “hello, good morning” or leave without all or most of the members saying a friendly “good-nite!”
Focus on place and high-tech and you will be stressed. Facility focus
Focus on face and high-touch and you'll thrive. People Focus
Don't get me wrong – make sure you have the highest speed internet you can afford, nice desks and comfortable long-sit chairs, but to go all glass and glitz and super slick is not needed. Keep the space clean, love on the members, encourage hard work and encourage successful business ethics, have fun and it should work. We phased into our co-work space – have spent about $3000 and we have zero debt. We're a small space (1300 s/f) 8 FT/PT members so far. We have room for around 16 full. Now looking for more space due to all the requests beyond capacity. Hope that helps. In short I agree with Alex. Be frugal and focus on the members need at the time. Blessings to you all!
Peace!
I meant to comment on this a while back. How much to spend? We are now one day away from our grand opening of the Creative space, Barrie Ontario's first co-work space. There are a couple main things people mention/recognize (members and guests) when they come into our space. Surprisingly none of them are big buck items if they cost anything at all.
1. “This space looks cool” Ikea/Office Depot furniture and chairs and some feng shui savvy. Placement of furnishings cheap or expensive make a room.
2. “I love the creative vibe” People are at other desks sharing interacting co-working. Leave the brainstorming stuff on white boards for a while.
3. “I could work here” People see themselves “fitting” the space. Which I think speaks to the friendly welcomes most people get. It's funny how no one can enter without a “hello, good morning” or leave without all or most of the members saying a friendly “good-nite!”
Focus on place and high-tech and you will be stressed. Facility focus
Focus on face and high-touch and you'll thrive. People Focus
Don't get me wrong – make sure you have the highest speed internet you can afford, nice desks and comfortable long-sit chairs, but to go all glass and glitz and super slick is not needed. Keep the space clean, love on the members, encourage hard work and encourage successful business ethics, have fun and it should work. We phased into our co-work space – have spent about $3000 and we have zero debt. We're a small space (1300 s/f) 8 FT/PT members so far. We have room for around 16 full. Now looking for more space due to all the requests beyond capacity. Hope that helps. In short I agree with Alex. Be frugal and focus on the members need at the time. Blessings to you all!
Peace!
I meant to comment on this a while back. How much to spend? We are now one day away from our grand opening of the Creative space, Barrie Ontario's first co-work space. There are a couple main things people mention/recognize (members and guests) when they come into our space. Surprisingly none of them are big buck items if they cost anything at all.
1. “This space looks cool” Ikea/Office Depot furniture and chairs and some feng shui savvy. Placement of furnishings cheap or expensive make a room.
2. “I love the creative vibe” People are at other desks sharing interacting co-working. Leave the brainstorming stuff on white boards for a while.
3. “I could work here” People see themselves “fitting” the space. Which I think speaks to the friendly welcomes most people get. It's funny how no one can enter without a “hello, good morning” or leave without all or most of the members saying a friendly “good-nite!”
Focus on place and high-tech and you will be stressed. Facility focus
Focus on face and high-touch and you'll thrive. People Focus
Don't get me wrong – make sure you have the highest speed internet you can afford, nice desks and comfortable long-sit chairs, but to go all glass and glitz and super slick is not needed. Keep the space clean, love on the members, encourage hard work and encourage successful business ethics, have fun and it should work. We phased into our co-work space – have spent about $3000 and we have zero debt. We're a small space (1300 s/f) 8 FT/PT members so far. We have room for around 16 full. Now looking for more space due to all the requests beyond capacity. Hope that helps. In short I agree with Alex. Be frugal and focus on the members need at the time. Blessings to you all!
Peace!