The Second Space - Collaborative Coworking

 

Fast forward to 2014, and my plan to create a flexible workspace in my community was coming together. 

Coworking was mostly only available in the cities at this stage, with suburban spaces still being relatively niche. 

You might find one that was for startups only, or maybe a group of architects who rented a space together and had a couple of spare desks they would rent out.

I was looking at different commercial properties (I'd never rented a commercial space before, and had no idea of the Australian property market, so was researching as much as I could), imagining different layouts, doing budget after budget to try and find a way to keep the spaces affordable for sole traders or small businesses, but make it professional and a viable business idea.

I started going to new networking events, making the effort to meet more business owners and pitching the concept to them.

Before long, I had a couple of small businesses interested enough to want to rent a larger office with me to accommodate a few staff, which meant my options were able to extend beyond just coworking. 

During that year, I short-listed and eventually decided on, a space in my suburb with the most incredible views over the ocean - a great extra selling point for meeting rooms. It needed some work, but not as much as others I'd looked at, which required a complete refurbishment - I had no capital to start this project, and if it wasn't a viable business to be self-sustaining, I wasn't going to do it.

As the year went on, we realised we had been in Australia, away from family and friends in Scotland for 3 years, and it was time for a visit to our homeland. The timing wasn't great, as when I suggested to the two businesses who were ready to take those bigger offices that we would look to get the process started early in 2015 after I returned, they pointed out that I'd done such a good job of selling the idea to them, that they needed it sooner rather than later! (Dammit me - the great salesperson!)

Naively, I figured I could still get it all ready in time, even though I was going overseas for 4 weeks, and we set the move-in date for mid-January. 

Now, it was time to get the painting and decorating done, find enough furniture to fill 7 offices, organise the internet connection, save enough money for the deposit, start marketing coworking desks, meeting room and a boardroom that didn't even exist yet, and of course, plan the obligatory public event to show off the space before we opened the doors.

 

Now imagine trying to do that when 

 

• your laptop decides to hand you a blue screen of death (BSOD) the day before you fly overseas for 4 weeks
• you discover that the painting company have 'forgotten' to book you in, and you have to find a new one to come and do it just after New Year
• the electrician breaks the news that the wiring in the commercial space is from the 1980's, and your budget now needs to stretch to a full upgrade
• you have to spend the whole 4 week trip overseas making the first thing you say to your wonderful hosts that you've not seen for 3 years 'Hi, how are you?', and the second thing 'What's the wifi password please?', as you have so much to organise before you get back..
• the new carpet is still being glued down the day of your opening night, and the space is 5 floors up, so there's no fresh air, and the whole place stinks of glue
• your car won't start the night of said opening event, and the boot is full of all the drinks for the evening, and the guests have already started arriving 🤦‍♀️😭.
  

To say I was questioning my decision to create this wonderful, collaborative space for my community on that final day, would be an understatement. 

But I did it, with the support of a couple of amazing local businesses who were willing to put their trust in my ability to make it happen, by signing up for long-term leases, so I could feel confident in pulling this whole crazy idea off!

And I questioned it many, many times over the next 5 and a half years, dealing with

• Being on the top floor of the building, and the roof leaking every time there was heavy rain (and living in Queensland, that was a fair bit!), limiting my ability to rent some of the offices
• Having the responsibility of paying the rent every month, even when 
• (some) tenants didn't pay theirs, or 
• their business moved or 
• closed or 
• downsized, so they left their tenancy early
• Always being asked to do something differently, as it didn't suit someones specific needs, and having to try to accommodate them all as much as possible, as the rent previously mentioned still had to be paid
• Internet speed issues - ugh, don't even get me started! 🤦‍♀️, and no IT department
  
• Realising it wasn't possible to do the work I was actually passionate about (helping small businesses to grow), while trying to market and manage the workspaces
• COVID - just ugh....no more words 😭

What's Next for the Community

When it came time to decide about renewing my lease late in 2020, I was devastated at the thought of losing my beautiful community, but physically and mentally unable to see how I could continue.
Most of the income that was helping to pay the rent was from people who didn't need to be part of a community - they just needed a space to accommodate themselves and their staff, and the coworking & collaborative community wasn't self-sustainable on it's own to warrant taking on a lease for a smaller space.

I looked around to see what else might be possible, and was delighted to find a venue close by who were going to be able to accommodate all of the community, within an affordable price range, and I made the brave but sad decision not to renew the lease, and to close the workspaces. I knew that the community was strong enough that we weren't attached to a specific property, just to being able to work alongside one another in some way. But no way were we going home!

And so began The Third Space - Collaboration over Competition.