What's behind the cost of coworking software?

What's behind the cost of coworking software?

When I do consulting, especially in small coworking spaces, it is sometimes difficult for operators to understand the value that coworking software can offer to a new space.

Truth be told, is not that operators fail to understand it, but instead, is that they tend to minimise the work it takes to manage a coworking space.

Time and again the operators of small coworking spaces would rather minimise expenses instead of automating tasks with coworking software.

Many times I come across operators who are willing to minimise costs in any way possible instead of adopting coworking software.

For example, I often see small coworking spaces that would rather rely on an open calendar, similar to a “battle royale game”, for members to make meeting room reservations.

Unfortunately, sooner than later members will grow tired of having to “battle” for a meeting room with the free-for-all booking system, and only then will operators consider adopting coworking software.

For medium to large flexible coworking spaces, the story is a bit different - the scale of the venue means that, from the outset, it is clear to coworking operators that they must have coworking software.

For these coworking operators, it is important to keep their costs under control, but they understand that streamlining operations to optimise their staff's tasks, such as allowing members to make bookings using a meeting room management system, will make the adoption of coworking software a cost-saving option in the long run.

For these coworking operators, it is important to keep their costs under control, but they understand that the adoption of coworking software will streamline their operations and optimise their staff's tasks, such as allowing members to make bookings using a meeting room management system, being a cost-saving option in the mid to long term.

However, there is something you may never have asked yourself, and that is, what is behind the price tag you are paying for coworking software solutions?

In no particular order, I will try to tell you some of the reasons that are behind the pricing strategy of companies that create coworking software.

You may be aware of many reasons, but I’m sure you will be surprised to see the full picture.

The most obvious is customer service.

We all have questions, lots of questions, especially when it comes to using a new coworking software… and the customer service team is in charge of solving any issue you’re having with coworking software.

Sometimes the customer service team can solve your issues by simply sending you a link to an article that you should have looked for in a knowledge base before contacting them.

Whereas other times, you might experience issues that are more complex and will require the intervention from the development team of the coworking software.

But I must confess that customer service teams, in general, are the unsung heroes of coworking software, and in many, or rather most cases, they usually get the worst of it because I always contact them in moments of urgency.

Even though it might not feel like it because we all love the coworking community, when operating a coworking space you are running a business, and as such you must comply with the long list of rules related to privacy, invoicing, and many more imposed by your country.

When choosing a coworking software you should make sure it complies with the current legislation of your country.

And you should trust the company behind the coworking software to always be adapting to new rules or changes in the law, so that they can continue to provide you with a service, without giving you a headache.

New features are constantly being added in coworking software, do you think it happens by magic?

Not really, what happens when coworking software is used in thousands of spaces around the world is that everyday space operators make hundreds of enhancement requests directly to coworking software companies.

When a request is repeated many times, or some interesting functionality is detected, coworking software will add the changes to the system, so all users can benefit in the future.

In addition, if you have coworking software that has a large customer base in the industry, many other software and hardware platforms (servicing the same industry) will be interested in developing or co-developing integrations that will end up making your life easier when you decide to automate something else.

By the way: if there’s an integration you need, ask both parts: the coworking software and the other party to build the integration (this is a bit of advice by Carlos Almansa, Nexudu’s CEO at the tech panel at CWSC last week.

All this, and other boring stuff, for most people, like how to make servers work (and always stay working) is taken care of by the development team.

Not only are they in charge of adding features, but they also work to make sure that when an update comes in on your computer, mobile, or tablet everything keeps working seamlessly.

We can say that their success is that 90% of the time you forget they do actually exist and that you only think about them the remaining 10% of the time when they deliver a new functionality you wanted or something you would never have thought could be so useful.

The rest of the time? You should not even remember they exist.

Other things also happen behind closed doors and they are training meetings with industry experts, either consultants like me or platform implementers who solve doubts to the team and share concerns alike.

As a consultant, I can assure you that you always get a little nervous before these sessions because you are aware of the amount of knowledge about specific issues that different people working in different areas of these platforms have.

These are some of the things you don't usually take into account when you get charged on your credit card for the software you use to manage your space.

Is everything I mentioned necessary to provide the service?

Probably not, but it helps to provide the best service and allows you to have a healthy and stable company that will be able to accompany you on your way.

And while I should probably leave it there, you'll allow me not to: you manage spaces that people access 24/7, things break and you have to be on top of everything.

When your tool is used to manage thousands of spaces simultaneously in different time zones 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the responsibility reaches heights that few can understand and what impresses me most is that these people, although they have all the tools ready for everything to work seamlessly, continue connecting to the servers to check that everything is fine in your house.

Because they know, like you, that with great power comes great responsibility.

Choosing the right coworking software comes with great responsibility too.

In life, I have always been a fan of only having to purchase a product once, especially when trying to save a few pennies, which could come with a huge toll down the line.

My advice is not to get attracted by flashy features, but to think about the reliability of the coworking software and the support team, since you will interact with the sales team for a few days but you will spend the rest of your time talking to the support team.

A great support team can make or break your experience, how well-trained they are, the knowledge they have in the platform and what’s the policy on how far they can go to solve your issues, will impact your satisfaction with the coworking software.

In conclusion, I would say that you must squeeze any drop of juice from the free trial, so you can assess which coworking software works best for you: measure twice and cut once.

Book a free consultative call with one of our software experts to determine if Nexudus is the right coworking software for your space.