Carlos Almansa on Oct 11, 2014

6 signs that show how your coworking space is doing

This article was originally published in Zona Coworking, the main coworking magazine that is available in the Spanish language. You can read the original here.

In this article, we have the collaboration of Jaime Aranda who is the cofounder of workINcompany, the first coworking space in Andalusia(Spain). Running more than four years of a coworking space, Aranda offers his insights on the signals that may show whether your coworking space is working well, or if you should reconsider some features of your coworking space.

"Managing a coworking space is not easy and making it profitable should be our primary goal so we do not die, waiting for coworkers that will never come" (J.Aranda)

Your daily tasks should include being aware of commodities or answering requests from coworkers, administration tasks, organization of events, promotion of the space, or even finding new coworkers. The first and most obvious indicator of your space’s progress is the income and expenses balance. It is common for this balance to become negative during the first few months; however, if this situation lasts longer than expected you might want to reconsider some points and strategies about the model. You should still take a look on how the space is growing and if it is enough to reach the objectives you settled, even though the balance is positive. The balance between income and expenses are perhaps, the most direct and obvious way to check the financial health of your coworking space; however, we can point out other aspects that may help you understand how your space is globally progressing. Are you measuring them?

Is the number of visits to your website growing?

Your space’s website is the principal channel that is used to engage with potential coworkers. Therefore, it is essential to update your content regularly. You should make it accessible and monitor the volume and sources of visits. This data will help you understand the profile of the people who visit your space. Tools like Google Analytics and Woorank are useful to help you monitor your website. Improving the SEO of your website should be a daily task. Some things you should do to grow your virtual presence is to create new content of interest, establish links with sources of potential coworkers, give credit and recommend your coworking community members. The larger your community is, the bigger the number of referrals for your coworking space should be.

Fly me to …. #coworking! :) (Cowodoodles.com)

How is the average income per member of your space?

You can offer a wide range of price plans in your coworking space. Those members on "virtual" plans or with a casual approach to the space, can help your community grow. However, in the long term you should try to find the balance between members on virtual, flexible, or fixed plans.

How many events, casual chats, or coffee moments happen in or out of your coworking space?

Events are other direct income sources when you have a fee, or let people outside of the space know about it when they are free of charge. Keeping regularity when organizing events is highly recommended to keep the momentum of your coworking space high. These encourage “word of mouths” and the referrals beyond your direct contacts and also helps increase users rotation and on top of that, the impact of the space.

Do your coworkers start new initiatives in your space?

This is not too common in coworking, and is really positive when it happens. This is a good signal on the health of your coworking space. Revitalizing the community and creating events is one of the main roles of a space manager. Events like Betabeers, Hack & beers, Ecomm&beers, Jellys, StartupWeekend, Bootcamps, and others have been incorporated in spaces like workINcompany or coSfera, and some in collaboration with members of their internal community.

Do you have feedback on how your coworkers experience your space?

Often, the most direct way is to have an informal chat with members of your space and invite them to share their impressions within the space. However, the bigger your community gets, the harder it is to touch base with everyone in the space. Using digital tools can help with this such as: surveys, internal social networks, CRM, and more.

Do your current coworkers belong outside your immediate social circle?

It is a common situation to find the first members of your coworking space in your nearest social circle. When this situation extends in time, it may be a signal of a wrong marketing and communication strategy. Having a permanent "pitching" attitude on your side will definitely help increase the “word of mouth" about your space, and will quickly extend beyond your social circles. Getting in touch with these new social circles should not be just a matter of luck, but part of a strategy to find the member profile we are looking for such as: developers, designers, digital nomads, artists, and more. Achieving this is awesome but doing so is much "cooler".

Do you agree with these indicators? What is your experience? Would you add some more tips? Tell us your experience.