Ways to build your business with a vibrant coworking community

At the heart of any coworking space is its community. At the staggering rate at which this sector is growing, sometimes this very essence of creating a community is lost. It is true that for any startup or independent contractor to function, the physical space and the other operational benefits plays a very important role. Today, there are numerous spaces offering posh working environment to its coworkers. However, the idea of coworking embodies and encompasses much more than that. In fact, it has very little to do with the physical space and more to do with a collaborative vibrant community.

So, even though you scout for a trendy work space, if the community building initiative is not there, you will likely suffer. That is why, at Bangalore Coworking Hub, we pay much emphasis on inter-team interaction, team building and community building initiatives. This ensures that connections and collaborations are built more organically. This, in turn, facilitates mutual support activities, business references and inter-team work collaborations.

Some activities, which can assist you to create a vibrant coworking community, are:

 Volunteering activities: By partnering with volunteering groups on common interests and activities, community members can break the ice and facilitate interaction.

Skill sharing sessions: Once a week, shared office spaces like Bangalore Coworking Hub organizes valuable skill sharing sessions. Community members provide details about the kind of skills and products that they have to the other members. This, in turn, can help members to partner together to work on bigger projects.

Host Meetups: Perhaps one of the most interesting way to facilitate community building is by organizing meetups. Whether to educate about what they are working on or to narrate their success stories, with such activities members can strengthen their network and take their business to the next level.

How Coworking can change the next-gen fintech startup scene

The way we work in the current professional scene has change dramatically over the years. Just 5 years back, traditional working environment was the only way to thrive in the industry. This has changed completely as more and more coworking communities started developing and branching out at a pace.

Today, we can see more and more startups and entrepreneurs from different sectors of the industry coming together for sustained and rapid growth.

It is not uncommon for corporates to join this movement as they are starting to see the value of being part of such a collaborative community.

One industry sector that can particularly benefit and gain traction from this movement is fintech. Entrepreneurs and independent contractors working in this sector can not only collaborate through a common coworking space but can also get access to mentors, investors and customers.

Coworking spaces like the Bangalore Coworking Hub often team with traditional banks and financial institutions to help the fintech sector reach its full potential. It can be fund raising assistance and advisory services targeted at assisting them to create and commercialize fintech business concepts. Additionally, by collaborating with banks, these startups will be able to foster innovation through partnerships.

This provides a great platform for startups who are working towards innovation and disruption in the finance and insurance sector. In addition, such communities often host fintech hackathons or hackerspaces where developers get together to design, innovate and collaborate on IT projects.

Cool networking event ideas to host in coworking spaces

In the current freelancing and startup ecosystem, networking has become a very crucial aspect of business. Much focus is being given to creating relationships rather than simply creating business contacts. That is why startup events, conferences and meetups have become vital to establishing vital business relationships. From marketing your products to branding and funding, the right networking strategies can go a long way in giving direction to your startup.

To help you manage costs, you can use your own coworking space to drive great networking ideas. Shared office spaces like the BangaloreCoworking Hub can be used to host different forms of networking events. From connecting with industry peers to influencers, mentors and VCs, you can build the right relationships to spread the word and support your success.

Some cool ideas to host in your coworking office are:

·       Set up demo sessions to get unbiased feedback from the rest of the community members. This will also help you identify gaps and prepare ahead of your launch.

·       You can schedule weekend happy hours and use the time to not only relax but also get to know your community members. As was mentioned before, if is always about building relationships than creating contacts.

·       You can open your door once or twice a month to meetups (tech meetups, cultural meetups etc) and share your ideas. It is also a great platform for cross learning and giving new direction to your business.

·       You can also organize an awesome hackathon in your space and learn more about the latest updates in the industry.

·       Coworking spaces are also a great platform to host 3-minute pitch sessions once a month wherein you can invite industry leaders and VCs to share the platform.

For more details and tips on creating interesting events in your coworking space, write to us and share your ideas.

Corporate Coworking as frugal investment for your business

According to a recent report by property consultant JLL India, corporates can save up to 20-25% of their real estate costs by collaborating with a coworking space. Some of the obvious benefits are low investment, no long-term leases and no fixed capital investment. What is more attractive about being part of such a coworking community is that there is scope to interact and collaborate with professionals working with other agencies and companies.

Coworking offices were initially established to facilitate the startup community of the country. However, millennial professionals and corporates nowadays are increasingly getting attracted to this working module. The idea of working in a collaborative module is very high as there is immense scope of learning, interaction and collaboration.

Read on to find how shared office spaces like the Bangalore Coworking Hub can facilitate corporates:

1) Promote progressive culture - In current times, it is well known that to stay ahead of the curve, there is a need for corporates to adopt disruptive and unconventional strategies. Larger companies are constantly looking for ways to redefine their products and company goals. A great way to achieve this is by being part of a coworking community where you share space with a varied talent pool of startups and independent contractors.

2) Frugality - There has also been a constant attempt by corporates to develop frugal innovative ideas. In fact, this principle has been incorporated in the basic sustainability pillars by businesses. From solution trimmings to integrating cost effective assets for employees, companies are trying to figure out ways how to do better with less. What better way to contribute to this frugality principle than being part of a coworking office to manage your real estate costs? As mentioned above, such establishments also help with their no long-term lease options giving you the flexibility to plan your budgets.

3) Collaboration hub - When you are surrounded by a talent pool of startups, there are ample chances for collaboration. This also provides opportunities for companies to interact with freelancers facilitating cross learning and performance enhancement.

Plan your Christmas the Coworking Style

It’s that time of the year when you like to spend your time with your loved ones. This Christmas, extend the festivities, love and celebration to your coworking space. At BangaloreCoworking Hub, our office spaces will be open this Christmas as well so that you can share the magic with your colleagues and coworkers as well. This is also a great time to connect with your coworkers and experience a sense of cross learning and vitality.

Being associated with a coworking community during the festive season thus has its own set of advantages. Check how you can add to the celebrations with these tips in your office space:

1)     Host a Christmas Get-together: Whether it is an impromptu party or a well-planned Christmas event, you can organize one in your coworking space. Whether you are a freelancer, an independent contributor or a startup, these events will give you ample of opportunities to network and talk about possible collaborations even. Plan one to strengthen your working relationship with your coworking neighbors.

2)      Decorate your space: Although shared office spaces often put up decorations, you can also add to this by adding a little bit of festive sparkle to your own coworking areas.

3)     Enjoy your flexible hours: Unlike traditional workspaces, with coworking, you can enjoy working in flexible hours. At Bangalore Coworking Hub, if you provide advance notice, we can even help you avoid the Christmas rush by opening the space to fit your preferred timings this season.

Want us to help you plan your Christmas setting at our coworking space, send an email at connect@bangalorecoworkinghub.com.

How to integrate health and wellness into your coworking life?

Do you know that an average adult spends around 70% time working indoors? Poor office environmental conditions may have a drastic influence on your health, wellbeing and overall productivity.

Without the optimum temperature and environmental conditions, you can become susceptible to a number of health conditions like nausea, breathing problems, headaches and more. The best way to avoid this is to ensure that you have the optimum work conditions at office. With the introduction of coworking spaces, members have a great chance at maintaining this work-life balance.

Workplace wellness has been a core value of coworking communities and more and more shared office spaces are integrating this value in their office designs. At Bangalore Coworking Hub, community managers are constantly working towards adding this core value into the environment.

A major goal for the coworking office space in 2018 will be to facilitate the well-being of its members through ideal work environment and weekly fitness sessions. With this plan, the team is planning for promoting and encouraging a community of health and wellness among its coworkers.

Some focus points for the year 2018 are:

·       Redesigning the work space to prioritize member health and wellness

·       Design a wellness program with membership incentives

·       Creating design options to include ample natural light

·       Including greenery inside the community

Do you have any ideas or suggestions how we can improve the quality of life and wellbeing or our coworking community members? Please write to us at connect@bangalorecoworkinghub.com

Shaping your Freelancing Life through Coworking

With the rise in the number of the freelancing millennials, there has been a drastic change in the global work culture. Currently, in the US, one-third of the entire workforce are freelancing and this number is expected to rise to one in two by 2020.

Closer home, India ranks as second largest country after the US with over 15 million freelancers working independently in different sectors including IT, finance and creative writing.

Though freelancing provides a great way to work with flexibility, there are certain challenges that cannot be overlooked. Some of the common challenges that are usually encountered are:

-          A sense of isolation

-          Constant motivation

-          Face-to-face client interactions

-          Setting standard work schedules

-          Distractions while working from home

-          Lack of collaborations

A single element or a combination of 2 or more elements mentioned above can significantly impact your work. Hence, while transitioning from your regular corporate work to freelance life, it is important to spend some time to address all the above issues. For this, you can either collaborate with other friends who are working independently or you can take advantage of the benefits that come out of coworking spaces in your area.

Why spend days trying to figure out ways of collaboration and connection when you can easily tap the benefits of a coworking community like the Bangalore Coworking Hub.

Such a community or shared office space will give you the required work-life balance. It will also help you collaborate with other community members and also be part of community events. Plus, at a minimal fee, you get to access all the benefits of office spaces like workstations, internet facilities, power backups, meeting rooms and more and thus, give your freelancing life a new professional direction.