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Friday, August 16, 2019
Co-working space vs coffee shop vs home How to choose between them Rume2 Sussex House, Crane Street, Chichester PO19 1LJ Tel: 07467 438900 www.rume2.co.uk AS the number of entrepreneurs, freelancers, remote workers and micro businesses rises globally, so do the choices of where they work. Traditionally, home or coffee shops have been the domain of those without a set office, but with rapid growth of the coworking sector the choice has never been better for those who choose not to commute. You may be one of the growing army of workers with no office ties and you may be wondering what working environment is right for you. As we are super helpful at Rume2 we thought we would put together a brief guide of the pros and cons for each to help you make your own informed choice. Let’s organise things by the most important factors in a workplace • Comfort • Facilities • Refreshments • Community • Cost
Environment
Environment is absolutely key to getting work done. Warmth, comfort and limited distractions are essential. Let’s see how each workplace compares. Home: THis is no doubt the easiest place to control warmth and comfort. You can sit in your favourite chair, put music you like on (or sit in silence if you prefer) but how about the distraction factor? THe fridge is calling, you have a box set you haven’t finished on Netflix and the washing needs doing. It isn’t always easy to zone out at home and get into work mode. Coffee Shop: THe walk to a coffee shop can get you into a different mind set ready to work. However, you can’t always guarantee the environment in a coffee shop. Will you find a good seat? Will there be noisy children nearby and is the music playing to your taste? Finding a good local coffee shop where you enjoy the surroundings can work well if you are happy to sit anywhere. Coworking Space: Although you can’t choose the furniture, décor or music in
a coworking space, often they have been designed with comfort and productivity in mind. THe music will be carefully selected to blend into the background, the furniture will have been built or purchased for long-term comfort andthe temperature will be carefully controlled. If you are picky about where you sit, you can also book your own desk.
Facilities
Fast internet, printing, security. THese are all essentials for most business people. Home: When working from home you will need to purchase and manage your own facilities. THis can be rather expensive if you don’t work for a company that will provide those items for you. In addition, home internet connections can be patchy. Coffee Shop: THis is the option with the least facilities on tap. No printer, the internet connection could be patchy and it is likely to be an unsecured network. THis puts your laptop at risk of data breach with many people reporting password theft and being hacked while working on an unsecured network. Coworking Space: A coworking space is a professional space and therefore is likely to have the best facilities. Any space worth its salt will have superfast wifi within your membership fee and many will have access to a printer, too. Most importantly, any internet connection will be completely secure andprivate with no ability to see anyone else’s connection.
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Community
Community and sense of belonging is important to many people. THere are some who just love to work alone but the majority of humans desire interaction with other humans at some point. Not just for company but also to learn from, bounce ideas around with or make useful connections. Home: Working by yourself from home will give you the least sense of community. Unless you have others in your house who are also at home during the day, working from home can be pretty lonely. Even with modern technology giving access to video conferencing, there is no substitute for face to face interaction. Coffee Shop: As there are many people who work from coffee shops you may find a sense of community if you visit the same one regularly and see the same faces. THe opportunity and reason to interact and make connections is limited, however, unless you can sit together or are brave enough to approach a stranger. Coworking Space: Each coworking space has its own vibe and therefore a tribe of workers who co-exist there. THis is where using a coworking space can really come into its own. Working alongside others who are all there to work, collaborate, learn from each other can have a huge impact on your working day and the success of your business. Many good coworking spaces will give plenty of opportunity to meet other coworkers and
share experience and knowledge through, workshops, networking and social events.
Cost
Let’s not pretend cost isn’t important. How do the different spaces compare in outlay? Home: THis is likely to be the cheapest option as you do pay to live at home already! However, don’t forget any extras you might have to pay to set up and run a suitable home office. Not to mention heating your house in the winter months. Coffee Shop: Depending on how much coffee you drink this option could become expensive. To sit in a coffee shop all day without feeling guilty for taking up space you should be purchasing a minimum of three drinks and probably some lunch as well. Doing that a few times a week can certainly rack up the spend. Coworking Space: Although from the outside this looks like the most costly option, if you are going to be using a space regularly this could well be the most cost effective for the facilities on offer. A monthly plan can often give you access to a space for as little as £10 a day. When you throw in the refreshments, internet and printing that’s pretty good value for money. So lots of options to consider and no one size fits all. It really depends on the type of person you are, the work that you do and what you want to achieve in your working day. We are obviously biased at Rume2 as we think a coworking space wins hands down when looking at the wider picture of motivation, potential growth, collaboration and overall individual happiness, but we encourage you all to try all three and decide for yourself.
Refreshments
THis factor should probably have come first as it includes coffee! All workers need refreshments throughout the day! Home: Without a doubt, home will give you the largest access to refreshments of your choosing, but is that always a good thing? How loudly does the fridge call to you when you are working from home? It takes no small amount of willpower to ignore its cries. Coffee Shop: Good coffee goes without saying at a coffee shop, else it’s not a very good coffee shop! Add to that the selection of other beverages and snacks/treats it’s probably a strong player for this factor. One point to note of course is that you will have to pay for anything you consume and often you will have to purchase more than one item to avoid the guilt of using the space for a longer amount of time. Coworking Space: A good coworking space
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will have good coffee, tea etc. Even better, it will be limitless and you can help yourself as much as you want. You may not be able to choose from as wide a range as you would in a coffee shop but if you aren’t a coffee person there is likely to be access to a range of tea, soft drinks and even alcohol should the temptation rise.
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