Co-working: Bringing community to individual entrepreneurship
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009At a recent technology/business event called Startup Weekend, I learned more about a concept called “co-working” (or coworking, to some). The basic premise is simple. Co-working allows solo entrepreneurs, remote workers and freelancers to work together in a common space and engage with others within a shared context. Co-working spaces are dedicated to co-working and are not merely shared office space. The physical amenities are identical between the two, but co-working spaces have deliberately been set up to foster interaction among co-workers.
There are several reasons to co-work instead of merely working at home by yourself. Alex Hillman, a co-founder of IndyHall, a co-working space in Philadelphia does an excellent job of listing and describing 6 reasons to co-work. I have listed them below in summary, but it’s instructive to read the detailed explanations from Alex. You can access his article here.
1. Helps you avoid the feeling of loneliness from working by yourself
2. Provides an external source of motivation
3. Easy way to learn new things from other people
4. Allows you to keep abreast of what’s going on in your community
5. Keeps the separation between work and life distinct
6. Resource-sharing helps you lower costs
Arguably, the most fundamental benefit of co-working is in the sense of community that it fosters. You can say “no (wo)man is an island” or insert a ton of other overused clichés about working solo here, but the fundamental truth is that people often work best when challenged and complemented by other people with different experiences, talents and resources. Brad Neuberg, one of the founders of the co-working space movement says his desire was to “create a means to an end; to be able to invent, within a community structure, without having to join a company”. Chris Messina, another of the early founders of co-working environments, describes the benefit of co-working spaces as “accelerating serendipity”.
If you’re a solo-worker who believes that you can benefit from working together with a community of like-minded individuals, co-working might be for you. To learn more about co-working and where and how you can get involved in a co-working space, check out the links below.
