Coworking spaces are the modern-day solutions for the traditionally long and arduous process of finding the perfect office for your organization and hence are often touted as “workplaces of the future”. While some coworking spaces follow a one-size-fits-all philosophy with office spaces designed for teams of different sizes, some are tailored to the requirements of the members. But in both cases, business owners can unlock a plethora of potential and advantages that they might otherwise not have access to. In 2019, there were 19000 coworking spaces across the globe, projected to grow to 26,000 coworking spaces by 2025.

While co-working space owners can get a lot of benefits through their spaces, some of the common ones include having the chance to collaborate with multiple members of the space, and generating leads through widespread promotions conducted by other member companies within the workspace. Even then, making the best of the networking opportunities you get and the leads you generate can get complicated. Here are a few ways in which you can maximize on the advantages of owning a co-working space in generating leads:

Leverage Networking Opportunities

Among the many advantages that you can get from owning a coworking space is the potential to forge business relationships with other entrepreneurs and companies. The idea that simply going to work can widen your business network, can sound quite incredible, but that is just one of the many advantages of owning a coworking space.  You can organize events that bring together people from different industries or business verticals under one roof, to interact and network. 

Coworking owners should make it a point to leverage such opportunities so that they can make the most of their venture and benefit from it. What’s more, when you are operating a coworking space, you will likely come across like-minded business owners who can either bring more leads or revenue to your business. So, networking becomes as simple as walking up to other people in your office space and understanding whether they can accomplish any of the goals that you have set for your business. 

Create Collaborative Relationships

What comes after networking? Creating associations and relationships, right? At least that is what you should be doing as the owner of a coworking space. The environment of a coworking space can present ample opportunities for you to create business relationships and collaborations with other companies. You may even find entrepreneurs and teams who would be willing to work in tandem to achieve mutually beneficial goals considering the diversity and flexibility that come with a coworking environment. 

As a coworking space owner, you should be open to such associations if they benefit your business. In fact, it does not necessarily have to be a paid transaction or a contract. Even something as simple as exchanging your capabilities to benefit the other makes a lot of sense in this scenario. By creating a coworking space, you are essentially selling the benefits of shared spaces, and the collaborations that can be formed as a result. There is no better way to market these benefits than to exemplify them yourself, and trust us, the others will follow.

Implement Cross-Promotional Initiatives

Not every organization can create and implement powerful initiatives by being limited to just their in-house resources and capabilities. There are times when organizations need to form relationships and partnerships with other companies to implement initiatives that are imperative to their growth. Moreover, promotional initiatives are likely to bear more fruits when there is an increased reach and engagement on your posts. 

Mutually beneficial partnerships in coworking spaces can be highly effective in this regard, as companies can implement cross-promotional initiatives providing them with more exposure and visibility online. A simple post that gets shared or reposted with the right target audience can translate into higher traffic and more leads for your coworking space, thus making cross-promotional initiatives, a highly productive exercise for you as the owner. 

Be Social and on Social Media Platforms

Another great thing about running a coworking space is having access to, and being accessible to the wider business and entrepreneurial community. In this regard, social media channels can be pivotal in driving your efforts. Motivate your coworking space members to drive higher engagement by promoting their office space and team through social media, which can be a great way to indirectly promote the coworking space. Additionally, it would be beneficial if you also showcase the brands that are operating from your coworking space to get the right kind of attention and more credibility. 

Being social is no more an option for growing organizations, as it can help you be more accessible and approachable to others. Being active on social media platforms allows other brands to involve you in their campaigns and for you to engage with a wider audience. So you can get access to more leads and a larger network simply by being more socially active – online and otherwise. In fact, feel free to connect with the members of your coworking space on social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Twitter before getting a chance to communicate in person.

Form Functional Partnerships

Functional relationships are important for every company – whether it is a small or big business. And the best part about owning a coworking space is that you do not always need to actively seek out potential to form such partnerships. Since you have access to many other companies, there is a good chance you will find partners for accomplishing important business functions. Functional partnerships are formed when you can strike a mutually beneficial deal with other organizations or teams based on transacting your capabilities and expertise. 

For instance, if your coworking space has a large network of offices in multiple locations, there is a good chance that you might have processes for sending and receiving deliveries regularly. If you have an adept logistic company operating out of your coworking space, maybe with expertise in micro fulfillment services, they can help you establish a strong logistic channel for lesser prices or in exchange for add-on services within the workspace. 

Functional partnerships can be a great way to ensure that you always deploy the right set of skills for important business activities, which consequently impacts your performance positively. 

Encourage Knowledge Sharing

While there are a lot of lessons that you can learn from management books and gurus, what if there was an easy way to enable this learning process within your workplace? In a coworking space, learning processes can become more easily accessible and transparent. Coworking spaces generally have a combination of freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs, and in some cases, even industry experts working under the same roof. 

Having a work environment with a diverse range of professionals allows you to create an effective knowledge-sharing process that can impact people across companies. It can also provide the right platform for employees to participate in exercises and activities that will enable them to share and gain knowledge seamlessly at work.

While factors such as the attitudes and behaviors associated with the members of coworking spaces can have a lasting impact on the knowledge sharing processes within the community, it is the creative freedom and expression that will drive it. Creating knowledge-sharing strategies within the coworking spaces by implementing events and activities can be a great way to expand the horizons of your employees’ skills and abilities. 

Have Sufficient Promotional Materials

For every company to grow and thrive, one of the most important things is the availability of the right kind of resources that can be leveraged at the right time. One of the most crucial things to do in order to achieve this is to have sufficient promotional materials to do so. Promotional materials for organizations can include pitch decks, informative presentations, brochures, newsletters, and in some cases, even performance reports. These materials can set your brand apart from the others, and make a memorable impression on potential customers. 

Having such materials handy can be a great way to ensure that it is available to you for quick distribution in case you want to share it with potential clients or leads. It would be highly beneficial for you to have such materials at your disposal when you attend events or workshops that you organize within the space. 

Moreover, having events where people outside your coworking space are invited can be a great initiative, as they can get a glimpse of the amenities, and what you are offering. Since promotional materials can also allow you to showcase your creativity and skills, it is a great way to present your organization in the best light to your customers. 

Closing Remarks

Owning a co-working space is a very lucrative business to be in, as long as you are able to successfully leverage the various advantages that you can get out of it. Not only do you have the opportunity to network and collaborate with business owners and great minds from diverse industries, you get to discuss the prospect of doing business and growing together as a community. Being a co-working space owner, you would be able to meet and nurture business relationships within the workspace better than anyone else. 

Author Bio

Aanya Rachel is the Content Manager at The Address coworking space in Vadodara, Gujarat. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge, experience, and extensive research in this field. She writes on a wide range of topics related to coworking, growth of remote workers, startups and real estate.