Shared offices are trending. A location where people from multiple businesses can engage in work is a ‘cool’ idea specially for the younger generation of professionals. What makes a shared office such a draw? There are several reasons.
To begin with, shared offices are usually urban-centric. They are located in a prime business district, close to commercial establishments, restaurants, and entertainment centers –a perfect fit for millennials who like to work hard but also like a good social life. Shared office spaces in Andheri are the workspaces of choice for this reason.
The cost, of course, is a major consideration. We are talking about a target audience who are entrepreneurs, start-ups, individuals who have decided that they would rather work for themselves than for a corporation. While their creativity, gung-ho spirit and determination are great assets, they usually lack funds to get their business going. Shared offices come as a godsend. Buying or renting an office would set this group back tremendously – in fact, most of them cannot put down the large sums needed. With a shared office in Mumbai, for example, you just have a membership cost and have to put down a reasonable deposit, which makes it far more affordable. So you have a good
business address and don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Besides, you don’t have to make a longterm commitment. You can lease a shared office for a very short period – for a month or even a day, if necessary, This is a very attractive proposition for people who don’t yet know where their business is heading and want flexible terms.
Then there is the convenience of a complete infrastructure that someone else takes responsibility for. You don’t have to worry about maintenance and the daily hassles of running an office. It’s all taken care of. All you have to do is sit down at a free spot, plugin and start working. Moreover, you can have the best of both worlds. When you want the services and facilities of a regular business center, you can get them on a pay-by-use basis. Business centers in Mumbai offer a range of services and facilities for shared office users.
Ask a millennial what turns him or her on about a shared office, and they will most likely say it’s the networking opportunity it provides. There are people from all walks of life and from all demographics working right next to you. And it’s a floating group. You meet different people every day. You interact.
You talk over a cup of coffee. You exchange ideas. And one thing leads to another. In many ways, it’s better than belonging to a networking club – and it’s for free.
Shared offices are becoming increasingly popular. Their numbers are rising exponentially. The driver is the new mindset that resists the traditional way of working. Corporate hierarchies and the nine-to-five mentality are taking a backseat. Instead, you have a self-driven and self-motivated workforce that
works on its own terms, when and where it likes it –and gets results.
The remote worker, the entrepreneur, the millennial professional …they have found in the shared office the ideal place to work. It’s new, it’s happening and it’s really ‘cool’.