Different Coworking Types

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How do you find a coworking place that suits your needs? Once you’ve decided that working from home or a café is not the best option from you, the advantages coworking spaces offer should probably push you to go for this option, regardless of a few minor disadvantages. If you are lucky enough to have a wide variety of coworking places where you are at, choosing the right coworking space will greatly enhance your coworking experience.There are roughly three different coworking types:

• Total office. A dignified, posh place typically used by businessmen for a short stay in a new place. This is an ideal place for lawyers, PR agents and accountants who need comfort, while also helping them make a good impression on their clients. The most well-known option is Regus, who provides office services around the world for those who need an office but don’t want the hassle of administration. This is a good solution with a higher pricetag than the other options, offering a benefit to the quality of service, a more upscale approach (secretaries and fancy furniture), providing you with a wide array of office needs that cover your necessities,if only you can afford it. Note that they usually have limited working hours (typically 9-5), and are not that fun oriented.
• Coworking places. These are usually for freelancers. They’re cool, and nowhere near as posh. You’ll get a desk, meet other people, mingle in a good atmosphere and in a usually younger crowd. They’re open for longer hours, and provide differing levels of services. Those places are a perfect hangout for meeting other freelancers, and also put on good events for likeminded people. Since freelancers aren’t rich, they have a lower price tag too.
• Startup-oriented incubators. These are more geared towards people with online businesses and startups who need an environment that’ll connect them to other startups and contacts. One common example would be incubators or accelerators that push startups to success. Check availability in advance, as sometimes they only accept startup owners. The advantages are clear: lots of young people with great ideas who’ll make it big, dedicated to changing the world and with limitless energy. These places might even offer you support, funding, and training. They’re an interesting option if you’re really into developing and pushing your startup forward.

The types of services you’ll get in each of these places vary, so make sure you understand what’s important for you of the following:

• Opening hours. Some are 9-5, some are 24 hours (leaving you with a key).
• Full office services. Printers, scanners, office supplies.
• Virtual office platform.Including a receptionist receiving visitors and calls for you,a mailing address and so on
• Conference room. A room for meetings (usually with clients).
• Utilities. Microwaves, fridge, coffee machine.
• Different packages for stay. Some places are more flexible than others and offer packages of hours, half days, weeks and so on. Make sure you understand exactly what you need, then customize your best option.
• Dedicated desk. Some places let you keep your own desk, in others, you sit where it is available.
• Making calls and noise levels.Sometimes coworking places get noisy; If you have many Skype calls, make sure the place can accommodate calls comfortably without disturbing the others. Some spaces have a quiet place you can go to when making calls.
• Lockers. Those allow you to go swimming in the middle of the day and leave your stuff safe.
• Dedicated rooms for small groups and teams.

How do we locate these places? Google them! Let’s say you’re in Buenos Aires. Google search, ‘‘coworking Buenos Aires’’. If the city is big enough, there’ll be a variety of results. If the results aren’t satisfactory, then look up related synonyms for ‘‘coworking’’ – ‘‘shared desk’’, ‘‘offices to rent’’, for example. Ask a local friend to write the search in the native language, as some places are new and don’t yet have an English page. There are also directories for coworking, and google even started showing coworking results on the map as default! Now that you know what types of places there are and what they all offer, it’s up to you to search and find the right place for you. Good luck!

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