In the early days of coworking we had two camps: the old school executive suite model that had been around for decades and was largely focused on providing office rental, and the new coworking spaces that were fresh, visionary and hyper-focused on community.
And the gulf between the two was huge.
The executive suite crowd resented that these new coworking space operators felt like they had invented something that executive suites had been doing well for decades, and that few coworking spaces were profitable or built on a sustainable business model.
And the coworking upstarts resented that the executive suite model felt stuffy and boring and nothing like what they were creating. The way they saw it, the executive suites crowd had little interest in community, which is the heart and soul of coworking.
You were in one camp or the other.
Filling the divide
But that divide is gone. And if you’re still living in the world of, “community can’t be profitable” or “profitable spaces are boring,” you are way behind.
In the last handful of years, that divide has been filled with outstanding spaces and brands who are creating profitable, sustainable coworking businesses and engaged, vibrant communities—in the same space.
And those hanging on to old school models and divides are getting left behind.
At an industry event this year, an operator of a scaled brand told me their location that was focused on community was their least profitable. What does that even mean? That in order to be profitable, you have to not focus on community? Could it be that there are other things at play here? Most definitely.
An expectation of community
Because we’re at the point where community is an expectation. Yes, you can find the occasional outlier who simply wants to trade dollars for an office and wants nothing to do with anyone else in the space. But those people are not your people, friend. Those transactional folks will be high maintenance, treat you like “the staff” and leave at the first offer of a lower price somewhere else. Please don’t chase them.
Even if your space is community light, you still need to have ways for your members to learn, share and connect with each other. This is just where we are. And it’s not easy, but if you think it’s tricky now, wait until the younger generations come of age. Do you think they want a boring office? They don’t.
What young adults want
A large percentage of young adults (especially Gen Z) say they are likely to buy from brands with a strong mission or purpose aligned with their personal values, often considering it a key factor in their purchasing decisions.
Pair that with the data showing that “one in three young people feel completely alone most of the time,” with nearly 40% reporting they have no one to talk to and feel left out and lack belonging.
These young people are thoughtful, intentional about where they put their money and energy, and desperate for connection. And a vanilla office rental space with no purpose, stated values or connection will not get it done for them.
So now and moving forward, you have to balance business sustainability with purpose, vision and community. This is where we’re going. And it’s not easy. But we’re long past the era of naysaying community to focus on profit, or naysaying profit to focus on community.
You have to do both.
And I have no doubt that you can.