Freelancers and smaller entrepreneurs, just starting their activities, often do not have enough money to permanently rent office space. Usually they replace traditional office with desk, arranged to suit their needs, at home. This solution lets reduce activity costs, but not always guarantees suitable work comfort. Presence of flatmates or neighbours does not support creative work. And what if you could have office space for rent, which you could use for a few hours only? If, besides a desk and silence you could also have access to office equipment? When you are working on an especially demanding project, wouldn't it be good to be at a place when not only are there suitable working conditions, but also other people respect the fact that you are busy? All people who are tired of working at home, but do not have the money to permanently rent office space, should try coworking. Lease of office space for only a few hours a day guarantees comfortable workplace and does not demand large financial expenditures.
A desk for a few hours?
Coworking is a fairly recent idea in Poland. It means sharing office space with other people, usually strangers. A coworking person does not rent a whole office. Only a desk to work a definite amount of time (usually a few hours). The tenant is working separately on a project, but the office space is shared with other people, who also decided to try that type of work.
Coworking is not limited only to lease of a single workplace. Lease of office space provides not only a desk allowing for a comfortable work, but also technical back-up facilities (office equipment) and a small gastronomic back-up facilities (office buffet, coffee maker, etc.). More and more often, a regular element of coworking centres are conference and training rooms. Together with the development of that type of office space lease, there has been a rise in requirements of the tenants. Coworking is slowly becoming an idea of not only renting a space for individual work, but also space for business meetings.
An alternative for freelancers
Coworking is most often used by freelancers and entrepreneurs, who just have started activity and do not need permanent office space or are working from home. Renting a desk for a specific time lets them change surrounding work environment. Results of „Coworking w Polsce” (coworking in Poland) report from 2011 note, that as many as 71% of people have decided to lease office space for a few hours in order to separate their career and private lives. Over 50% have also claimed, that coworking lets them increase their work effectiveness. Suitable work comfort is especially important in the case of jobs connected to analythics in general, for example for the computer programmers or IT administrators. Conditions of arranged "office at home" can be unfavourable for the concentration on the realisation of the project.
But coworking is used not only by IT branch specialists. Freelance market in Poland is growing steadily. Among freelancers we can currently find not only graphic artists and programmers, but also a number of specialists: for example coaches, business advisors, traders and marketing and PR specialists. They all can and often use coworking.
Why coworking?
The main reason for which that many freelancers and small entrepreneurs decide to cowork, is a lack of personal office providing suitable work comfort. Freelancer often does not need a permanent office (because of the work specifics). Often he or she does not have the money to lease office space due to the lack of systematic income. Thanks to coworking, freelancers can provide suitable space for themselves and sometimes for their clients, when it is really needed. At the same time coworking allows for a limiting of costs, as they are directly connected to real usage of the office space.
Lessening of the costs and work comfort are not the only assets of coworking. As the name denotes, coworking means working together. Sharing office space with the specialists from many branches is a perfect opportunity to establish business relations. Even though all coworking people are working separately on their projects, nothing stands in the way of meeting other people working in that way during lunch or coffee break. What is more, as many as 41% of people who were a part of research for „Coworking w Polsce", has pointed out that a possiblity of sharing work experience with other users was one of the main assets of temporary office lease.
Other dimensions of coworking
Coworking also guarantees full elasticity. A person, choosing that type of lease can decide in detail about time and place of using particular office space. That solution is a huge facilitation during work trips. The development of coworking centres makes it easy to find an office for a few hours in a different city. Such offices can be found in nineteen Polish cities, among others in Warsaw, Wrocław, but also in Zgierz, Skawina and Siedlce. Together with the development of coworking offices, in the Internet appear special search engines, which make it easier to find and book office space in a particular city.
Temporary office space lease can be very useful when building a positive image of a freelancer or entrepreneur in the eyes of the clients. In digital era, majority of the formalities can be agreed on by the means of a telephone of e-mail. However, some of the transactions need meeting in person, and a home or a café is not an appropriate place for important business meetings. The more strongly when during the meeting you need to present the client with a previously prepared presentation or business simulation. In such cases coworking is a perfect solution, because it allows for a lease of not only a desk, but also a conference or training room. By booking space for only a few hours, you can have suitable conditions for business meetings, present youself as a professional, and, at the same time, minimise the costs connested to the lease of office space.
As you can see, coworking not only provides suitable work conditions, but also technical back-up facilities (conference rooms, office materials and equipment). It is also a perfect opportunity for establishing new contacts and for changing work environment. When combined with small costs (prices are ranging from 3 zł for an hour), coworking is becoming a tempting alternative for all the people who are tired of working at home or need office space for a specific time.