INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Co-working spaces can be rented out on an hourly, daily or monthly basis.With a surge in the number of start-ups in the country, firms are
also facing a space crunch
Thus, the idea of co-working spaces is gathering pace among start-ups
In fact, the demand for co-working space has seen a rampant rise in 2018
Co-working spaces are common shared spaces where all office amenities and infrastructures are shared between two organizations
According to a report by real estate consultancy Knight Frank, co-working offices took up 2 million square feet space in the first three
months of 2018, surpassing the tally for last year
an area where unlike and like-minded people share a common working infrastructure
The basic idea is to work, connect, grow and let the other aspects get automated
Abhishek Kumar Gupta, CEO Co-Founder, Hackerspace said, "The companies which are financially capable can obviously afford to find, design,
customize, furnish and make the arrangements but this is not possible with companies that are financially not that sound, mainly for
The funding for start-ups, however, is limited
Setting up the offices and managing everything from the maintenance to office supplies is taken care of by the co-working space", said Mr
Gupta.Indian start-ups and the growth of the startup ecosystem is a major driver behind the growing co-working space industry
with the advanced mechanisms and also consider the essentialities and importance of a modern work space
Taking the commercial aspect into consideration, it is ideal for the start-ups to go for co-working spaces."Pricing of co-working spacesWhen
we talk about start-ups, they are limited when it comes to finances
Co-working spaces gives them an economical option
The pricing models are flexible for co-working spaces
There are different pricing plans like monthly, hourly and daily plans for fixed and open space.Traditional offices vs co-working
spacesTraditional office spaces are outmoded and it takes more money to set them up and maintain them
It requires effort and a lot of hand-holding to make it work best
There is less flexibility in terms of costing, maintenances and agility
In comparison to these traditional spaces, the co-working spaces cost less."A co-working space adds to the employee experience by solving
the location puzzle faced by early stage start-ups
Easily accessible locations are hard to afford and this becomes a major challenge to attract talent
Gupta.Challenges faced by start-ups in a co-working spaceUndoubtedly, co-working spaces are benefitting start-ups; still one cannot ignore
the other facet of the coin
Sharing the same working infrastructure can often be challenging
Cyber-security is something that requires concern while working in a co-working space
Safeguarding intellectual property and sensitive information can be a problem for companies and special arrangements need to be made in that
case."In a co-working space, several organisations work under the same roof
Thus, the privacy factor gets questionable at times as people get to know about the clients or third parties visiting their office in case
two or more organizations belong to the same industry or field
Then there is a question of availability
There is a common conference room
Suppose, if at the same time the requirement of conducting a meeting arises for more than one organization, it might get difficult for both
the organizations trying to avail the same space," added Mr Shah.
