There was a time when co-working space made heads turn just because they offered spaces that allow individuals from different companies to come together and work. However, today every city boasts coworking spaces and this cool startup culture has become a norm.
Coworking space offers a sense of community and a place to work and rent to both individuals and groups. The business model of Coworking spaces is similar to that of Airbnb. Just like Airbnb offers a platform to rent out apartments and homes to travelers, coworking spaces connect users to open desks, office and meeting rooms. Individual and small groups gain access to space that is more customized than normal space and cheaper than full lease. Airbnb for coworking maximizes the usage of unused corporate spaces and fosters a community of growth and innovation. In this blog, let’s cover the basics of coworking spaces, why they are trending, how they work, things to consider when building a coworking rental platform, core features, etc. Let’s get started.
Why coworking spaces are trending?
When brainstorming about how to start a coworking space business, you must understand the benefits offered by coworking spaces and why people prefer it. With the rising trend of coworking space, more and more businesses are considering starting a coworking marketplace. Here are the reasons.
Affordability
Even today one of the major advantages of coworking space is the cheap rent. In today’s age of high rental price, having an office or meeting set up in a coworking space is a cheaper alternative for startups. Although startups prefer using coworking spaces for its affordability, it’s not just that. Coworking spaces provide a type of flexibility and convenience that helps professionals to collaborate and expand which is not possible with the traditional office setup. Generally, traditional office spaces can be limited by their very nature and the opportunities to interact are restricted.
Facilities interaction and networking
In a flexible coworking space built on collaboration, the effect is amplified and there are enough opportunities for people to interact with each other. Not within their own businesses alone, but more widely. As already said, coworking spaces give you ample opportunities to interact with people from different companies and backgrounds under one roof. Over a cup of coffee at the cafeteria or over a game zone, many interactions that makes way for better ideas take place as well. It helps in getting new prospects, guidance, market help, and redefine the employee experience too.
Partnerships and events
A growing trend for coworking spaces is to allow different companies to collaborate and organize events. By organizing different events, coworking space helps startups to interact with industry experts and even work with them.
What do you want to achieve by starting a coworking marketplace?
Before you get busy looking for ways on how to set up a coworking space rental marketplace, it is important to take some time to reflect on these things- Why what, and how. Why you want to create a coworking space rental marketplace. Is it because you want to join the competition just to leverage the monetary benefits it offers? Perhaps you want to solve an existing problem in the industry or build a profitable side business. Whatever the reasons are, articulating your motivation and goals to launch a coworking marketplace will help you devise a great strategy and business plan.
What does starting a coworking marketplace really mean?
With increasing competition in the coworking rental industry, coworking marketplaces need a way to differentiate from other competitors. To understand how to start a coworking marketplace business, it is important to understand what you really mean with that. Here are some essential components that define a coworking rental marketplace.
Peer-peer marketplace
Coworking space rental marketplaces are nothing but Airbnb for coworking that connects coworking space providers and individuals or small businesses to offer services to each other.
Location-based search
Like in other marketplaces where the location of the provider doesn’t really matter, in location-based peer-peer rental marketplaces for coworking space rentals, the platform must be able to connect customers with providers who are physically close to each other. These coworking space marketplaces allow customers to search for coworking spaces by locations.
Availability and booking management
A coworking space rental marketplace must have coworking space management tools like availability and booking management systems users can book on dates that fit them. This feature helps in increasing successful bookings, avoid double bookings, and maximize user satisfaction.
Online payment
Peer-peer rental marketplaces for coworking must facilitate online payment to allow users to book and pay through the website. This is convenient for users, secure for the providers, and offers a business model for the marketplace administrator who can charge commissions from each transaction.
Review systems
Coworking space rental marketplaces are all about building trust between two user groups. Each user has their own verified account with their real name and details. Both customers and providers can leave reviews for each other after transactions.
Things to consider before launching your coworking space marketplace
Here are some key factors that contribute to the successful development of a coworking space rental marketplace.
Offer unique USP’s
Once you have chosen a niche, incorporate unique selling propositions to your rental marketplace to make it different from the already existing platforms in the market.
Develop the brand identity
When creating a recognizable product, pay attention to considering the user’s needs and uniting them into a community. People love being a part of a social entity and will happily support your rapidly growing business.
Improve the user experience
Once you have an established audience, the next thing you must focus is on improving the user experience. Make your service look professional and offer the ideal experience to both coworking space owners and users who want to book them.
How to start a coworking marketplace?
Building a coworking space rental marketplace requires a lot of dedication. The most significant thing you want to figure out is how to set up a coworking marketplace. Do you want to develop it from scratch or go for a cheap yet efficient alternative of using a white label coworking management software to build your marketplace?
White label solutions are ready-made website scripts that allow you to build a similar website effortlessly and cost-effectively. For example, if you are building an Airbnb for coworking, instead of building a rental marketplace from scratch, you can use an Airbnb clone to build a customized solution with more space for creativity and for a moderate price.
Core features of a Coworking rental marketplace
Despite the seeming simplicity of the interface of a coworking space rental platform, it is a complex platform combining a lot of features and functionalities. There are three main types of user-profiles: Guest hosts, and admin. Let’s consider the overall features of a coworking space rental platform.
Registration and signup
This page is what both coworking owners and businesses who want to book rental services see first. Ensure you incorporate different methods to register like using email id, phone number, and social media accounts. Once registered, users must be able to login to their profiles successfully.
Profile details
A user profile will contain a dashboard to manage the account settings. Space owners will see a dashboard with their listings, the number of bookings, booking details and other related information. Whereas users will be able to their basic profile details, booking they have made, reservations, etc.
Verification
The verification process will be similar for both coworking space owners and renters. It is necessary for both parties to provide a government-issued ID and license.
Search and filtering options
To make the first booking or list their spaces, there must be a smart search with advanced filters so that results can be filtered according to basic and advanced criteria. For example, the filtering options allow users to discover coworking space with specific amities, pet-friendly, or meeting spaces suitable for handling certain events, etc.
Messaging
A messaging system is an essential feature for any Airbnb for coworking space. This feature allows both users to discuss the details of booking directly on the platform. To avoid negotiations on the side, you can invalidate data like phone numbers and links so that users don’t exchange their contact information.
Payment system
To carry out financial transactions related to booking coworking space and related services, it is necessary for coworking rental marketplaces to integrate a secure payment system to the platform.
Push notifications
To keep both users updated on the news, offers, and promotions, the rental marketplace needs to send notifications to users’ accounts, mobile devices, and email.
Let’s start building a coworking rental marketplace
The trend of coworking spaces is gaining momentum and is going to rise tremendously in the future as well. Despite the high demand, the supply is less. Hence it is the right time to launch a coworking marketplace to encourage new connections and opportunities for both individuals and businesses. As we now have covered the most important aspects you need to consider before starting a coworking marketplace, it’s time to start building.
