If you want to make your coworking space successful, increasing your sales revenue should be one of your top priorities. Here are a few tips to help you.
Defining the price of your coworking package
Along with basic services (Wi-Fi access, offices, chairs, etc…) you will offer optional services such as meeting rooms, lockers and (maybe) a restaurant service. You need to find out the perfect balance between an appealing price for the coworkers and a cost-effective economic model.
Now speaking, only 40% of the coworking centers in France are profitable. It is quite low but this can be explained by the “time factor”. Indeed, 72% of coworking centers become lucrative after a two year period of activity. Very few coworking centers have gone through this period of time at the moment.
You have two main levers to increase your earnings:
- Membership fees,
- Invoicing complementary services.
Control the membership fees to the coworking center
The membership package is your main resource. Generally, its amount is digressive depending on the coworker’s attendance. You can offer packages by the hour, half-days, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.
Your aim should not be to have a majority of long-lasting members but rather to seek a perfect balance of durable and punctual members.
Earn money by offering additional services
Optional or indispensable services?
The available services in a coworking space are a source of income for the owner, but not only: they also boost the place’s attractiveness and members love this. Some services are more essential than others. You should list those you believe are necessary and put them in your packages, the others can be invoiced optionally.
Example of additional services:
- Meeting room,
- Self-served coffee,
- Printer-scanner,
- Office supplies (pens, computers…),
- Conferences,
- Janitorial service.
You can decide on which services you will grant the coworkers and the ones you will charge them for. For example, Franck (manager of a coworking center in Paris) has chosen to organize an “open coffee” day once a week. It is enables him to master his costs – because coffee is chargeable the rest of the week – and his members take the opportunity to talk with their coworkers on that day, because it is a weekly event.
The value of events
In a coworking space, hosting events has a triple purpose. Firstly, it is an additional source of earnings. Secondly, it helps promoting the center. Thirdly, members of your coworking center will appreciate those events because it will be an occasion for them to present and promote their work. Lastly, they are vectors of social development.
Services in line with your targeted coworkers
You should provide your coworkers with adapted performances. For example, if a majority of your members are entrepreneurs, developing partnerships with business angels or lawyers will be useful to them. Other example: if your coworking space includes web developers hosting a « hackathon » will stimulate the group’s cohesion.
Reducing costs to maximize profits?
By introducing innovative ideas of collaboration and mutual help, you will achieve costs reduction. The aim is to favour spontaneous collaboration between your members.
Also, keep in mind the economies of scale you can achieve by sharing your space with other organizations. Your space will then be occupied to its full capacity and will offer more services to your coworkers (coffee, fab lab, incubator…).
Do not give the impression you want to reduce your expenses at all costs (!!). You need to develop a welcoming image. Do not forget that your working space’s added value is your coworkers. So pamper them!
Optimized management of the coworking center
You should provide your coworkers with a simple and connected tool to buy and book the available services (ideally: a platform). They should have a personal access.
