Free Coworking: Let us talk about “barriers to entry”

[Felix Schürholz]

When I predicted in January, a little more than three months ago, that we would see a “marked increase in “Free Coworking” … offers” this year, I could not imagine how quickly this would happen. Of course we did not just sit back and see what would happen, we actively promoted the idea of “Free Coworking” with various tools and initiatives (see Free Coworking resource page). Now a little more than 100 days later I read that Anthony Marinos wrote in the Coworking Google Group that Loosecubes has for New York (USA) now “approximately 50%” of free spaces in their portfolio. Visiting the site, I can confirm that 36 of 77 offers for New York have a “$0 USD/d”  price tag. That is what I call a fast evolution!!!

Of course it is a matter of definition whether a free work space is automatically a “free coworking space”. In some instances the label “free” might just serve to attract new users, but it is not connected with a sustainable business model. On the other hand, one or two desks are usually too little to allow for the collaboration and community that we value in coworking. Having said that the direction is clear. Free Coworking is going to increase and there are many good reasons for that.

The reason I like to look at today, concerns the aspect of  ”barrier to entry“. In the wikipedia article on the subject Franklin M. Fisher is quoted with the following: “A barrier to entry is anything that prevents entry when entry is socially beneficial”. Having to pay for coworking is definitely a “barrier to entry” for any coworker who cannot afford a paid coworking space. Free coworking in all its different forms lowers this barrier up to the point of “perfect competition” with zero barriers to entry. The same actually also holds for the coworking organizers or space operators. If you want to start coworking but you do not have the necessary financial funds to start a coworking space by yourself you can start free coworking by focussing on the social capital and the community of coworkers.

At the start and in the end coworking is about “Collaboration, Openness, Community, Accessibility, and Sustainability” . You can support these values by entering the “Free Coworking Skill Sharing” and the “Free Coworking Directory“. “Vote” for low “barriers to entry” in coworking, “vote” for collaboration and team work, “vote” for a common and shared “Free Coworking Infrastructure“. For more information on “Free Coworking” please refer to our resource page.

[Christian M. Macy]

I told myself I would troll a bit before contributing so that I could understand the group better, but I just have to jump in here.

The posts I've seen over the last few days and this one in particular speak directly to the reasoning and methodology that I'm applying to the creation of Fuse, a coworking coffee house here in Boulder.

You can read a bit more about what my underlying mission is here: http://goo.gl/HVCyR

What it comes down to for me is that I believe the world needs to change for the better, that the ability to create that change is well within our power as human beings but also as individuals, and that coworking is one of the most effective ways to empower people to create that change.

It's one of the biggest reasons that I'm starting Fuse as "a coworking coffee house that creates empowerment through inspiration".

I believe that the question of barrier to entry is implicitly tied to the market you are trying to attract. In our case, it is imperative that we lower the barrier to entry because we are focusing on solopreneurs and small businesses with 1-5 employees that don't likely have the funds to afford an office or coworking memberships.

Our concept is to provide free access to the space and then charge for a la carte services. Services include high speed, reliable, and secure wifi (free wifi is available, but using QoS/throttling), 24 hour access to the space, printing and scanning, etc.

With that said, memberships are available for purchase and reduce the cost of services, not to mention opening up the ability to reserve private rooms and conference facilities, as well as providing access to our social network which is members (and therefore local) only.

We're doing other things to involve and excite people as well, but what I won't bore with all that right now :-)

I do want to touch on two other things, though. 

1) I have a secret, ulterior motive for making access free: I want to quickly become a place for artists, musicians, students, and other people who might not usually think of coworking as where they should be doing their work. I firmly believe that kind of mix of backgrounds, skills, and interests is the only way we can truly achieve something amazing.

2) Cost is only one barrier to entry. Think about the last time you passed by a group of people talking excitedly about something, wondered what they were talking about, or maybe heard what it was and mentally came up with something to say, then kept walking by. Whether culturally or personally, many of us don't feel comfortable just jumping in and participating. 

Charging for access is a way of creating exclusivity, and that exclusivity can help lower the second barrier to entry, the social barrier, by imparting a sense of belonging.

For any of us using the free model to lower the barrier to entry, I think it's extremely important to consider how we are planning to offset the social barrier to entry to make it easier for people to come in and get involved.

We're doing a few things to address that, but the most important is the way we're creating it: a coworking coffee house. We're taking an established type of free access community space (a coffee house - the third place) and making it a great place to work.

I know enough at this point in my life that I know to not think I'm the first to come up with this idea, so if anyone has examples of how this has been done (successfully or not) elsewhere I would welcome the information offline! Or hey, if you have any questions or ideas I welcome those as well :-)

Also? Just wanted to say that what I've seen of this group so far is fantastic. I'm glad I was referred to it by Toby, Jeff, and Tripp of SCRIB!

Christian M. Macy

Twitter / Facebook / Blog

(christian.m.macy at gmail)

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