Coworking/Childcare Space In Chicago

[nikki ricks]

We are in the middle of bringing this to Chicago! So excited.

http://coworkingwchildcare.wordpress.com/

[Deb]

Congratulations, Nikki!

We've been busy in NJ. We found a location and have been working on site plans and licensing check list. I'm hoping to open for back to school in the fall - fingers crossed!

How is everyone else doing with their ventures?

Best,

Deborah Engel
www.workandplaynj.com
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Work and Play: 
A coworking facility with drop-in babysitting, caregiver & me classes and an indoor playspace.  
Coming soon to SOMa.  

[Marnee Chua]

This is great news Nikki and Deb! Jessie and I have pushed back our search because we expanded our existing coworking space this last year. But we have just been talking about getting started again with our plans. 

Can I ask a couple of questions? 

• What kind of capital are you starting out with? 
• Are your spaces going to be licensed? 
• What are the age groups that you are going to be serving? 
• What sf are you looking for child space and adult space? 
• How are you reaching out to parents? 

I am curious because our experience has been: 

• Starting with $30-50,000 was too small (that was our original budget)
• We are required to license in WA if parents are working on site, which means an outdoor play space, plenty of sinks and appropriately sized potties, licensed staff, and etc. 
• We started thinking of small scale only (along the lines of 1,500-3,000 sf per side), but now might be leaning to think bigger. 
• Jessie reached out to parents two years ago and got a fantastic response, we are talking about doing that again to update our contacts and get newer information. 

Thanks for sharing and good luck ladies! 

Marnee

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Marnee Chua

Works Progress

Ellie's Coworking + Childcare

(510) 846-2245 cell

(206) 466-1624 office

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - Eleanor Roosevelt 

[Deborah Engel]

Hi Marnee,

Great to hear that you are expanding your coworking space! I've tried to answer your questions below. I'd love to hear others' answers as well! Also, is anyone going to GCUC this year? 

• What kind of capital are you starting out with? It is proving costly. I am now budgeting for 75k. 
• Are your spaces going to be licensed? Yes. Initially I wasn't going to, but based on feedback, I think it's a real draw for parents in my area. Plus, if we have 6 or more kids in our space, we'd need to be licensed anyway. We found a building with the required outdoor play area.
• What are the age groups that you are going to be serving? 0-6
• What sf are you looking for child space and adult space? We're starting on the smaller side. The daycare area is approx 1810 (includes staff rooms, etc.) The coworking space is about 1000 sf, but we have the ability to expand into another 550 sf if we grow. 
• How are you reaching out to parents? I've been trying to build a community for about a year now. I'm a work-from-home mom with young kids, and have met a lot of others like me. I'm also involved in networking groups and mom groups and tell everyone I know about the idea. My daycare space will be flex space - when the babysitting section is not filled up, we will open it up as an indoor play area to attract stay at home moms. We will also be running caregiver & me classes there. 

Best,

Deborah 

www.workandplaynj.com
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
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Work and Play: 
A coworking facility with drop-in babysitting, caregiver & me classes and an indoor playspace.  
Coming soon to SOMa.  

[nikki ricks]

A little update on Chicago's coworking with childcare! - http://collidecoworking.com/index.html

We have actually started to contact play spaces in Chicago and will start doing "pop-up" coworking. A way to get started, build a network, and see what the type of demand there is with no overhead. We're getting as much sponsored as we possibly can.

Opening up a full fledge coworking and childcare space in Chicago was just too early in the market. People still don't know what concept of coworking is and to rent a space is just too expensive. The overhead was huge. 

So we are really focusing our attention right now on building our network of people, and doing it as cheap as possible!

[Jessie Rymph]

Thanks for sharing Nikki! We've also found the overhead to be too much, but up to get there someday! 

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[Stepfanie Cuevas]

Hi Nikki!

I'm new to the group as I'm beginning to try and sort through the logistics of starting a coworking and Childcare space in San Antonio TX. I'm very interested in your "pop up" coworking model? How do you get that to work? Do you contact business and set up and work at their location? Do you bring them to you?

Thanks so much!

Stepfanie Cuevas
http://www.StepfaniesDesk.com

[nikki ricks]

Hi, Stepfanie!

At first I tried working with coworking spaces and bring the childcare portion to them. Chicago is really limited on space and though there were several spaces interested we just realized it wouldn't work.

So I then starting contacting play spaces to bring the coworking to them. This has been really successful. Play spaces are set up for kids and will have probably everything you need. I just did a quick google search in San Antonio and found this link with a list of play spaces - http://www.littledailyplanner.com/indoor_play_

A lot of the play spaces have event rooms that they typically use for kids parties, baby shower, special kid classes, etc. So we set up the coworking in that area (with no kids allowed). These event spaces haven't been the coolest  spaces and aren't really what I would want to brand my company on but it's good for now.

You can check out my website to see how we've structured our model - http://collidecoworking.com/

Trying to make a solid profit has been tricky. I really care about quality care and low ratios and think that more work at home parents care about that too. So that's something I'm trying to work out.

Something that's hard about doing it at a play space is that they're not really set up for kids to be able to nap. I don't really know how they would be but that's something that parents have to work around when they're coming - so sometimes it's just two hours at a time.

All in all it's been a great way to get the word out and build a community without spending money (but actually making a little). The goal is to eventually have my own space but I want a pretty solid member base before that happens.

If you have any more questions I'm happy to chat! Email me - ni...@collidecoworking.com

Thanks!

Nikki

[Marnee Chua]

Nickki, 

I just want to commend you on your creativeness. I think it is a great start and I'm excited to hear how passionate you are. This is such an important model. We are going to definitely figure out how to make it work! 

Best wishes and please keep sharing on your progress!

Marnee

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Marnee Chua

Works Progress

Ellie's Coworking + Childcare

[nikki ricks]

Thanks Marnee! That's so nice! 

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[Stepfanie Cuevas]

That sounds perfect! And thank you for searching for me as well! :) I think it's a great way to build a network while still setting up a space for ourselves. We've found a couple of places but still need to double check on the Texas laws for drop in Chikdcare. I've also looked into working with some church's during the day and using their space. A lot of creativity when it comes to getting your dream out! :)