Coworking in a Small Town

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Mike Pihlman

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Feb 1, 2015, 12:36:42 PM2/1/15
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All:

I wrote about my experience at AltamontCowork the past five years. 

I still believe that coworking is a wonderful concept,  but,  I also, now,  believe that it will still take time to catch on everywhere.

The millenials will make it happen everywhere.....us old folks who can't grasp the open collaborative nature of the new office just need to step aside.  😃

COWORKING in a Small Town: Lessons Learned - http://wp.me/p4w4ad-14L

M.E. Ralph

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Feb 3, 2015, 12:33:48 PM2/3/15
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Wow! I can't believe how eerily similar our stories are! I'm going into my third year now and my biggest challenge has been educating my community on what coworking is and how it can benefit them. The town I live in is about 32,000 in population with a strong history in the mining industry. There is a small group of bright and forward thinking individuals , though, that want to see our economy here revitalized by other industries. At times, there seems to be a strong sentiment against these ideas and how quickly technology is advancing. There is the fear that this small laid back town will end up like the dreaded "big city" just an hour east of us. Because I currently have no members, I supplement my income with another part time job and teaching one on one computer classes. Someday, this will make sense to these people. Meanwhile, I press on. Isn't this what makes up "pioneers"?

Massimo Infunti

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Feb 4, 2015, 3:41:00 AM2/4/15
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Hi,
We have opened a coworking in a small city in Noth West of Italy (www.ubloom.it).
Same experience: a lot of people say they find it interesting, but in six months we have achieved to have very few members (some 20) and occasional users...
Do you think it's a matter of novelty? Or it's really a luck of a need?

Regards,
Massimo

Cédric

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Feb 4, 2015, 10:43:37 AM2/4/15
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Hi, 

We are about to open a coworking space in a small town in Belgium. +/- 30,000 inhabitants, but the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg is just 30min drive from here.

Our space isn’t open yet, and luckily enough the city council gave us a place for free for two years.

Our problem is that we need 5000€ to renovate the place.

We started a crowdfunding campaign on Ulule.com[*], but since our target audience is located in a very small radius, the struggle to communicate about who we are, what we want to achieve, and why we need help is a very hard business.

So, the question here is : 

- Was it (crowdfunding) a good choice since the target audience is very much limited ?

- Does anyone have a feedback of that kind of funding in that kind of population ?

- How did you manage to pay your own renovations ?

PS : we are a non-profit organisation, that's why external investment is not an option for us

Thanks

Cédric

[*] http://fr.ulule.com/greenlabcoworking-arlon/


The millenials will make it happen everywhere.....us old folks who can't grasp the open collaborative nature of the new office just need to step aside.  😃

COWORKING in a Small Town: Lessons Learned - http://wp.me/p4w4ad-14L

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M.E. Ralph

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Feb 5, 2015, 2:06:09 PM2/5/15
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Cedric,
I own and operate a coworking space in a town of about 32,000. I have tried using crowd funding (3 times) for different projects and none of those efforts were successful. It was hard to say whether it was because they didn't know what they were funding (coworking is a new concept here) or if they didn't know how crowd funding worked. As far as remodeling my space, I had mostly painting and cleaning to do and I did it by myself with help from my husband when he was available. Some suggestions that you could look into: 1) are you able to create a press release to distribute to your local media about what you are trying to accomplish? 2) are there any schools near you with vocational programs in construction that would be willing to help with remodeling and also create an experience opportunity for their students? I have been working with a program here called the SBDC (small business development center) and they have offered a lot of advice and also invited me to networking opportunities where I get the chance to tell others about my space. Business professor at the college down the street has offered to bring her marketing students to my space so they can make an evaluation of what I need to do get more exposure. It is a very slow process but I have discovered that the more people I meet and talk to, the less frustrating the whole process has become. Good luck in your endeavor. Maria

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Mike Pihlman

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Feb 5, 2015, 2:12:25 PM2/5/15
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Interestingly, it was thru AltamontCowork that I met the local Director of the SBDC, and, now, I am the Tracy, CA consultant for SBDC.  :-)  With the connections I made thru AltamontCowork, I have tons of local contacts to help the new small business owner succeed.  

Coworking rocks!

Mike  

Cédric

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Feb 9, 2015, 11:17:13 AM2/9/15
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Maria, 

Thanks for your answer. 

We still have 14 days left to complete our goal, and we have 40% of the goal as of today. We are still waiting for the local television to broadcast the reporting they did about us. And within the next few days, we have two meeting with two potential (quite big) sponsors. There is still hope I guess :)

About press coverage, we have everything we could hope to have : last week, we had a paper in the journal and a radio interview. It did not seem to have the impact we were hoping.

Your suggestion about "school with programs in construction" is really interresting, we did not thought of that.

Anyway, if anyone have anything else to suggest, feel free to give us your feedback !

M.E. Ralph

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Feb 9, 2015, 12:44:18 PM2/9/15
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Cedric,
It sounds like you are off to a good start. I hope you meet your goal. I guess we just have to keep chipping away it. At some point, the concept will "stick" in people's minds. Best wishes! Maria
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