Space survey?

[adamundefined @ Halifax Makerspace]

Hey all,

Been a long while since a check-in on this group so I figured I'd kick one off. I haven't seen a space survey since the one in 2018 so not sure if someone would like to put together a Google Form or just reply here. I'll start with some base information but if we want to provide more info like the previous space survey I'd be interested. I'm also  curious how everyone has fared in light of COVID restrictions?

Halifax Makerspace was due for a lease renewal in August 2021 and our landlords presented us with a contract near the beginning of the year. They wanted a 30% rent increase. We tried to negotiate a lower rate but they said that was already below market so we packed up and are currently homeless. We are planning to stay homeless into the Spring/Summer 2022 so that hopefully most COVID restrictions will be behind us. We were struggling a bit even before COVID though and likely would've had to start taking a good look at our business model and make some changes. We aren't sure if we can make a go of it without some sort of government or corporate support. I'd love to hear how everyone else does with their different revenue streams. Does member dues cover your expenses or do you have diversified revenue?

We are working on our business model right now and making plans for the new year. It would be great to have some info from similar organizations across the country. Would love to hear from as many spaces as possible.

Space Information:

Halifax Makerspace
Space details prior to leaving our old location.
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Size: 900 sq. ft.
Rent: $1015
Rent/sq. ft.: $1.13

Member dues: $50 (key), $25 (limited)
Member count: 15-25

Other income streams:
Donations: we had one year with some significant electronics donated we were able to sell to raise $1500, mostly it is just a few bucks here and there
Workshops: Some years we did pretty well and made an extra $150/month, but we experienced a bit of volunteer burnout and didn't run them much in 2019. COVID mostly prevented any workshops.

Cheers,
Adam Cox
President - HMS

[Richard Sim]

We (Vancouver Hack Space) were just getting settled in our new space when the pandemic hit, which meant that we didn't have a lot of runway to weather the COVID shutdown as the new space required a substantial upfront deposit along with quite large electrical expenses due to the age/state of the building. It was a scary and uncertain time for sure. One thing that helped significantly was asking those who could afford it, to pay for a year's membership up front. The other was that we worked out payment terms with our electrician, for which they were very accommodating. In the end we actually grew our membership significantly over COVID, despite also running no workshops (how we'd normally get new people in the door) due to the restrictions; I think a large reason for the increase was that people were looking to work on projects as their regular activities weren't possible.

We are completely membership funded for rent, utilities, basic expenses, and try to get most of our larger purchases also partially member-funded through a matching system. The only other significant "income stream" (it's not income!) we have is that Amazon has been sending us batches of returned goods that, while we can't sell, we let members trade for in order to get tools that we need.

Vancouver Hack Space

Location: 5 minutes from the centre of downtown Vancouver, BC.

Size: 4000 sq ft

Rent: a bit less than $7.75k/month. Increases each January.

Total expenses: ~$8.5k/month

Total income: ~$12.5k/month

Member count: ~180

Now that we're on steady footing again and have rebuilt our bank account somewhat, we just passed an annual budget that has ~2k/month allocated to various sub-area committees (welding, woodshop, 3D printers, laser cutter, etc), leaving about another $2k/month savings for our next space move (potentially in as little as 2 years, but hopefully not).

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[adamundefined @ Halifax Makerspace]

Just wanted to bump this thread and see if anyone else might have some feedback on how their space is doing?

Thanks,

Adam

[Travis Ralston - ENTS Edmonton]

Hey all,

Sorry for the long post - lots of news to cover over the last few years, some of which I'm sure I've missed.

ENTS (Edmonton, AB) is still around though a lot of our long term plans are on hold. Prior to the pandemic we were looking at moving into a more permanent home and even had some locations picked out. We ended up closing twice during the pandemic: first for about 3 months then again for about 8 months, 4 months between the closures. Both closures were made due to government restrictions, though the second closure was extended by us due to the health situation at the time. Upon re-opening we offered members an optional coupon code that would give them a partial discount on future membership for membership paid during the closure: paying for 3 months would give 3 months worth of discount over a 4 month period, spreading the financial impact of nearly-free memberships out over a longer term. For the second closure we gave out these coupons at a percentage: 8 months paid during the closure would give a coupon worth about 4 months, spread over 9 months. This was largely because we were still able to offer curbside-like service to most members, so ended up counting ourselves as "half open" for the purposes of coupons.

During the closures most members continued paying their regular memberships which allowed us to tread water financially (we could pay rent, but would only make rent back in dues). With the coupon codes and being partially re-opened we've managed to restore a lot of our financial growth to pre-COVID times, though as of a couple weeks ago we've paused new tours & signups for the short term.

We're completely non-profit, so 100% of dues go back into the space. As a reopening gift to ourselves we bought a 3HP SawStop Professional table saw (~$5000 after our addons) to replace a similarly sized saw that ended up dying on us - no activations of the system yet, but the peace of mind is worth it. We've also been putting a lot of time and money into keeping the pottery studio operational, as it currently makes up about 60-70% of our membership interest.

At the moment we're focused on growing our membership back to pre-COVID numbers (~90 active members), which will put us in a more comfortable position to move in. Our current lease is a 1 year renewal, ending in the summer - we're hoping to renew for at least another year or two while we rebuild the membership.

Edmonton New Technology Society (ENTS)

Location: Edmonton, AB (near the old Northlands grounds)

Size: 3250 sq ft
Rent: $2500/month, utilities included (except 3phase power - that is paid separately. We're pre-paid for a couple more years of usage)

Total expenses (excl. rent): ~$500/month (we've held off on a lot of excess spending lately)

Total income: ~$3000/month without running tours/signups, ~$4500 when operating fully

Member count: 72 as of right now

Dues: $75/month or $750/year. Introductory rate of $150 for 3 months (1 free) then $75/month after that. The vast majority of signups are at the introductory rate.

Access: 24/7 fob access to all shop spaces - we don't have a "pottery member" so to speak, they're just ENTS members.

At 90-100 members we start to bring in enough dues to cover large tool upgrades like a SawStop, and build enough bank balance to consider moving to a larger facility. The downside is at 60 members the space starts to feel full with all the active projects, which means at 90 we feel *very* busy.

A few months ago we also ran our first Maker's Market event with live demos and vendors (mostly members) selling things they've made. Over a 2 day event in late November, about 450 people came by and some vendors just about sold out their stock (they had a lot to start, thankfully). We ended up net-negative on expenses for the event, though only by about $1000. Typically when we run outreach events we see the people sign up 2-3 years later, so unclear if the market had a meaningful impact on signups just yet.

All told, we're on track to meet our prospects of moving in about 1-2 years, including considerations for future closures and pandemic response.

- Travis R
Secretary & Treasurer, ENTS