summer slowdown?

[AK]

Hi...we just opened 3 months ago and got off to a decent start, but now with Summer coming, I am seeing a drop off in interest and space use.  I'm looking for ideas to overcome this and grow this summer.

Is it common to see summer slowdown?  We're a small place, so having fewer people is noticable by others in the space and those who visit.  ( It may look like we are not doing well)  - Any advice is appreciated

Al

[Alejandro Moreno]

Yes, we have experienced summer slowdowns at our space. Our county/community is the oldest (median age wise) in the Bay Area, so we have lots of people who have kids and grandkids, kids home from college etc.

So summertime frequently brings other priorities. 

Besides letting people know that there's a natural slowdown every summer, as long as you have the space/facilities for it, I would do some things like and not limited to the following:

 lunch & learns, wine tastings, yoga classes, live music night/jam, hackathons, maybe a STEM night or Maker Faire, startup pitch and feedback sessions, cannabis talks if you're in a state where it's being legalized and what the opportunities/implications might be, etc etc.

Look at other coworking space websites to see what they're doing activity-wise.

Alejandro Moreno S.

Cofounder/VP VenturePad

SEC Marin Organizer

628 253 6441

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[McKenna Yoder]

Hi, AK! 

We recently had an online call discussion specifically on this topic. Some great ways to beat the "summer slow-down" include offering part-time memberships, connect with AirBnb's, take advantage of local events, allow a bring-a-friend day, and partner with youth organizations in your community. If you'd like to read into each idea in more depth you can check out the blog post we created to recap the "5 Ways to Beat the Summer Slow-Down". Hope this helps give you some ideas! Congrats on recently opening! :) 

-McKenna 

[Jeannine van der Linden]

Summer slowdown is very common here as well.  I generally schedule repairs and maintenance for the space in the Summer for this reason.  We also go on half-staff for the Summer.  So I generally send out a communication about a month before the vacation, setting out the opening times andother details about a month in advance, and we put a sign up which says that we are on vacation shift :-).

This makes everything clear and also avoids frustration when/if there is a delay in response to emails, bookings, or other communications.

We have done various things during the Summer, like offering the space to more social events and party rates and so on; if we are doing this then I put that in the summer vacation notice also.  But motly it has not gotten a ton of traction because, well, folks are on vacation.  People do like the party rates though, we get a lot of summer parties.  :-)

[AK]

Thanks everyone! --Keep the ideas flowing. Just had a person take a "hiatus" because he enjoys sitting on his deck and working on his laptop. Not much networking there, but its more scenic.

I like the STEM idea, but not sure about how to do this in a non-school setting. Seems to need alot of ramp up time, too.

Thus summer slowdown seems to be a real challenge for the small operator.

AL