Introduction and announcement for a possible new space in South Bay Los Angeles

[Kelly Sims]

Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker here. :)

I have decided to try opening a coworking space in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. I want to create a space that welcomes people in, inspires them to create, and helps them flourish in their chosen profession.

A little about me: I am a freelance web and graphic designer. I’ve been a solo shop for 8 years now, and following the coworking scene for about 3 years. I have been thinking about starting this thing for a few years now, but fear always kept me from doing it. I recently decided that is idiotic, and so I’m going to take a stab at this. If it fails, I’ll know I tried. If I don’t try, I’ve failed.

To do this, I’m going to need a great deal of help. I’m not a businessman, nor do I want to be. I will need help in planning and running the space. I’m creating the space because I want to work there myself, surrounded by my local community members.

I have been poring over the Google Coworking Group the past few weeks, as well as researching spaces around the world. I have started talking to a few smart people that have offered to help me in their own unique ways. But I could use a few tips from the community as well.

I would like to start reaching out to locals and begin discussing this. I want the space to be built on community, so I feel it’s important to start there. Any other suggestions would be so wonderful!

Kelly

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Welcome to the party Kelly!

You already know this, but I will remind you anyway:

1. Build community before space
2. If and when you do decide to create a business and take on space, take steps to ensure you will be doing so in a way that is sustainable both to you and the business itself.

The answers aren't obvious, but they exist.

We're here to help!

Cheers,
Tony

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[Kelly Sims]

Thank you Tony!

I do plan to build the community up, and thanks for the reminder. So many aspects to this, it's a lot to plan!

Kelly

[Ralf Lippold]

Hi Kelly,

my advice - an I follow Tony - build community first. Find the people
who are passionate enough to work together in either a coffeehouse,
your backyard (with WiFi provided) and create something together.

Bootstrap the process as much as possible. Don't invest money you
wouldn't not pay when working on your own.

Happy to talk via Skype (Frisbeeralf) about our experiences here in
Dresden. You'll find more on http://creativeclass.com (Who's Your
City?) on Dresden.

Cheers, Ralf

[Chris]

Hey Kelly, one thing to think about - and others can chime in here -
is that if you expect to break even or turn a profit, then you're
taking on a new full time job. Embrace the business side (and the
community building side, and the marketing side, and hospitality side,
and every other side!). It's basically a startup that you're putting
everything into. I hear a lot of people talk about wanting to start a
coworking space because *they* want to work there, but the reality is
you're splitting your time between two full time jobs if you do that.
There are some things that might help offset this and other's can
throw out some input there.

So ask yourself this: is building a coworking space really what you
need? If your design business is the primary focus, can you reduce
cost/risk by sharing/renting space from an existing company or firm
that has a cool culture and an open desk?

There have been several people in the south bay talking about
coworking in the past, so I'm sure there's at least some community
desire there.

[Alex Hillman]

Chris made a really good point here, but I can tell you from my experience that you can create and build design a healthy coworking community space that doesn't require ALL of your time, or all of your time FOREVER. 

It's a lot of work. It's a lot of hustle. But if you're the only one doing the work/hustle, you're probably missing out on the biggest advantages of coworking in the first place.

Indy Hall was very much for myself initially. It quickly became a bigger mission, and a bigger project, as you suggested - but I never stopped working on client work. Around 2 year mark, I'd learned so much from starting Indy Hall that I realized that I could work on a whole new line of business from Indy Hall - as a member of Indy Hall and not just a co-founder - if I worked to give away operational responsibilities.

A mix of dedicated members, and a single part time staff member, has had Indy Hall running and growing smoothly without being dependent on me for about 2 years now. I get to focus on the parts of Indy Hall that are interesting to me, and that I want to work on. That keeps me motivated, and leaves room for others to chip in, too. 

Now, I get to come to Indy Hall as a member, and don't worry when I'm not there for any reason.

So yes - treat this like the business that it will very likely need to be in order to sustain. But know that it's not a life sentence, either :)

-Alex

/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia

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[Kelly Sims]

Great points all Chris, and thanks.

I'm at a point in my career where I'm feeling a little unsatisfied. I love my work, and I'd like to continue in it, but it isn't fulfilling me 100%. In the past few years I've started running several Meetup groups, and I'm finding that I love getting people together and seeing new connections blossom. It's a side of me I didn't realize I had.

With that in mind, I fully intend to make this work, on some level at least. Yes, I want to work there. But more, I want to be able to help push my local community into a better place. I see a strong need for this and no one else is stepping up. Two years ago I had a need for a tech meet up and no one was doing it here. Now my Get Geeky group has been meeting every month for two plus years and it's great. It fills a need for me and for everyone that comes out to it.

Thanks so much for the input!

[Kelly Sims]

Fantastic! This is such a wonderful group. The feedback and support are just amazing.

Thank you Alex for the feedback!

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Kelly, sounds like you are off to an awesome start!

I recently read the E-Myth, a book that's been around for some time, after a good friend absolutely insisted I read it. 

To reinforce its tagline, "why most small businesses don't work," the book uses the allegory of a woman who really loved baking pies, opened a bake shop and became a slave to her own creation. It uses her story to demonstrate how to avoid the same fate, or how to climb back out it. It's a great read for anyone who might fall into a similar passion trap.

Amy Hoy also wrote an incredible piece on this topic entitled Don't Follow Your Passion: http://unicornfree.com/2011/dont-follow-your-passion/

I'm not entirely sure why I'm dumping all this here now, but it probably has something to do with my jet lag and also my growing feeling that many of us coworking space owners must increasingly focus on how to do what we do in a really healthy and sustainable way. 

Speaking of sustainability, Alex just wrote this great piece on the topic: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/08/coworking-core-values-1-of-5-sustainability

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[Kelly Sims]

Thanks Tony, and how funny you post this today. I just read an article on NYTimes last night that hit on some of the same topics, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/fashion/maybe-its-time-for-plan-c.html?_r=1

Thanks, I've Instapapered (that's a word, I'm sure of it) these for later tonight!

Kelly

[Jacob Sayles]

I love you guys.  

Jacob

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Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

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[mika josting]

Hi Kelly,

You can do it!

Mika.

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[Kelly Sims]

Thanks Mika!