Comments on: Questions about starting a coworking space

By: Darren Herman

Darren Herman — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:21:21 +0000

Thank you so much for posting this. I’m looking into doing something similar (http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/05/an-entrepreneurs-dream-nyc/)

Would love to talk with you about what works and doesn’t… offline. I’ll be in touch

By: Chris Messina

Chris Messina — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:59:39 +0000

Hey James, thanks for your comment — I just checked out YourStreet — nice work!

There is one other active space that we know of in San Francisco called The Hat Factory. It’s actually the space that we started out in, but moved out to have a more office-like environment closer to downtown.

As for money, well, we kind of figure that our consulting business can cover the difference for now… and while we have thought about raising the rent, we also know that we’re competing with free on two fronts: cafes and home.

We think that, over time, through events and more inventive charging plans (hotdesks have been mentioned recently) we might be able to recover some of the loss. It’s not a huge concern at the moment, but definitely something that we need to address in the long term.

Do come and visit us sometime!

By: James Nicholson

James Nicholson — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:37:20 +0000

Just found out about you guys and I think this is a great idea! Congrats on having the wherewithal to get this off the ground. I’d love to come by and check out the place at some point.

Two questions: Do you know of anyone else in SF that’s doing something like this? Also, I read in another post that you’re losing money each month (I used to own an art gallery, so I can definitely sympathize!). Is there a limit to how much you can charge per desk? Have you experimented with higher prices to offset the losses?

Good luck with the venture!

By: Chris Messina

Chris Messina — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:24:44 +0000

Hey Erica, great question… yeah, that is something that we, as Citizen Agency, had to get for our business anyway. We figure that our business liability insurance that covered the lease also extends to the coworking facility. We have (fortunately) had to test this theory yet, but I think basic liability insurance should cover your office…

After all, it’s Citizen Agency, LLC that’s paying the rent on the space; the anchors are then subletting from us.

By: ericaogrady

ericaogrady — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:05:32 +0000

Remind me to login next time…LOL
After Chris Pirillo’s post today I’m tempted to say “First”.

In any event — thanks so much for posting this Chris — very helpful. We’re about to setup a co-working space/social media consultancy here in Houston called The Method Agency/Method Café — and my big concern is insurance. There are a fair number of lawyers — and I’m scared of getting sued for some issue or other. What are your thoughts? (Feel free to point me to any posts you might have already written on the subject that I have missed).