Maybe you’re done searching for an outlet each time you need to charge your laptop at the coffee shop. Or you’re tired of working alone and need interaction intermittently throughout the day. Perhaps you need to meet with clients face-to-face and neither your home office or Starbucks feels professional enough. Coworking spaces can help with these potential obstacles to productivity and professionalism by providing you with the place and resources you need.
Coworking spaces bring together professionals from diverse backgrounds who are working for themselves, on a remote or small team, or starting their own business.
Members in coworking spaces can offer their expertise, insight, or resource recommendations during planned social events or organically, during a coffee break or over lunch. Read on to find out more about the people that you’re likely to encounter in a coworking space.
People in Coworking Spaces
Coworking space staff handle everything from space maintenance and keeping coffee stocked to membership sign-ups, introducing and connecting members, and planning and executing events. You’ll find helpful, knowledgeable people who can help you with the logistics of WiFi access, printing/scanning/copying, or more community-related things, like directing you to unique coffee spots or local restaurants in town. Many coworking spaces are located near or in urban centers, which means you’ll have a variety of shops and places to explore during a walking meeting or a fresh air break close by.
Techies, Startups, and Entrepreneurs
One of the attractions of coworking spaces is the affordability and flexibility that they offer to business owners in the startup stage and entrepreneurs who don’t need office space just yet, or are trying out different work atmospheres as a company. You’ll find new tech, startups, tech-enabled company remote workers, web developers, and software engineers all working individually but together. Membership options reflect what you need at the coworking space in terms of access, and many coworking spaces offer agreements that are month-to-month rather than annual.
Have a problem that is difficult to tackle or a need to hire for your business? You can share these challenges and needs during member events or through coworking space member channels. Stoke hosts monthly member events to share these matters, along with wins and successes, and as a space to celebrate or decompress.
Remote Workers & Freelancers
Remote workers and freelancers also have a home in coworking spaces. Free to work from wherever they wish as digital nomads, they can opt for the amenities of a coworking spot and avoid having to turn their house into a workplace. Reliable, fast WiFi and spaces like standing desks and phone call rooms help work progress through the day smoothly.
For small or growing teams, some coworking spaces have private offices or suites to accommodate multiple people. If you don’t need an office, coworking spaces also have breakout lounges and areas like conference rooms or unused event space during the business day/operating hours, so that you can have a team meeting when needed without committing to an office. At Stoke, memberships are month-to-month at the virtual, coworking, or dedicated level, so you don’t have to sign a six-month or annual lease for an office.
Community Partners
Coworking spaces have proven to influence the entrepreneurial landscapes of the communities that they’re in and also provide opportunities to the general public, in the form of educational and networking events to help the business community grow and succeed. From time to time, you’ll also find community leaders, movers, and shakers who aren’t members of the coworking space at Stoke but contribute their insight and expertise. You can also find mentors and subject matter experts (when they’re speaking at a Lunch + Learn, leading a workshop, or during their office hours!) at Stoke.
TWU’s Center for Women in Business presents a monthly networking and training event at Stoke, providing breakfast and an informative session. Stoke’s monthly events include Lunch + Learns, startup fundraising workshops, and more. Stoke also administers programs like the recently formed Denton Angels investors group and is helping to make the program thrive in Denton.
We look forward to seeing you at Stoke for events or on a Friday to try out coworking! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn or sign up for our newsletter to be notified of our monthly and quarterly events (like Denton Startup Crawl/Night last fall!)