Curious about how to find coworking space? If so, you aren’t alone.
Finding the correct coworking space can involve a fair bit more effort than it might seem at first glance. It’s not as simple as running a quick search!
Coworking has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. This is large in part due to more and more people wanting a taste of freelance life and opting for remote working positions.
With the rise in popularity has come an increase in the amenities that coworking spaces offer, and as such, more to consider when picking a location!
Luckily, there are a variety of resources out there that can help to make your searching more efficient, so that you can get the best match for your needs out of the space you’re paying for.
In this post, we’ll fill you in on some tips and tricks that can help!
Expanding Your Search
There are some hidden gems to be found that would otherwise be missed if you are limiting your search to the first couple pages of the search engine results.
Some truly great coworking spaces that are just getting up and running may not be generating enough traffic to their websites to appear in the top results that you’ll initially see when running a basic search.
That is where localized search platforms come into play!
The results of local listing and review platforms allow you to ensure that you’re seeing all of the coworking spaces in your area - not just limiting yourself to the first couple that pop up.
These platforms allow you to set filters to further define your search parameters by things like rating, distance, and more.
This means that you’ll not only get more results, but more results that are actually relevant to your needs!
Two great places to start as far as local listing platforms go are Yelp and Google maps. Most smartphone owners already have these installed without realizing!
If you’re on the go, like many people who utilize coworking spaces are, you can download these two tools and have them conveniently available wherever you are right on your phone.
A few other helpful apps include:
WorkHardAnywhere
Workfrom
Wifimap
While these three aren’t exclusively for hunting down coworking spaces, they are great for finding laptop friendly work environments in a pinch!
Want to Try Out Multiple Places?
There are platforms such as Croissant and Kettlespace that allow workers to pick and choose which coworking spaces to utilize on any given day without being locked into a membership at one specific space.
This is great if you want to try a few places out before deciding on where to get a full membership. It’s also an excellent option for those who only need coworking space for a few hours here and there each month.
Membership with companies like the two mentioned above typically works by allowing users to pre-pay for a certain amount of time each month. You’ll find membership options that range from as few as 10 hours all the way up to 100+ hours of allotted time.
The hours can be redeemed at any of the coworking spaces that have partnered with the platform, so long as there are “seats” available in the location that you want to go to.
With Croissant, and most other platforms that function similarly, unused hours roll over to the next month.
These platforms typically have their own built in search functions, which allows users to kill two birds with one stone.
However, it’s important to note that platforms like these are mainly meant for workers that need a space to drop in to from time to time. Since availability can vary, it may be too unpredictable for those who need a consistent spot in a specific location.
That is one of the unfortunate trade offs that is paid in exchange for the flexibility that is offered.
Some other alternatives that are similar in function to Croissant and Kettlespace include Coworker and Sharedesk.