The question, “Where am I working?” Or, “Where am I most productive? We’ve covered the pros and cons of working from home and in your own office, as well as the benefits of coworking spaces and working in business centers, so let’s dive right in!
Location: Business centers
To begin, it’s important to understand what distinguishes a business center from other types of offices and work environments. Typically, business centers own more conventionally sized office spaces.
Many of these business centers have one major advantage: they are located in some of the most well-known neighborhoods and streets in the city. As a startup, freelancer or independent contractor, the notoriety of the address works in your favor. When you are trying to gain new clients and business partners during the start-up phase, having a known address can be an asset.
In your industry, you are experienced
Additionally, many business centers have been around for a long time, giving them a head start in terms of expertise. As a founder or entrepreneur, this can be a great asset, as you have an experienced partner you can rely on.
In business centers, you can benefit from services that take the stress out of your daily routine. With less to worry about, you can focus on your main goal: starting and growing your own business.
Complicated booking
However, there are also some disadvantages, especially compared to coworking spaces, that you should keep in mind before renting office space in a business center. As a general rule, it is much less easy to book office space in a business center than in a coworking space.
While coworking spaces rely entirely on flexibility and you can react quite easily to fluctuations there, renting spontaneously and possibly cancelling at short notice in a business center is much more cumbersome. Modern online booking, which is becoming more and more a matter of course in coworking, has not yet made its way into most business centers.
Almost no transparency
The lack of flexibility also means less transparency. On this point, there are generally worlds between traditional office service providers and coworking spaces. While coworking prices are usually quickly accessible and therefore easy to calculate, the costs of office space in the business center are usually kept deliberately in the dark.
While it is often enough to simply show up at the reception desk of the coworking space, in business centers it is often necessary to negotiate with the sales staff beforehand, with whom freelancers and founders can agree on the final conditions of the office space.
Flair also makes a difference: Business centers or coworking spaces
It’s also important to know that business centers and coworking spaces also differ greatly in terms of work atmosphere. Open spaces with lots of user interaction and mutual inspiration are ultimately more likely to be found in coworking spaces.
“Classic” office corridors and closed individual offices still dominate in business centers, where workers tend to isolate themselves. Here, exchange and communication are prevented rather than encouraged by the construction.
More exciting customers and more creative people
Of course, this also means that coworking spaces attract a different clientele. Creative people and lateral thinkers are more likely to find their way here, while more conventional business ideas are pursued in business centers.
Besides, when doing a quick search online, one can quickly get lost. Anyone searching for the term “coworking” will usually find business center providers who have appropriated this popular term. The reality on site then has little to do with a coworking space.
So, if you’re looking for inspiration for yourself and your own projects, you’ll probably be happy in a real coworking space in the future. Business centers, on the other hand, try to score points with a good location, a representative address, and additional paid services.
