Proximity brings prosperity

The Action! -group assembled last time in the prestigiously formal surroundings of the Helsinki University but in a pleasantly informal manner. The topic of the day was a practical one: co-ops, a.k.a. osuuskunnat. Veijo Hämäläinen from Tampere Polytechnic University’s entrepreneurship project Proakatemia and Janne Lemmettinen of SYY akatemia took part and shared their vast experience on co-ops. Both men praised the flexibility of co-ops, the relative ease of individuals being able to join and leave co-ops and channel their profits through them. Co-ops seem to be an ideal choice for a group of people wanting to work as entrepreneurs with other people, while still maintaining relative independence and working on their own stuff.

Veijo Hämäläinen from Proakatemia. Picture by Outi Kuittinen

Veijo Hämäläinen from Proakatemia. Picture by Outi Kuittinen

For me, the above described the Action! -group wonderfully. Being a late bloomer in the group, it was my turn to share the amazement of Outi and Mika when it comes to the plethora of ideas, enthusiasm and support people dished out. Not only did people have a variety of plans on how to step into the world of academic entrepreneurship, they were also willing to share them with others, hear critique and give support. This I think is an important aspect of the group. People have a strong desire to work together in order to reach both their common and individual goals. The strong spirit of ‘doing together’ is why a co-op seems to be the way to go for this group, or dare I say community.

When it comes to working together, the booming start-up scenes all over the world have a lesson to give: it’s good to have a wealth of people and start-ups around you. Admittedly, the whacky world of modern technology with file-sharing, collaboration platforms and whatnots does allow many entrepreneurs to work without much human contact. For example the 12-year-old Idea Consulting recently gave up its office space and is now strictly using the Internet to stay in touch with its 53 employees scattered all over the US, UK and Russia. Regardless, many entrepreneurs share the feeling that it’s good to have like-minded people close to you.

Haven of creativity? Picture from http://fallsdesign.blogspot.com/

Haven of creativity? Picture from http://fallsdesign.blogspot.com/

In practice, this is often achieved by shared working spaces. While renting a 12 m² office space with clinically neutral-coloured walls, a desk and a few sockets in an “office park” is nothing new, many start-up locations worldwide take this idea much further. San Francisco -based RocketSpace politely explains the many alternatives start-ups have when it comes to benefitting from proximity. So-called accelerator and incubator programs provide a group of carefully chosen startups not only with spaces to work in, but mentoring, funding and other resources. For example Startup Bootcamp is a prominent accelerator located in multiple European cities.

But massive benefits can be obtained from just coworking facilities. They provide working space in usually open office -environments and conference rooms for meetings. Additionally, social spaces are available for meeting and mingling with the other freelancers and entrepreneurs of the facility. The facility also provides events for its members, such as networking with investors and workshops on advancing their businesses.

There are many benefits to reap from such spaces. First and foremost it is a chance to keep costs at bay while still maintaining an office. If you have 4 meetings with stakeholders per week, you don’t really need your own conference space. But meeting them at the local pub or hanging around your kitchen doesn’t really work either. For example the Brussels branch of the HUB network offers fully equipped conference rooms for rent for their members, and has them even for free for dedicated members. The Cube London even provides gallery space for its members. Another useful aspect is having knowledgeable people for help. Amsterdam’s Seats2Meet demands that members bring their know-how to use for other members. It can be very useful to have next door someone experienced in funding or marketing. Even better, the proximity can bring new business. Workshop-professionals Digitalks get a lot of deals from other firms working at the coworking space Sektor5 in Wien.

Open office, Brussels HUB style. Picture from http://brussels.the-hub.net/

Open office, Brussels HUB style. Picture from http://brussels.the-hub.net/

Being organized as a bigger group of entrepreneurs has its own benefits. This allows the coworking hosts to provide a bunch of firms and freelancers with opportunities that would be hard to organize with individuals. London’s Third Door has arranged a wealth of events for its members. In these events the inhabitants of Third Door have been exposed to stuff everyone can benefit from, ranging from LinkedIn workshops to investor networking sessions.

Lastly, and quite obviously, the proximity brings both creativity and peer support. Starting entrepreneurs are certainly made of two things: multitude of ideas for new business and sporadic strokes of doubting their whole existence. Due to this it’s good to have access to a common space where you can go for a cup of coffee and a vent with someone sharing similar experiences. Realizing this, Werkheim in Hamburg has arranged sessions where its members can just rant and share views on different topics, from online marketing to customer behaviour.

Be it making big business or sharing that triple-choco-muffin with a stressed co-entrepreneur, the power is in the people.

Getting some much-needed peer support at Werkheim. Picture from http://www.werkheim-hamburg.de/

Getting some much-needed peer support at Werkheim. Picture from http://www.werkheim-hamburg.de/

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