In these times of crisis, many people are deciding to start their own business... but they are faced with high office rental prices or the loneliness of working from home. Coworking spaces are an anti-crisis work phenomenon that innovatively solves this problem and is beginning to be present throughout Spain. Coworking allows professionals from different companies to share the same work space.
What characterizes coworking spaces is the flexibility of hours , the availability of space , and the end of the isolation characteristic of self-employed people and entrepreneurs. Now they all have the opportunity to rub shoulders with people who are in the same phase as them, sharing the same work space.
TICbeat has spoken to the managers of some germany business fax list of the coworking spaces in Spain to find out what makes these places attractive, what kind of people use them and what they understand by the coworking phenomenon and its future in Spain.
Utopicus in Madrid
Rafa de Ramón , head of communications at Utopicus , talks to us about his creative coworking offer in Madrid, which he describes as a “hybrid space” that combines a laboratory, training centre, studio, living room and kitchen.
“Finding spaces where you can concentrate and at the same time interact with other people from different disciplines not only enriches your work, your vision, but also your contacts,” says De Ramón. “It’s nice to work at home, but one day a week. The rest of the time you have to take off your pyjamas, get dressed up and go out to work in places that inspire collaboration, smiles and good vibes,” he adds.
De Ramón predicts that this type of space will increase . “But it can disappear at any time, obviously coworking is not a business, and whoever gets into it for that reason is going to lose a lot of money. That’s why the risk is always present and real.”
Creative Plot in Barcelona
Sara Bernuy is a photographer and co-founder of Parcela Creativa in Barcelona, a unique coworking space: it has a family and team atmosphere that brings together people who would normally work in isolation and work as a team with people who have been in their space since it opened its doors.
“For Parcela Creativa’s philosophy, the key word is sharing ,” says Bernuy. “We believe that the best ideas come from interacting with professionals in the field. When you work from home, the space is exclusively yours, for better or worse, you don’t share anything with anyone and you don’t interact with anything other than your point of view,” she adds. For her, coworking spaces are places to interact and share professional experiences in order to grow projects and work visions.
Bernuy sees the coworking trend as something that is on the rise thanks to the crisis and the lack of resources that bring back the fundamental idea that unity is strength.
“In the case of Parcela Creativa, our profile is creatives and people who work in the communications sector. In short, self-employed workers and small businesses with 3 to 5 employees ,” he says.
SCQ Coworking in Santiago de Compostela
Pablo Solar , the manager of SCQ Coworking, talks to us about his space in the new area of Santiago de Compostela. Solar sees the future in online businesses: “You can see it in the number of coworkers who work in one way or another to get an online store off the ground ,” he says. He shares the belief that coworking is a growing trend in Spain, especially in large cities.
Coworking spaces are a good option for startups and freelancers according to Solar: “They can have a whole professional and dynamic environment in which to work and be able to meet with clients and investors,” he says.