Coworking, Coffee Shops and Entrepreneurs
by Anita Campbell
There’s a strong connection between entrepreneurs and coffee shops. Entrepreneurs — tired of working in isolation — so frequently head to the local coffee shop that it’s become a cliche.
In a coffee shop with other entrepreneurs amid the hustle and bustle of activity, at least they feel connected to the rest of society. For some, it energizes them to have human interaction around them.
Drea at BusinessPundit.com suggests that coworking spaces may displace coffee shops as the workplace of choice for entrepreneurs who are tired of working at home alone, but equally tired of the limitations of the local coffee shop. In Coworking vs. the Coffee Shop: Who Wins? she writes:
Coworking, on the other hand, allows you a range of cafe-like benefits, without the cafe:
-You pay a flat membership fee instead of a daily fee.
-Everyone has a laptop!
-You get the chance to collaborate with your peers.
-The seats are probably more comfortable.
-Cell phone use is more acceptable–it is a workspace.
-The hip factor may not be a factor, although I am not sure about this point.
I think co-working can be a helpful arrangement for some people who work best in an environment with the stimulation of other people around. On the other hand, it might quickly become a negative experience — and distracting.
Here, for instance, is an image of a coworking space from CoworkUtah.
CoworkUtah features a particularly social flavor of coworking — they call it a “social media community workspace.”
To many people this would be an inviting scene. It’s a warm, relaxed, welcoming work arrangement with other humans around. It feels like you could occasionally bounce a question off of someone, or kick around that new idea you have.
But here are the downsides — people who:
- talk loudly on their cell phones right next to you, while you are trying to concentrate
- want to endlessly chit chat with the neighbors around them
- hog up the best chairs and table space, every single day
You catch my drift — there are a dozen ways others can annoy you in a communal shared space. To some degree it depends on how the coworking space is set up and how closely together you are all crammed in.
I can see how coworking might be energizing and attractive to some, especially extroverted types who crave social interaction and feed on the energy of other people around them. Probably a good target market for coworking spaces are entrepreneurs who would otherwise go to a coffee shop, but are looking for an experience superior to the coffee shop experience.
For those like me who cherish quiet concentration, an absence of distractions, and complete control over our physical setting, it is probably not our cup of tea. But, then, I never much liked working in coffee shops, either.
For more about coworking, including resources, read my earlier piece: Coworking Spaces: Cheap and Sociable.
