WHAT IS CO-WORKING ?

“Coworking is where you can hang out slurping on espresso, take an impromptu nap in a hammock, thrash a partner at a game of ping-pong or totally immerse yourself in your own world of work. You can bounce ideas off someone else’s brain; you can learn a new tech skill or find yourself a mentor or an investor that believes in your idea. Coworking is the new way of working, with the freedom to pick where in the world you want to be, when you want to work and who you wish to surround yourself with.”

What is Coworking?
Coworking is not just about the sharing of infrastructure and cost, it is about belonging to a community, accessibility and sustainability. Coworking is the new way of working and sharing. Coworking spaces are designed to provide a productive and collaborative environment for their dynamic inhabitants, and created without corporate constraints on what is perceived to be an “office” environment offering flexible memberships to suit most needs.

Coworking spaces also increase productivity and creativity, just like workshops do. According to statistics, most employees who work in coworking spaces emphasize the importance of spontaneous collaboration, as well as better opportunities for networking and personal growth. Many providers even match new renters with like-minded businesses to encourage mutually beneficial collaboration.

As you can see, coworking spaces offer some features that you cannot get when choosing virtual offices. However, the reason is that these two workplace models are intended for entrepreneurs with different needs. For example, although virtual offices don’t offer you advantages of physical space and networking, they offer such value-added services as virtual reception and virtual employees.

Modern businesses have a variety of available options when it comes to organizing a workplace. Traditional brick-and-mortar offices are often too expensive and may not satisfy the specific needs of entrepreneurs and startups. Coworking spaces allow you to rent physical space with other companies which are similar to yours, while virtual offices are a completely virtual but the most flexible solution. Thus, when choosing between these two, you should make your choice only based on the needs of your business or the specifics of your profession.

Definitions & Differences
A coworking space is physical and there are many configurations of coworking spaces that are rented by entrepreneurs and startups of any kind. Quite often coworking spaces are rented by several renters that work in collaboration. Just like any office space, coworking offices may have conference rooms and individual offices. This model of an office space is very popular among small companies and entrepreneurs. A shared work space is cheaper than traditional offices but includes everything you need.

Virtual offices are completely different from coworking spaces because they exist only virtually. However, when renting a virtual office, you will get a lot of things associated with an actual office, such as a physical address and reception and call answering services among other perks. Virtual offices are a good solution for entrepreneurs who run their business from home but don’t want to use their home address as a business address. It’s also a great option for freelancers or professionals who constantly move.