The economic situation in South Africa has
seen a lot of people venture into the business arena. Most of these start-ups
set up shop with very limited resources and majority of the businesses minimize
expenses by operating from home, coffee shops, libraries or other such places
that eliminate the need to pay rent. This cost-cutting measure comes with its
own obvious challenges.
How does the business owner operating on a
budget overcome this challenge? Co-work space. Not only are these facilities great
at minimizing costs, co-work spaces are also ideal for the business traveller, solopreneurs
looking to network and collaborate with other like-minded people, hosting workshops or seminars …..the list is endless.
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| Co-working is a style of work that involves a sharedworkplace, often an office, and independent activity. Unlike in a typical office, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization. |
In this article we feature Durban’s finest
and trendiest co-work space, The Office, run by Kate Snell. Kate started the
business with her Husband, Quintin, an offshore commercial diver, as an
additional income generator. Quintin’s work takes him away from home 9 months
out of the year so the couple wanted to invest in a business that would allow
him to exit the offshore industry.
After completing a Bcom at UKZN Kate worked
as a key account manager – for a health-care broker and later as a Business Unit
Manager – for a company in the short term insurance industry. In 2008 after the
birth of their daughter Kate left the corporate world and opened the local
branch of the Edubabe franchise – which is a nanny and child-minder placement
and training agency.
The couple moved into their new home at the
end of 2016 only to realize that that part of Glenwood did not have any kind of
decent internet infrastructure. As Kate was already running the Edubabe
business, access to internet and professional interview and training space was
an existing pre-requisite. After trying
to work from local cafes Kate started looking for a place close to home where
she could just visit on an ad-hoc basis, and came across the co-working
concept. Quintin and Kate did some research on spaces locally and abroad and
the rest, as they say, is history.
In January 2017 Kate and Quintin set in motion the process of opening their shared co-work space – The Office, situated at 97 Innes Durban.
The Office, established July 2017, offers a
fully functional co–work space on an ad-hoc and short term basis. The facility
provides start-ups, small business and location independent solopreneurs access
to flexible and cost effective professional work and meet space. Daily, drop-in
access hot desks allow for a productive work atmosphere with none of the drawbacks
of a busy coffee shop. With uncapped wi-fi, printing, and conferencing/trainingfacilities, The Office is definitely the place to get things done.
The co-work space fills the gap between
working from home/coffee shop and renting and kitting out your own premises. Regardless
of what you need to do, a report, tender document, proposal, website design,
quote, meeting, AGM or a workshop the co-work space solves the problem of, “where
should I go and get THIS done today?”
The co-work concept is not new in SA but
still fairly new in Durban and KZN as a whole. As more and more people opt out
of corporate and enter the small to medium,
artisan, creative, tech, digital and consulting enterprise arena – demand grows
for flexible working spaces away from the rent an office for 2-5 yrs model.
People want multi-use, flexibility and access to networks of other like-minded
individuals – all of which are the core modalities of co work space design.
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The corporate environment usually tends to
stifle one’s creativity and idea generation and that is one of the other
factors that made it easy for Kate to leave corporate. In setting up The Office
the idea was to create an environment conducive for creative, consulting and mentorship
orientated individuals – enthusiastic
people with bright ideas to make a positive change in their own circles of
influence. Some of the businesses that use the facility include NPOs, start
ups, social media and content producers, business coaches and their clients. Kate’s vision is to develop The Office into a
value adding business incubator for local entrepreneurs. From her own journey
she sees the immense value of being supported and having access to the right
networks of people with experience in business origination and growth. Just by association you can avoid or at least
anticipate and ride over, so many business pitfalls – that otherwise would
destroy a small business before it even starts. The pricing is affordable and
flexible and catering for different stages of start up business.
Networking is the only way to get the word out when you starting off – so get out there. - Kate snell
When asked about the challenges she faced
from conception of the idea and how you managed to overcame some of the
challenges, this was her response, “Sheeeww…this needs
its own separate blog.. lol. I think the
biggest obstacle was to move from talking about it to actually doing it. Fear
of failure, of loosing money, of just not being able to pull this off paralyzed
us for a long time. Also I was worried of the pressure this would put on my marriage
and my kids. My husband is essentially funding this venture out of his current
job - until it stands on its own feet
and it is indeed very scary to see our savings and otherwise allocated resources
go into an essentially unknown outcome.
This is why top of my list starting this venture was getting a business
coach I could relate to and rely on as well as doing a Mindfulness Based Stress
Management Program both of which proved to be absolute life savers many times ever
since we started this journey in Jan 2017.”
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| The Bubbly And Hospitable Office Team |
The 3 major plans for The Office in 2018
is, growth, growth and more growth! They have listened to their customers and
will be adding dedicated co-work desking on short term basis as well as
switchboard and landline facilities.
They are also looking to partner with a barista who will run a coffee
bar at the premises.
Kate Says.....
I think the right support is essential
because it is tough, scary and often quite lonely. Networking is the only way
to get the word out when you starting off – so get out there. Flexibility to
adjust to your customers requirements and getting the right team on board is
what is really helping us here at the Office to keep moving forward. Every person I meet, I listen to their story
and the problems they are grappling with and I ask myself “how can we help
them?”.
This leads to innovation, strategic alliances, leveraging and extension
of networks, which in turn generates new business.
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