the startups.com platform about startups.comCheck out the new Startups.com - A Comprehensive Startup University
Education
Planning
Mentors
Funding
Customers
Assistants
Clarity
Categories
Business
Sales & Marketing
Funding
Product & Design
Technology
Skills & Management
Industries
Other
Business
Career Advice
Branding
Financial Consulting
Customer Engagement
Strategy
Sectors
Getting Started
Human Resources
Business Development
Legal
Other
Sales & Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Public Relations
Branding
Publishing
Inbound Marketing
Email Marketing
Copywriting
Growth Strategy
Search Engine Marketing
Sales & Lead Generation
Advertising
Other
Funding
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter
Venture Capital
Finance
Bootstrapping
Nonprofit
Other
Product & Design
Identity
User Experience
Lean Startup
Product Management
Metrics & Analytics
Other
Technology
WordPress
Software Development
Mobile
Ruby
CRM
Innovation
Cloud
Other
Skills & Management
Productivity
Entrepreneurship
Public Speaking
Leadership
Coaching
Other
Industries
SaaS
E-commerce
Education
Real Estate
Restaurant & Retail
Marketplaces
Nonprofit
Other
Dashboard
Browse Search
Answers
Calls
Inbox
Sign Up Log In

Loading...

Share Answer

Menu
Business Development: How did you get your first bunch of members in a co-working space?
RC
RC
Rebecca Caroe, I know how to find customers for your business answered:

I have been a coworking user for 3 years (not an operator). Local Marketing by Experience is what you need to do. By this I mean get visitors to the space and pitch them when they are there...

My advice is this
1 - offer the space as a meeting venue for Meetups locally. Get people visiting the space through meetups and ask the organiser to allow you to pitch all attendees about the available space and "special rates" for their members.
2 - Research highly networked people you know and ask them to help you publicise on social platforms. Ask them to occupy the space free of charge on the condition that they use your space to host their meetings - so they bring people in.
3 - Offer the space short term for the use of local business incubator (they typically run Lean Canvas startup programs for 8 - 12 weeks). This gets visitors in the space and it looks busy... again, you achieve the objective of getting people in and using the space and used to visiting.
4 - Review your pricing. Find out why visitors choose to go elsewhere and if it's price - adjust accordingly.
5 - Review your offer. Can you offer Co (collaboration) and Working (shared workspace)? Most only offer workspace. My advice is to proactively manage the collaboration part. How can you introduce workers to each other, now can you facilitate them winning new customers in your space, how can you leverage your networks to help them win business... How can you use your platform to help them sell more. If you do this, people will want to use your platform for their business and the condition for that is to pay you to occupy your workspace.... problem solved.

Although all these tactics can work, my view is that the last one gives the most opportunity - but it takes work and is possibly hardest to deliver on quickly.

For more tactical marketing execution guidance, hire me and I'll teach you how to deliver.

Talk to Rebecca Upvote • Share
•••
Share Report

Answer URL

Share Question

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Google+
  • Share by email
About
  • How it Works
  • Success Stories
Experts
  • Become an Expert
  • Find an Expert
Answers
  • Ask a Question
  • Recent Answers
Support
  • Help
  • Terms of Service
Follow

the startups.com platform

Startups Education
Startup Planning
Access Mentors
Secure Funding
Reach Customers
Virtual Assistants

Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.