2012 holds new things for CO-WORKA 11/02/2012
Our coworking space at Dee Why has been replaced by another unique idea. Our new site is coming soon. Building connections between so many local business owners has been a fantastic starting point....so watch this (coworking) space. 
Add Comment 5 Cool Business Ideas 24/08/2011
There are some amazing business ideas out there....here are a few of my recent favourites.  EVERTALE - www.evertale.com The self-writing scrapbook of your life. What if there was a way to keep all your memories alive..... Re-visit every place you've ever been to... Re-live the good times you share with your friends... Reminisce with the songs that define you experiences... Savour your pictures shown in the very place you took them. Imaging a service that automatically creates this for you. They are launching soon on Android.  BID AND BORROW - www.bidandborrow.com The new, seriously affordable way to acquire, through hire, the things and services you need. Bid & Borrow enables users to share the things they own through lending and borrowing. Rather than splash the cash at every opportunity, Bid & Borrow's elementary philosophy is don't acquire, hire. Whether it's a sofa, skis, ballgown, pram, lawnmover or flute, someone out there's sure to have something suitable to lend. Similarly, it could be time or talents for hire like dog walking, tuition or decorating. The site brings together those with ‘stuff’ to lend, called lenders with those who wish to borrow, called borrowers. Join the sharing revolution.  KICKSTARTER - www.kickstarter.com Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields. A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.  WE ARE WHAT WE DO - www.wearewhatwedo.org Action tracker on the good deeds you can do each day. There are loads of small, good things we can do everyday.We Are What We Do create stuff that makes them more doable. They list 131 different little tasks you can do to make the world a better place.  HISTORY PIN - www.historypin.com A website where people everywhere could share their old photos and the stories behind them, pinning them to a map of the world. Historypin is a way for millions of people to come together, from across different generations, cultures and places, to share small glimpses of the past and to build up the huge story of human history. It's a great way of getting people talking about how their street used to look, what their grandparents were like and what's changed (or not) over time. You can also compare these old photos with how the world looks today, making the site a bit like a digital time machine. Top 5 Coworking Spaces 27/06/2011
Coworking has been brewing around the world for a while, and as you can see by this map, shared workspaces are springing up everywhere. We pick our TOP 5 spaces below!     WEWORK 4 LOCATIONS, NEW YORK / SAN FRANCISCO Beautiful, functional, flexible, month-to-month boutique office space starting at just USD$275/mo With a focus on sustainability and community, WeWork is building a network where people come together to create something greater than themselves. Members enjoy the privacy of boutique offices but are amidst a creatively charged and highly productive environment. CHECK THEM OUT: http://wework.com/    THIRD DOOR LONDON Flexible Coworking Space with Onsite Nursery The flexible coworking office space at Third Door is welcoming and stimulating, designed to encourage networking and productive work without the distractions of the home environment. It combines professional coworking office space and meeting rooms above a fully equipped nursery on the ground floor. The Ofsted registered flexible and secure nursery follows the EYFS curriculum and is for children aged 0-8 years. It’s all available under one roof on a flexible basis and is ideal for anyone looking for childcare, a coworking workhub, meeting rooms or all three combined. CHECK THEM OUT: http://www.third-door.com    CLUB OFFICE GERMANY Working in a ClubOffice means meeting interesting people, benefiting from synergies, and getting offers directly and on a regular basis. ClubOffice is a thing to do, rather than a place to go. ClubOffice offers everyday access to offices equipped with an infrastructure that is usually offered by large enterprises to their employees. You can determine the terms of contract: rent your workspace for a day, a month, a year, and longer. The access to the user community is most important. You can exchange know-how and benefit from one another’s experiences. CHECK THEM OUT: http://www.club-office.com/en    LOFT ARGENTINA Loft Coworking is the first and only shared work space in Mar del Plata, the surfing capital of Argentina! They offer temporary rental of offices, individual writing-desks, shared areas of work with reception and kitchen areas. Coworkers include: entrepreneurs, freelancers, programmers, photographers, creative, architects, designers and journalists. CHECK THEM OUT: http://www.loftcoworking.com.ar/    NEW WORK UNIT SHANGHAI Translated as "New Work Unit", Xindanwei is not only about providing a working space, but is also working to create a dynamic creative community through a range of open events and inter-disciplinary collaborations. As they like to share, Xindanwei offers not only a workspace, but also a built-in network of creative professionals and entrepreneurs working in design, writing, architecture, visual arts, and more. Encompassing over 280 square meters, there are various workstations, two fully stocked conference rooms, the usual tech supports and the staple coffee station. But where membership here stands apart is in the opportunities, exhibitions and salons that you get access to, the support you receive in your creative endeavors, an open house program to support those endeavors, and an environment that it's founders like to describe as "an incubator of knowledge sharing and innovation". CHECK THEM OUT: http://xindanwei.com/ GOOD ARTICLE: http://www.creativehunt.com/shanghai/articles/xindanwei Why do we use a shared workspace? 10/03/2011
 WE ASKED SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS...HERE IS WHAT THEY SAID "While on medical leave for 3 months, I needed a space to work on some personal projects. It has helped my productivity levels and allowed me to meet new people." "I found CO-WORKA after 2 years working at home got too much for me. CO-WORKA allows me to socialize with other business-minded people in a face to face environment. It also allows us to leverage each others skill sets, which is great. It is local to where I live which is another great benefit." "I use it for the interaction with other sole business owners as it can get lonely working on your own at home. The CO-WORKA office is bright, it’s in a great location and the flexibility is fantastic, they make it work for you! I also work more productively and don’t get distracted as much as I do in the house!" "After working from home for a couple of years I missed the interaction, socialising and general banter you get in an office. I started the search for office space but wanted something different to the typical "dull" serviced office arrangement. I stumbled across CO-WORKA and it's exactly what I was looking for - a shared space filled with like minded people growing and managing their own businesses." "For me CO-WORKA is a great and inspiring place to work - both from a location and people point of view. The decision to move out from my home based studio and to rent a desk at CO-WORKA has improved my business performance and it helped me to separate business from my private life." "I use CO-WORKA at Dee Why because I found working from home to be far too isolated. I missed the daily interaction with other people. CO-WORKA has given me a place to go to "work" each day, it has helped create more balance in my work/life mix. It has given me an immediate support network during the stressful times of running a small business as well as friends to help celebrate the wins!" 5 Tips for using a Virtual Office Address 07/02/2011
 With more and more people starting home-based businesses in Sydney, virtual office addresses are gaining in popularity. Let's see why..... 1. Using your home address as your business address mixes your personal and business lives together. Keeping them separate can help you distinguish better between your home life and work life. 2. Business addresses are now published in many different places online, (Official business directories, Google Places, Google Maps or Yahoo) making it easy for customers to check up on you. The day a curious customer shows up at your front door, you may regret using your home address. 3. Your business address is part of your business identity, so if you do work from home, you may not want your customers to be aware of this. A virtual office address in Sydney enables you to present a professional and perhaps exclusive address to your customers, while still enjoying all the benefits that come with a home office. 4. You may be able to claim your home office and other home-related expenses as tax deductions even if your business address is different from your home address. Moreover, expenses incurred in creating and developing your business address, whether virtual or physical, may be deducted as legitimate business expenses. See: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1 on the ATO website. 5. If you sometimes need to meet clients in person, you can book a meeting room at the same address as your virtual one. Using a virtual office address in Sydney is not only a brilliant solution, it's also a very affordable solution. At CO-WORKA we offer virtual office addresses from as little as $59.95 a month. Get in touch if you'd like to chat more about how we can help your business. Businesses grow in a shared office 18/01/2011
Safe to say all humans are have a natural talent for something. A skill they really excel in which comes easy to them. But one of the things I have learnt running my own business, is spending time working on the areas of the business which are outside of your natural talent can lead to a MAJOR slow down in your productivity. Repeatedly attempting these tasks on a weekly basis, (whether it is tearing your hair out attempting to write a blog post or trying balancing the books without a calculator) can slow YOUR businesses growth. Not to mention doing your head in enough to make you wonder if you were ever cut out to start your own business in the first place.  This is where co-working can come to the rescue. By leveraging a community of business owners with similar issues, these inefficiencies can be minimized through collaboration. Spending the day coworking can be all you need to access the exact knowledge you were looking for. Let us show you an example: Example One: You need to get your website higher up the Google rankings to get more customers? – Ask Daniel, a SEO expert, he works from CO-WORKA. Example Two: You need a great logo designing or branding advice? – Ask Johanna a Graphic Designer, she works from CO-WORKA. Example Three: You need to improve your website's functionality? – Ask Nick a Website Designer and Programmer, he works from CO-WORKA Example Four: You need help to write a press release, blog post, website content, or marketing blurb that captures what you do and captures your audience at the same time? - Ask Simon a Copywriter, he works from CO-WORKA Need to chat about your kids, the weather, what you did this weekend - we’ve got that covered too. See our Memberships for our shared office space in Dee Why ...  App for Co-working! 20/12/2010
 Find a coworking space via your iphone. A collaborative project between four coworkers at pariSoma, a Co-working space in San Francisco, to build a coworking App is just about to be submitted to iTunes Store for approval. The app is designed to: • Be a mobile database of all coworking spaces worldwide • Allow people to find coworking spaces in their city or in cities they visit • Help coworking spaces find new members The app will be submitted very shortly, within the next two weeks. Great for when you are travelling and want to take advantage of a coworking visa. Top 10 Reasons to Share Office Space 09/12/2010
 SOCIAL INTERACTION Humans need to interact, be part of a community & connect with other individuals. Working from home in isolation can have it's benefits, however it can lead to procrastination, lack of motivation and loss of momentum in your business. Working in close proximity with other similar businesses to yourself can give you the working community you seek with no annoying office politics.  FLEXIBILITY If you work at strange hours, have a deadline or just want some space to work on the weekend, using a co-working space is a great option. CO-WORKA offer books of Day Passes. You can use them as full days or half days. So only use the space when your workload dictates. What's more we are open 24hrs for some members.  AFFORDABLE When you need to break out of the constraints of home but don't want the expense of a lengthy office lease. Co-working is an affordable alternative.  PRODUCTIVE Productivity levels soar when using a co-working space. Our customers have told us this many times. It seems spending quality time on their business in a dedicated 'place' leads to better concentration and gets things done in a shorter timeframe! Now that can't be bad for business!  REGAIN YOUR HOME AGAIN The spare room, home office or kitchen table can become all yours again. No longer covered in important paperwork and spreadsheets getting lost among the household junk. Separating your home and work spaces can be one of the most wonderfully liberating experiences.  MORE LEADS & CLIENTS Many of our customers have been been swapping resources and generating leads for each other. Just airing an idea or saying what type of work you provide can lead to your business card being passed out at all the right moments.  CLIENT PERCEPTION Let's face it we are all a brand. And if your brand screams 'I work from my kitchen table' your clients may seek others more established competitors. So having a separate work location will be beneficial for you and your brand image.  SHARING ADVICE AND IDEAS It's amazing, if not a bit breathtaking, how many people help you out when you ask for it. Working alongside people from different industries all willing to mutually impart knowledge and advice is quite lovely. This very valuable and specific knowledge can aide your business growth in areas you need to strengthen. You just would not get this from working alone.  EXPAND YOUR NETWORK Being part co-working community expands your network. Meeting new people, learning about them and what they do, and finding common interests. It builds great friendships.  WORK PARTIES! The solo workers xmas party for one - home alone with a mince pie! Not if you are sharing an office. You will get invited to a plethora of parties and exhibitions, opening nights and launches. A lunchtime surf, sushi runs and coffee breaks. Better buy an extra diary. Global directory of co-working spaces 02/12/2010
Where are you working today? A few new cool websites that show us how MASSIVE co-working is becoming. The sites list all the coolest places to co-work across the world. Now go find your favourite workspot! Check out http://www.desksurfing.net/   Check out http://www.co-loco.com/   The Secret World of Creative Spaces 01/12/2010
         Some shots from THE CUBE in London. | AuthorAlys & Andrew McAuley are ArchivesFebruary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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