Posts
The Positive Growth of Startups and Flexible Workspaces
There’s an estimated 300 million people trying to start about 150 million businesses and about one third of them will be launched – resulting to about 50 million new firm births per year.
In the recent years, the economy witnessed an upsurge on startup companies. According to the 2015 Kauffman Foundation Index on Startup Activity, the number of startups ascended during the year 2014 after going through a downward cycle from the year 2010. In addition to this, the rebound startups represent strength in the economy and could generate hope for further economic growth.
From the same report of Kauffman Foundation Index, 84% of new entrepreneurs started their companies because of opportunities they spotted while up to 10% of it was because they couldn’t find employment – more so because they found a necessity.
Recent surveys have found that last year have been a kind year for diversity. Rising from 220 per 100,000 to 260, the number of women who opened startups reach its highest rate in almost 20 years. The minorities and immigrants gained as well.
As for sales, small companies have experienced a 7 percent boost in their revenue within the year 2015 with an overall of 45% increase over the past six years according to the financial analysis firm Sageworks.
Startups and Flexible Workspaces
Accompanying the upsurge of startups is a demand for workspaces that would fit the needs of a budding company. With limited time and resources, startups need all the help that they can get.
There are angel investors, companies who act as patrons that invest in startup companies for the exchange of equity ownership. Startup Accelerators providing education, mentorship and financing as support to them. Incubators on the other hand provide workspaces, funding, mentoring and training. As well as Business Process Outsourcing companies or BPOs that provide resources and manpower.
Another kind of firm that helps them thrive are flexible workspaces.
The demand for affordable yet competitive office space for small businesses and enterprises created a market for a flexible system that would benefit all industries. Providers of seat leasing services, private offices, and virtual office plans relieve them of the financial burden that comes with traditional office spaces.
One of the most established office solutions in the industry, Seat Leasing provides its clients with premier office space and more flexible terms. A startup can easily bootstrap its first office with sites ready for plug and play.
Inclusive of the latest equipment and facilities needed for operations to run smoothly, seat leasing have become one of the go-to options of young entrepreneurs in choosing their company’s first ever office. Moreover, it saves money and time, both of which are detrimental to the success of a company building its name.
The latest addition to the different kinds of flexible workspaces, Coworking Spaces’ rise to fame can be traced to the numerous benefits it gives not only to the business itself but as well as the positive impact it has on employees.
Creating a platform for innovation and collaboration, Coworking Spaces is a shared workplace that caters to this generation’s freelancers, startup teams and young professionals. It offers private and shared desks as well as business lounges — giving its members the freedom to choose the office environment that they need.
Several studies and surveys have confirmed the claims of an increase in productivity and overall happiness reported by coworkers. In addition to this, the community fostered within these communal areas and the opportunity of expanding network is what attracts startups to opt for the membership based office space. In addition to this, members get more control in their working hours – allowing them to have a better work and life balance.
Today’s technology gave our workforce more opportunities to do what they love. Accompanied by the tried-and-tested helping hands of the industry as well as the new ones, startups can face the coming economic challenges with confidence.
The increase of startups have inspired people to rid themselves of the job they had to get in order to survive and create a job that they actually want. Though it’s never rosy, we’re here to help.
What Makes Coworking Spaces Work?
The upsurge of remote working, startups and digital nomads opened a market space for affordable office space with short term leases. Hence, the rise of flexible office solutions like seat leasing and coworking spaces came as no surprise.
Seat leasing solutions itself have been around for a while now and continues on helping startups have their first office and large corporations open up a brand new site. All the while, the boom of coworking spaces have been observed recently.
According to the latest survey, there is an estimated 13,800 active spaces worldwide. An additional 2,500 will be added and by the end of the year, more than a million people will have worked in one.
Its rise to stardom wasn’t only because of the demands for short term office spaces. Coworking spaces brought benefits to the table that were simply just too good to resist for freelancers and young professionals – stable internet connection, creative private and shared desks as well as conference rooms and free coffee.
As more and more communal areas open up around the world, it makes choosing the right space harder. In the sea of aesthetically pleasing spaces, here are a few things to remember in finding the perfect workspace.
What you need and what you have
“Want is different from Need”
Before making any decision, evaluate the current resources that you have and what you will be needing. How many are you in the team? Will you be needing a general seat membership or just dedicated desks? It’s also important to know how long your team will be renting the space. Make sure to check the terms and contracts of your initial choices.
Moreover, assess how coworking spaces can help you and your business. How will it help you reach your goals? Make sure that you don’t confuse your needs from your wants.
Take note of what you need to prioritize and use it choose potential spaces. Evaluate each one and pick what fits most closely with to both your needs and wants.
Finding the ideal locations and spaces
Location is a principal factor to consider when searching for the right workspace. Will it be easily accessible to everyone? From your team to your clients. Make sure that the commute will be pleasant – or at the very least, decent – for those visiting the office.
Create a list of ideal locations you’d like to have and find coworking spaces within the said area. Check out spaces located within central cities like Mandaluyong, Makati and Ortigas which have easy access points to different modes of transportation.
Compatibility
For things to work well, you have to be compatible.
High-end facilities, aesthetically pleasing interior and great ambiance; those will all be for nothing if you and your team feel out of place amongst the sea of busy bees.
With community and network as one of its greatest strength, it is important that the culture of your startup is compatible with the present community in your chosen space. Different surveys have that work relationships and culture on a professionals overall quality of life.
Search for coworking spaces that fit the culture of your startup perfectly. Visit the facility yourself and ask around members to get a better idea on how things run within the community and see if it fits you.
Look forward
Picture your business 5 months later, will coworking still be enough for your needs?
It’s important to understand that what matters most today, might not matter tomorrow. Consider what you’ll be needing 2-3 months later and ensure flexible terms within the contract. Imagine how exasperating it could be to be stuck in a space that is too small for your team. Assess your future plans and integrate it with your current needs today.
Finding the perfect place to serve as home for your business can be perplexing – every minutiae of your needs must be regarded in all the decisions you have to make. But these desks and meeting rooms will bear witness to the success you are about to make.
Come and see what makes coworking spaces, actually work.
Burnout: Setting The Workforce Ablaze
As kids, we were told that the secret to success is hard work. Though true, what the grown-ups meant by hard work is grinding through long hours and late nights. Powering through fatigue, thinking that all of this labor will be worth it – it’s effective, tycoons from the past can attest to it.
But behind the success stories of businessmen working their way up towards success, is the ugly truth – the drawback laborers of the early years dismissed; burnout.
The “Burnout Epidemic”
Employee burnout is not much of a selcouth occurrence in the industry. It’s nothing new to most companies yet in the recent years, it posed as a big threat to the labor force worldwide.
Records of profit and growth in companies, projected economy growth of almost 50% and unemployment rate decreasing – all mask the truth that more and more individuals are working harder than before for a minimum wage.
A recent study conducted by Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace, said that 95 percent of human resource leaders reported their workforces being sabotaged by employee burnout. To make things worse, the said number came from more than 600 Chief Human Resource Officers and HR managers from organizations of all sizes.
In addition to this, the psychological and physical issues burnout brings costs an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year of healthcare spending.
What set the world on fire
What caused the sudden spread of burnout are pretty obvious. Productivity of employees skyrocketed between 2000 and 2014 yet wages and benefits remained the same. According to the Economic Policy Institute, productivity increased by 21.6 percent, but wages only grew by 1.8 percent during the said time period.
The unfair compensation is also paired with unreasonable workload to boast. More priorities are given and executives expect their employees to multitask with their phones and laptops. The most capable ones in the workforce are the usual victims of overloaded workload.
Organizational control also has a fair share of fault with the increase experts have observed. Human Resource Leaders from the study of Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace have said that poor management, the employee’s inability to see a clear connection between their individual role and corporate strategy as well as negative workplace culture fuels burnouts.
The aforementioned ailments accompanied by outside factors like long commutes and stress in daily life contribute to the overall chances of an individual to be burnt out.
Taking a break
Hard work is and remains to be a critical part in achieving success but sometimes you’re exerting so much effort yet it does so little – damaging what’s left of your mental being.
Giving yourself a proper break – one where you don’t constantly check your phone for emails and whatnot – is important. Overworking your brain is actually futile to your productivity. A 2011 study said that our brains take in about 174 newspapers’ worth of information in a normal day. It’s no surprise that our brains get overwhelmed since its capacity to process is only limited.
Science suggests that taming multitasking is therapeutic. It gives the brain the chance to breathe and restore itself after working so hard. Several studies have said that taking naps (even 10 minutes naps) improve cognitive function, vigor and even decreases fatigues.
Finding the balance
The world expects a lot from an adult; build careers and futures without forgetting about personal relationships and happiness. They hoped for a balance between those four things yet made it so hard to achieve. It gets paralyzing at one point and we find ourselves hoping and praying for a few minutes for ourselves.
Luckily, some of us got sick of the work culture the older generation left us with and created an innovation that creates the balance all of us have been looking for.
Offering freedom to isolate and collaborate, “Coworking Spaces” is a kind of flexible workspace that prioritizes productivity and creative freedom. Open for freelancers, professionals and entrepreneurs of all industries, coworking spaces offers business lounges, private desks, meeting rooms and conference rooms. It allows its members to choose between working alone or collaborating with other members – giving them more control on their productivity
Grown-ups always told us that adulthood is easy but not one of them said it would be this hard and arduous. From one adult to another, we’re here to help you extinguish the ember that can kickoff burnout.
Socialize and Celebrate to make the most out of Coworking Spaces
The rise and success of coworking spaces wasn’t groundless. It wasn’t unprecedented. If not, it seemed inevitable.
Since its inception, it had brought so much to the industry, from aesthetically pleasing workspaces to communities that foster passion, creativity and collaboration – something that most office space solutions don’t really have. Not to mention the numerous benefits it claims to offer to both enterprise and workers.
At the same time, its claims aren’t just empty promises. There are statistics, surveys and studies to prove that its advantages are very real. Still, how effective coworking spaces are to you and your enterprise depends on how you utilize it.
Here are some things that you can do to make the most out of coworking spaces:
Put yourself out there
Coworking Spaces take pride in the community it fosters within its communal areas. And a community of a hundred people starts with an introduction.
While walking up to a stranger and striking up a conversation can be difficult to some of us, it’s the very first contribution you can make as a new member of the community. You can try introducing yourself to those situated near you without interrupting them.
Don’t shy away from your coworkers, tell them about yourself and what you do. You never know what partnerships and business opportunities are hiding behind small talks
Join ’em
Don’t bore yourself out by sitting all by yourself in your desk. Allot time to be spent on community spaces and join them.
These areas generally emit a contagious energy from individuals chatting and laughing – all the good stuff social beings like us need. Not to mention that some of the best interactions and most significant connections unexpectedly take place in the lobby, the couches and even in the kitchen.
Socialize and Celebrate
Coworking spaces would usually hold series of events which allow its diverse members to learn from one another. From presentations, workshops, networking events and even happy hours, all of these activities are conceptualized as an avenue for co-workers to freely socialize and celebrate at the same time.
Take advantage of the said gatherings so that you can get an overall feel of your culture. Bask in the energy and socialize with more members of the community. In addition to this, you can decompress and talk within your peers.
These events serve as platform for the supportive and collaborative feeling of the space.
Try the work areas
Normally, there would be more than one kind of work area available in your space. So instead of gluing yourself to one desk for six months, try the different areas your coworking space offers. Try something new every day and change up where you sit. Move around a bit until you find your favorite place. Moreover, this allows you to get to know your space, giving you a sense of belonging instead of feeling alienated by unfamiliar space
Collaborate
As you get more familiar with the community and culture of your space, collaborations and partnerships can be foreseen.
Having such a diverse talent pool, there is a never ending flow of creativity within the room. You can develop ideas and projects with designers, developers, writers and so much more. These passionate and talented individuals can inspire you create and produce better output. Moreover, members can generously offer help with almost anything you need.
Endless opportunities can be found if we make the most out of everything. So why not open your door to so much possibilities with us!
Ditching The Office Desk: Location Independence and Coworking
In the recent years, the industry have seen numerous changes in the work culture. Labor force slowly getting dominated by the Millennials, traditional 9-to-5 shift slowly diminishing and even office spaces themselves are changing. Economic developments and other social change caused businesses to adapt to new demands and challenges arising. This, then of course, opened new opportunities and market
Since the rise of flexible working we’ve seen the numbers of freelancers increase. Communities of Digital Nomads – freelancers who literally bring their work with them as they travel the world – have formed and continues to have steady growth. Some experts even say that they are no longer just a passing trend.
Location Independence
Though it first started sporadically, there’s a concrete justification why more and more members of the workforce are turning away from the traditional work culture.
Location Independence is the term often used to define the freedom and mobility the lifestyle gives. Selcouth as it sounds, “Location Independence” allows you to have the freedom to live life on your own terms and the ability to work wherever you want to.
It implies not being tied to a single geographic location for certain reasons, meaning that a person’s job would not require them to be physically present in the office and allows individuals to travel whenever, wherever they want and for how long they want. Location Independence empowers them to control their life with their own hands. It allows them to take full responsibility of their own future and ultimate happiness. Though the path it leads can differ from one person or another, it offers everyone the same thing; freedom. The freedom to pursue what your heart desires and the freedom to create the life you’ve been dreaming of.
No Limits, Going Mobile
Remote working have been existing for a while now but only in the recent years did the industry consider this arrangement. With a rising demand on a better work-life balance, employers and employees took a few step backs and studied how mobility can improve today’s work culture.
Last year, 53% of India’s workforce have said that they prefer working from home. In the same year, 38% of workers from the United States say that they work from home at least once a week. Surveys say that remote work increases worker productivity and employee efficiency. Other studies have also mentioned several advantages of remote working; lowers stress and boosts morale, reduces employee turnover and often leads to greater employee engagement. In a recent report by World Economic Forum, work flexibility is tagged as one of the biggest drivers of transformation in the workplace which caused several companies to report significant decrease in real estate costs.
The decrease of operation costs can be traced to the emergence of numerous flexible workspaces, one of them being; coworking spaces. This emerging trend involves a shared working environment. Unlike typical offices, members of coworking spaces come from different organizations and industries.
Coworking Spaces provides its members with reliable internet, work environment, coworkers to interact with and other local benefits. Numerous workspaces can now be found around the world making it easier for location independent workers to travel without worrying about strong internet connections, desks and other office services.
Being location independent sounds like a dream come true but it takes more than just packing your bags and your laptop with you. People might sugarcoat it with aesthetically pleasing photos in Instagram but the truth is, location independence is hard work. Living in a foreign country sure is fun but it can be hard, just imagine simultaneously working and travelling from one country to another. Yet it allows you to access more life lessons than your office desk can ever offer.
Sounds like the life you’ve always wanted? Let us know if you want to give location independence a try and we might just save you a seat in the office.
Creativity, Productivity and Office Designs
Albert Einstein once said that “creativity is contagious”, pass it on.
Contrary to popular belief, creativity doesn’t really come from one sole place. It usually comes from a piece of artwork or simply, anything – that inspires one person to create another masterpiece.
Though not everyone has innate artistic abilities, anyone can be inspired by anything. If not, creativity itself, can be found in the most unusual nooks and crannies around us. It’s a contagious virus that can be passed from one person to another. The idea that creativity comes from quite literally tens of thousands of ideas is something that most offices want to tap into. Executives aim to create an environment for their employees and themselves as well that cultivates creativity and productivity.
According to a survey conducted among 500 members of the public, nearly half of the respondents have said that having different spaces for both work and de-stressing would be a great step toward improving their creativity and productivity. Office design and interior have been said to have a significant effect in an employee’s productivity, creativity and overall performance. Moreover, a large number of today’s workforce are demanding for more agile workspaces and expect more variety in their respective workplaces instead of being cramped to a desk and chair.
But how can you inspire people with a room full of plain desks and computers?
Redesigning
Investing in an office environment that would maximize the talent of a workforce would give great results in the long run. Though it would seem costly, it’s definitely something to think about. And though redecorating a whole office space can be tedious, change can start small.
Start by having a designated space wherein your employees can get some rest and relax. These said spaces can come in different spaces or sizes. According to the same survey by the Dale Office Interiors Survey, one out of five office workers agree that having a space solely for relaxation at work increases productivity. These rooms can also help relieve neck or back tension and weariness of the eyes from staring at a computer screen.
In addition to this, you can also add a quiet space for private work. Though some employees’ can handle distractions better than others, some need a secluded place to focus. Over 17 of the respondents of the said survey reported that quiet spaces would improve their productivity that is often disrupted. Should a worker need to focus, they have a place to go.
Office Designs That Work
With the demand of workplaces offering more variety in terms of office designs and atmosphere, a new kind of flexible workspaces sprung and became the latest trend in the industry.
Giving the employees diversification in workplace and office set-up, Coworking Spaces give home to creativity and productivity with open plan spaces, shared desks, private offices and creative meeting rooms. Moreover, these communal spaces foster collaborative communities among its members.
Recent studies and surveys have revealed that more and more freelancers and even teams from companies are moving into coworking spaces due to the positive impact it has on creativity, productivity and overall happiness of its members.
No matter what the context maybe, the overall environment a person is in contributes highly to its physical, mental and even emotional state. Hence, it’s not much of a surprise that businesses are doing everything they can to create a workspace that allows room for creativity and innovation.
The Gray Area, a Path Leading to the Goldilocks Zone
Work, for most of us, is simply black or white – no in-betweens. You either work hard or not at all. We either hustle hard, overdo things and end up burning out ourselves or do so little, we start to be bored and feel underutilized. Either way, both are just as toxic to an individual’s productivity.
The same goes for success – stay diligent and prosper or slack off and fail. The industry, including the rest of the world, requires you to pick between the two – in the same way that they make professionals choose between career and personal life.
And though what is too much and too little is subjective, reaching a middle ground is detrimental in maximizing an individual’s productivity and happiness in work. For a person to be truly happy with what they are doing, they need to find the gray area that allows them to have a career and a life.
The Goldilocks Zone
Originating from Astronomy and Astrobiology, the term “Goldilocks Zone” is used to define the zone around a star that has a temperature that is just right for liquid water to exist. It is neither too hot nor too cold.
The Goldilocks Zone, of course, varies from one person to another yet at the same time, it is identical with one another in a sense that it allows an individual to make enough progress that their efforts are paying off and at the same time, they stay satisfied with the work they are making. Reaching this zone is not only critical to the well-being of an individual as a professional, but is also important to the companies they work for. And though admittedly, finding this zone is not simple, there are certain ideas you can take note of to make things a little easier.
The Perfect Fit
The key in unlocking the “Goldilocks Zone” is the satisfying feeling of doing profitable and meaningful work while still having enough time and energy for other aspects of your life.
A good stepping stone in finding it is by creating a clear plan on what should be done. Afterwards, draft a schedule that would maximize your productivity for the day and making sure that you get through it. Creating a plan and making sure to execute it aptly wins you a sense of accomplishment and extra free time you can spend in anything and anyway you want.
Another factor that can help in finding this zone is having a hobby. There’s joy found in doing something that exists by itself and doesn’t entail any sort of stake with it.
Having a hobby that gives no reward other else than the activity itself, gives you something to look forward to during your time out. Avoiding overwork is hard when you’ve got nothing else to do, but when you know you can play Frisbee after work, it makes it easier to stop.
The demand for a better balance between career and personal life materialized the Goldilocks Zone into life.
Coworking Spaces is the latest trend taking over the industry. According to the DeskMag, these workspaces are the result of the search for strategies on dealing with the new types of flexible working. They are workplaces with flexible structures made for and by those who work where, when and how they want it.
It allows its members the freedom to choose from various work stations from open plan lounges to private offices and gives them plenty of extra time they can spend with family and friends. Coworking spaces is the Goldilocks Zone in physical form. And though it may not be the same with other people, it gives you the freedom to go and find your own personalized Goldilocks Zone.
Work is never black and white. There’s always a chance of finding that gray area between your career and personal life. And if you’re having trouble finding it, let us know.
Reasons Why You Should Choose The Philippines
Well known for its great white sand beaches, clear blue oceans and warm hospitality – Philippines have become one of the greatest tourist destinations in Asia. But in the recent years, the country has proven itself to be so much more than the perfect vacation getaway.
In the year 2015, Philippines took over Mumbai’s position as the 2nd top ranking BPO destination in the world.
With a workforce composed of highly literate young individuals and competitive labor rates, numerous countries around the world favor the Philippines as a good destination for offshoring – one of them being, Australia.
Most Australian firms prefer the geographical time zone the country has. Cities of Perth and Western Australia have the same time zone while there is only a two hour difference to the Australian Eastern Standard Time.
The country has a large number of well-educated workforce with over 600,000 tertiary graduates. Universities and schools encourage development by providing skills that companies need, like speaking the English language fluently which caters specifically to the requirements of the BPO Industry.
And with over 100 million citizens, majority of which are young professionals, the country produces over 450,000 college graduates every year. This continuously contributes to the country’s growing talent pool. Recent studies have said that over a million of Filipinos have worked in the BPO industry and the numbers are increasing exponentially.
Another factor that led the Philippines to become one of the top BPO destinations is its lower cost. From labor rates down to office space leasing, companies save a lot due to low cost of living. The affordable pricing of course is inclusive of great services and facilities.
The economic growth brought by the BPO industry also attracts firms to the country. Experts reported a prominent increase in the revenue of BPOs in the year 2016. Strategic advisory firm Tholons have recognized the consistent growth rate of contact support, finance and accounting in the country. In addition to this, significant improvement have also been observed in crucial areas that impacts the success of businesses in a foreign setting.
In another report, the Philippines sit between Indonesia and Vietnam it terms of how easy it is to start and operate a business in an Asian country. The country’s archipelagic landscape also contributes to how diverse the local economy is – offering different benefits and various capacities to host small to large enterprises.
With numerous tourist attractions near prime locations such as beaches, hot springs, resorts and spas that are only 2 or 3 hours away – you can relax when the city bustle gets a little too much for you without having to file for an extensive leave.
So why not try having the best of both worlds? Numerous seat leasing providers and coworking spaces in the Philippines’ prime business spots like Mandaluyong City, Makati City and Ortigas Center – await you.
