the Power of Coworking
- Rasheed Shroff
“I've never seen the point of a (co)working space. If I wanted to work in an office, that's what I'd do...”
This comment, cut and pasted from LinkedIn, was left under an article written about my journey with Banyan Workspace several weeks ago.
It caught me by surprise and got me thinking.
So many questions come to mind! If you wanted an office but did not see the point of a coworking space, would you hire a real estate agent to find a suitable space? Would you commit to the long lease terms associated with commercial real estate? Would you fit out your new office with all the fixtures, fittings and furniture you needed? Would you sign up for annual electricity, WIFI, water, heating, air-conditioning and all the other utilities? Would you install a security system to ensure your space, and your assets were protected? Would you hire a receptionist, a cleaner and perhaps contract IT support? Would you get a coffee machine, snacks, a kettle, tea bags, cutlery, crockery and ensure the stationary cupboard, pantry and washroom had all the bits & pieces and amenities you and your team needed?
And if you felt that you probably didn’t need ALL these things, but you wanted an office, you would presumably still want a good number of them, wouldn’t you?
Alternatively, perhaps you’ve opted to WFH, from a coffee shop, or maybe you’re a digital nomad, and if that is the case and it’s working for you, then that’s fantastic! Many people are uber successful working this way and I am full of respect and admiration for them. An office is not for every business owner or every business.
But if, like me, you decide you need an office and want a team around you, then a flex-office space is an obvious choice, as it was when I started my Dragonfly Asia-Pacific business.
A short-term flexible agreement to preserve my options was important to me, an office space that was ‘move in ready’ and had everything in place so I could literally plug in and start to work, without having to think about anything else. Additional space to expand into if my business justified hiring more people was important too and all these considerations led me directly to coworking!
The problem I had when setting up Dragonfly Asia-Pacific was that I wanted more.
I wanted a shared office space that I, and the team I hoped to build, would be proud to call our office. A home for our fledgling business. A place that inspired us, was comfortable, efficient and provided me with the flexibility I would need to expand my team, as my business hopefully boomed. If my business failed, I would not be locked into a long-term money-sucking rental or membership commitment. I wanted somewhere with a heart and soul and the ability to work weekends and overtime as needed.
After visiting over 20 different coworking options around Hong Kong, I just could not find a shared office that ticked all these boxes.
Sometimes it was price that was an issue. In other cases, the environment felt wholly uninspiring; somehow bland or inauthentic. “Free beer on tap!” was not appealing to me. Some spaces had numerous hidden charges or lacked sufficient operational flexibility, so weekends or after-hours work would be hard or cost more. Meeting rooms came with an additional charge. Printing was expensive and sometimes not under the inclusions. Support systems were lacking, or the staff I met on site visits seemed disinterested or overly salesy and so any membership/lease deal felt transactional at best.
It’s from this experience that the idea for Banyan Workspace was born, and I just could not shake the thought that there was a better way to operate a coworking space!
Initially, my wife Amy and I envisaged a boutique shared office that was luxurious but accessible to all. A warm, welcoming environment that was aesthetically inspired by our lives in Hong Kong. A space that brought together all the comforts of home with all the technical and support needs of a start-up or small business. A space that could host a variety of events from workshops and corporate gatherings to social events, film screenings and board meetings.
Entrepreneurship was something we wanted to champion, and we saw supporting our community and local businesses as the responsible thing to do. From this came our focus on sustainability and giving back a percentage of membership fees to select local NGOs, as chosen by our members.
Banyan Workspace in Quarry Bay opened its doors in September 2019. With 56 desks, including five private offices of varying sizes, one semi-private 10-person office, six dedicated desks and eighteen hot desks, we have an ‘office solution’ for any solopreneur, almost every start up and most small businesses. Banyan Workspace also houses three meetings rooms that have the flexibility to morph into one larger conference room for up to 16 people, our beautiful multi-functional library event space, a member’s lounge, two private phone booths and perhaps the most sustainable coworking panty and coworking operational protocols in Hong Kong. All this, together with all the usual office tech and support and a friendly, approachable and proactive team that goes above and beyond to support our members, has helped us achieve the only coworking space in Hong Kong with an aggregate 5-Star Google Review, with over 100 independent reviews.
As we grew into our new venture and had the good fortune of welcoming some incredible people to our team, we took things up a notch and embraced the idea of elevated hospitality and community-building as key elements of what Banyan Workspace strives to provide today. With flagship events like Entrepreneur Stories and our monthly Banyan Drinks, our membership and the engagement of our wider Banyan community are what motivate, drive and sustain us.
So, when someone says “I’ve never seen the point of a (co)working space. If I wanted to work in an office, that is what I would do”, I do struggle to understand the comment. I only have to look at our amazing team at Banyan Workspace and how Charlotte Lafitte, Jojo Leung, Hilvin Wong, Nancy Khoo, King Je and Amy Shroff work their socks off daily to provide an elevated level of hospitality, a membership experience that delivers over and above any normal expectations, a level of flexibility for our members that is almost certainly the best in town and a support and problem solving mentality that goes above and beyond, and I know that we’re doing everything and more than what could be reasonably expected.
This is why, just over five years into this journey, Banyan Workspace is standing stronger and taller than it ever has. It’s why we have been approached by several of Hong Kong’s leading developers as a Management Service option for their prime real estate and why we continue to generate 5-Star Google reviews from our members, events customers and our community.
If you’re seriously considering an office environment for your Hong Kong business, don’t rule out coworking, and before you decide where to base yourself or your next corporate or personal event, do come and have a look at Banyan Workspace. I am supremely confident that we’ve got you covered, whether as an office space or a venue for your next event!
