With the growth of the startup ecosystem in India, coworking spaces have also been witnessing acceptance and preference like never before. With every passing year, there has only been an increase in demand for these spaces and this is why we see new coworking space providers mushrooming very frequently. The coworking industry has gained pace for three major reasons:
- It saves time and has a lower rate of maintenance.
- Provides a flexible work environment
- The community of like-minded people where everyone works together yet independently.
The revenue model of the shared office spaces is very simple. They either charge as per the chosen membership plan or according to the time. The price varies from location to location and provider to provider. Because this model is so basic and easy to understand, it’s more comfortable for members to enrol in a managed office space than hunting for a traditional office and spending a lot of money.
Is There Any Future Of Coworking Spaces In India?
Coworking spaces are surely here to stay in India where there’s a big population of millennials and GenZ!
Growing Popularity
The new-age workforce looks for more creative and engaging work environments that bring out the best of them. Coworking spaces have communities where people are there for each other. Growing businesses can always use this support.
High Demand in Key Cities
Metro cities have numerous tech and internet-based startups sprouting up now and then which adds to the existing demand for shared workspaces.
Investment Opportunities
Coworking spaces are seen as a promising investment opportunity. Since it’s so much in demand, the business of space providing will never let you down so whether you’re an investor or a business owner, go ahead and capitalize on it.
Transformation of Regular Offices
Seeing the huge demand for shared workspaces, traditional real estate owners are wasting no time and converting their properties into modern offices to attract business. Coworking spaces provide affordable and comfortable alternatives to traditional ones.
Rapid Growth
Coworking spaces were earlier associated with just freelancers and startups but today, they are approached even by big companies. These workspaces are expected to capture 25% of the total office space market in India very soon which is quite a win in itself.
Future Of Coworking Spaces With Some Trends In The Industry
With the growing number of startups in the country, there is a growing requirement for coworking office space in Noida that would fit all the types and sizes of the growing ventures. Tech and e-commerce companies are emerging in the Indian market maturing the national startup ecosystem.
Mergers & Acquisitions
It’s very common in businesses across industries to merge and acquire to add up strength and power. This is a way of getting your roots deeper into the market. The coworking industry is no different. There are bigger companies that merge with or acquire the smaller ones. This is done not just to be stronger but in a way, to help the coworking ecosystem.
Since there is free entry and exit in the shared space industry, the newcomers look at the already established space providers and put all their efforts and money into building the same spaces. But sometimes, due to reasons like lack of experience, they fail. The hard work of those space providers shall not go in vain, the bigger ones overtake them in exchange for the money and both parties stand in a win-win situation. This would be seen a lot in the coming years.
More niche spaces
Industry-specific coworking spaces are another thing of the future. There are a few of them present but in some time, you’ll find more of them sprouting. Focusing on specific communities such as food, wellness, women entrepreneurs and the like, they will provide industry-related events and workshops.
This will help budding business owners become experts and provide equal opportunities to single freelancers to get better at what they do. It’s the experience that they’ll enjoy in the coworking spaces that is going to increase the demand for them in future.
Customer Delight & Hospitality
One of the main reasons why the managed office spaces is that they don’t just provide their clients with a workspace. Apart from the dingy and boring offices, the clients are now provided with happy spaces where the members love to come and work. Customer-centric is the new basic and hospitality is the new necessity. The existence of a shared space provider depends on the services and the additional provisions that make their work-life better.
Customers are smart and the space providers are numerous in competition. It won’t take the clients long to switch the workspace provider and to retain them, the shared spaces will do all that they can to not lose any of their members. It’s the occupancy that proves their success rate, after all.
Large enterprises are increasing
The future of coworking spaces cannot just depend on startups, freelancers and SMEs. More than today, the coming years will witness a large presence of multinational corporations’ units, large companies and established enterprises.
The bigger businesses who have a lot to look after would happily wish to shift to the managed office spaces that can look after all the requirements that would support their businesses. The quality of the property, quality of the services and the quality of the work environment that a fully-furnished office can provide can’t be experienced in a brand’s dedicated office. These places have everything that a long-term office space might need to run.
Amenities for the new generation
Gone are the days when only an empty office would suffice in exchange for the huge amount paid for it. The owner or tenant would get only the real estate property without any other facility. All the furniture, office equipment, utility bills, fittings, repairs and instalments are on the one who paid for the office space.
This was a traditional office with conventional offerings. But unlike that, the modern shared offices give you a whole lot of services against the membership fees you pay. Called managed office spaces, they manage the entire office space and the requirements on their own and you just have to focus on work. New generation. New services.
Spreading in all the cities
It was some time back when the coworking spaces were only limited to the huge cities where there was a defined and sure scope of business. Today, they are spreading in almost all the cities (tier 1 and tier 2) catering to a widespread audience like never before.
Not just the new shared space providers but also the established coworking giants are now capturing the smaller markets with their new offices across India. What was once only confined to the metro cities is now also present in Kochi, Surat, Kota, Udaipur, Jaipur etc. The demand for managed office spaces is increasing frequently and the providers are ready to take advantage of this.
Conclusion
The future of coworking spaces is bright because they are any day a better real estate option than a traditional space that costs you a fortune. Also, with the lowest margins in the business, the office space providers don’t make huge money from the membership fee they charge and this is always a fair deal. The revenue model is built only on small but fair revenue. Since all the factors point in the favour of the managed office spaces, it positively hints towards the bright future of this industry in the current and the coming years.
