Coworking spaces are an increasingly popular option for young professionals and entrepreneurs in Carlsbad.
BY CAROLINA ALBAN-STOUGHTONAs the number of freelancers, young entrepreneurs and startups continues to rise, coworking spaces are disrupting the commercial real estate industry. As demand grows, these shared workspaces are showing up both in big cities, as well as small towns. Carlsbad has not been a stranger to this trend, as the city continues to attract a vibrant workforce and companies. “In the digital realm, your work exists in the cloud. We live in a mobile world today, with the ability to work anywhere. Technology has influenced how we collaborate and the need for a dedicated office space has dwindled for creatives,” says Chamber member Alexandra Renée, who runs the full service digital agency ALL MAVEN, Inc. “Coworking is a great alternative for creatives to effectively get work done on their terms, while still facilitating engagements, networking and a positive work environment. If you can work anywhere, why be stuck in an office all day?”
For five years, Renée leased an office, and while she was happy and really liked working there, her needs changed and the company outgrew the space. “We needed a place where we could not only receive mail, but meet people in a modern environment where we could educate them – whether that be team members or clients – or hold workshops. We needed options for different spaces, updated technology and a single building owner, so we could have personal relationships with the people we connected with in our office.” After researching several options in Carlsbad, Renée landed on Avanti Workspace, a coworking space located nearby Palomar Airport. “Avanti provided us with several different options to meet people – whether it was two or twenty – in spaces that included modern technology and style. Avanti Workspace has a great vibe, a number of amenities and room for growth when our company needs it. In addition, it was affordable, which is also a key factor in making a coworking decision.”
Like Renée, other creatives and entrepreneurs are seeking out coworking spaces to run their companies. Nicole Kaemerle, community manager at WorkSpace Carlsbad, ranked tech startups and creatives and as the top industries choosing WorkSpace Carlsbad to conduct their businesses. But other types of jobs follow this category closely: marketing and web design; real estate advisors, agents and brokers; law firms; and finally, investors, accountants and financial advisors. While coworking seems to be most popular among these industries, professionals in other industries should consider the possibilities that could open up for them should they opt for a shared workspace environment.
“Today, a wide array of companies and professionals, ranging from freelancers, start-ups and small/medium-sized enterprises to Fortune 100 companies, utilize flexible workspaces to serve their evolving business needs. Coworking is not a revolutionary concept, it is simply the modern real estate solution that supports the twenty-first century workforce. Physical and financial flexibility are becoming the new ‘normals’, and coworking often supports these needs better than the traditional commercial real estate sector,” said Jacob Bates, Chief Operating Officer of CommonGrounds Workplace, another Carlsbad coworking option.
At Pacific Workplaces, many of the companies are Chamber members, who take advantage of coworking as an extra opportunity for networking. After all, knowing who you are going to be sharing a space can also play an important role in choosing where to work.
According to Jeff Warner, Managing Partner at Pacific Workplaces, most of their customers are “legal related companies (such as law firms, court reporters and mediation companies); financial related companies (i.e. tax consultants, financial planners, and business capital lenders); and Real Estate related companies (residential and commercial firms, mortgage companies, architects, HOA management).
Finding a coworking space that aligns with your industry creates the added benefit of proximity to other professionals that may benefit by working together.
Affordability
The flexibility and affordability of coworking spaces are in many ways what make them an attractive fit to accommodate every need for a wide range of businesses. In fact, also operating out of Avanti is Chamber member Theoria Technical College, a company that specializes in Early Childhood Education (ECE Units) and the professional development of preschool teachers. “We weren’t necessarily looking for a coworking space. We were looking for office space that was affordable, but this just had a lot more amenities. It allowed us to not only have the space we needed and the potential for growth, but also came with other services that were needed to run the day to day operations of a business – all under one roof,” said Phillip White, Theoria Technical College Founder and President. In addition to all these benefits, the one thing White seems to enjoy the most about coworking is the opportunity to network with other professionals. “The benefit is you have a lot of different businesses with different specialties all in one building. In our building if you need a lawyer they are right down the hall. You need a social media expert, they are right down the hall. You need a mini commercial made, they are right down the hallway. You need an accountant, they are right down the hallway. If you need a website built, a consult on marketing strategies, a photographer, meeting space, event planning, you never have to leave your building. All of these different facades of a developing business can be a fraction of the cost due to the fact that we are all in the same building developing our culture of our office space.”
Flexibility – big or small
Many business owners wonder how long a business can run out of a coworking space. The answer depends on how fast the company expands. “For ALL MAVEN Inc., we’ll be staying in the coworking space as long as we can. Until we find our needs change, this is an amazing option for us as we grow,” said Renée. However, for Philip White his coworking environment may change very soon, although he said if it was his choice, he would never move. “When we started Theoria Technical College, being part of the coworking space allowed us to take on more offices as the college needed, ultimately aligning with our business model and plan. But, because we started off in a coworking space, the community and the amenities allowed my college to become as big as it is today. Regrettably, I will have to leave Avanti coworking spaces soon because we have grown too big to stay. Now we are buying the floor right under.” Theoria College is part of Avanti’s new expansion plan, proving that sometimes the coworking flexibility can expand beyond one set of walls. “The space that I am leasing and that is being built for me is from Avanti still – part of a new opportunity for businesses with exponential accelerated growth.”