5 Benefits of Coworking for Small Businesses, Startups, and Entrepreneurs

As small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs find success and grow, they need help moving from the kitchen table to a corporate headquarters. Coworking offers a helping hand, giving businesses benefits as they get better. 

Coworking gives these smaller organizations flexibility, social interaction, a change of scenery, proximity to home, and—best of all—not being locked in.

5 Benefits of Coworking

Coworking spaces offer multiple benefits over a permanent office space and even working at home. Here’s a rundown:

1. Flexibility

First and foremost, coworking gives you flexibility. Not gymnast or goalie flexibility to help with ergonomics (though that is important), but flexibility to make your business work. Need space for an expanding team? Need to fit within a tight budget? Need to shrink or expand as the opportunities come and go? Coworking has your back. 

2. Social Interaction

Coworking means you’re not alone. Working at home can be isolating, and after the pandemic years people do not want to be isolated again. A coffee shop can be the other extreme of too much people. Yes, you can put on the headphones and block out everyone when you need to, but sometimes you just crave the right amount of social interaction. You need other humans to give you that lift. Watercooler talk happened for a reason, and while social media has replaced some of that, people still need flesh and blood interactions. Coworking means people smile and wave, but they don’t distract you from the work.

3. Change of Scenery

Speaking of the pandemic, working at home can create a sense of the same thing over and over again. That can be comfortable—like an old pair of pajamas—but sometimes it can be a little too comfortable (and a little rank). You need a change of scenery. The local coffee shop can offer that, but it has its own host of issues. Coworking offers a change of scenery. And you’re not just trading one mundane space for another. Coworking is flexible. You can keep changing your space if you want. It’s also dynamic. Businesses come and go and there’s always a sense of life and vitality. You can try to replicate that at home with a house plant, but it’s not the same.

4. Closer to Home

Coworking is better than that downtown or far suburbs office because it’s close to home. We’re located in West St. Paul, just south of downtown St. Paul. We’re a minute off Highway 52 and incredibly accessible. If you’re nearby in St. Paul, South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Mendota Heights, Eagan—even across the respective river in Woodbury, Cottage Grove, or Bloomington—we’re close. We’re just short of downtown traffic, which keeps your commute reasonable. You can get away from home and not embrace the pain of traffic and paying for parking.

5. Not Locked In

Moving up to a permanent office is a big step for any organization. But it also locks you in. Whether you’re buying a space or signing a long-term lease, you’re going to be there a while. You’re committed. You’re stuck in that space and, more importantly, the limitations of that space. You’re married to the price tag and there’s little wiggle room (sure, you could sub-lease, but that’s more hassle). Coworking gives you that flexibility we talked about before. Your business needs to be free.

Find Coworking Space at Evolve

Here at Evolve Workplace, we’ve got space that works. There are conference rooms and printers and foosball. Come take a tour and see if Evolve works for you.

David Lundy