Whether you are a freelancer working on a deadline or an owner of a small startup business, the appeal of working at a coworking space is undeniable.
Nowadays, with many jobs requiring only a laptop and a quiet place to work with, coworking spaces have become the convenient choice for most millennials.
When you are starting out, you might have considered renting a small office space of your own as base to work quietly and peacefully, maybe see clients or accommodate an extra person or two.
Rental fees, however, are pretty much unaffordable for many startups and freelancers – which is why many people have opted to use coworking spaces as their primary working place instead.
At some point in time, the question “should I use a coworking space, or should I just go to my local café?” could have been on your mind and for many have experienced.
To answer if coworking spaces are ultimately better than your local café, we decided to work in a coffee shop for a week and try to experience the environment first-hand.
Here are three reasons among many why we believe you should start moving your business away from your home or your local café to a coworking space:
1. Peace and Quiet
This is probably the most important reason why coworking spaces trump local cafes. If you are a freelancer trying to cram a deadline or a startup owner trying to create a business plan, the noise, activity and movement around a café is relentless and can really stop your creative juices from flowing.
If you are working in a café, you can easily lose your focus as soon as people walk in the door. It’s an energetic buzzy environment but extremely hard to concentrate when you see people chatting, walking, laughing – and even arguing at times.
Then there is the coffee grinder randomly roaring on an off in the background, dishes clanking, cutlery dropping, a constant clamour and drowning the noise with music doesn’t help either if you can still see all the movement around.
In a coworking space, people respect the space and the silence. People come there to work productively and finish their tasks, nothing more.
Because coffee shops have become the go-to-place for people to meet up and have casual conversations, it can be very difficult to increase your productivity with all the movement happening around.
As a matter of fact, a local library with a fast internet connection would be a better choice than spending your precious, unproductive hours in a noisy café.
2. Fast Internet Connection
A slow and flaky internet connection can be very frustrating and get you hot under the collar, especially if you are a graphic designer who constantly uploads high-definition images to and fro to clients.
In a local café, you are using a shared internet connection with other people - who are usually watching movies, downloading big files or eating up the internet speed catching up on their social.
And the thing is, you can’t just simply walk to them and say, “Can you please stop watching Netflix, you are slowing down the internet”, right?
Coworking spaces usually have a fast and reliable WIFI connection that can easily accommodate shared internet among fellow coworkers.
Now you won’t have to worry about other people slowing you down. Spending extra money to purchase a pocket Wi-Fi and have your own internet in a café seems like a waste (and cost-ineffective) too.
Why not go to your local coworking space and enjoy faster, better internet speed instead?
3. Free Coffee
For some people, coffee is considered their “lifeline” when working. I know a lot of people will agree that a cup of coffee can go a long way when it comes to giving you that ‘kick’ you need to finish your tasks. But why spend a couple of dollars for coffee if you can have it for free, right?
Most coworking spaces have their own kitchen and coffee maker where you can even bring your own beans to brew while having a chat with your coworkers.
Think about how much money you can save in a month if you don’t have to spend for all those lattes, cappuccinos or long blacks!
Conclusion
Being in Melbourne, we love our coffee and there’s plenty of great cafes to choose from, so combining our love of coffee with work (lol) the three main reasons we believe coworking spaces are ultimately better than cafes when it comes to providing a modern working environment.
Coworking spaces can give you all the coffee, space, peace and internet speed that you need to get work done.
The inviting environment also allows people to focus on their tasks without difficulties at the same time, connect and collaborate with other members in the community when and if you want.
How about you?
Do you prefer working in a coworking space, at your home or your local café?
Let us know what you think below!
Last updated: June 3, 2019
