“A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly.”
It’s as if Desmond Tutu was referring to the world today when he said those words. Undoubtedly, the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest catastrophe we have ever seen. The economy is crashing with small sized businesses taking the strongest hit. As positive as I am that things are bound to get better, they definitely will never go back to being the same way as before.
For business brawling to get through the consequences of the worldwide lock down, it’s time to make some bold decisions and find the best possible solutions that makes your business resilient.
One easy to adapt option is moving in to a shared office space. Co-working as a business solution has never made more sense than it does today. The perks being offered by such places are exactly what we need today. Let me Explain.
A 30 day lock down implies a loss of nearly $240 billion for the country and a loss of many jobs for its people. With no revenue being generated, it is important to manage the cash flow and keep the outflows at bare minimum. Fixed costs like rent, salaries, maintenance, utilities etc form a chunk of your cash outflows, especially in a place like Mumbai. A co working space helps you get rid of all the unnecessary fixed costs like rents, utilities and maintenance.
You are only expected to pay a fixed cost per seat and leave all the other shenanigans to the office team.
Even after the lock down period, it is important to abide by the norms of social distancing in the foreseeable future. Unlike traditional workspaces having a cramped up seating arrangements, brimming with people, new contemporary co working spaces are designed in a unique way to motivate free movement. These design led offices don’t just help in social distancing but also encourage new idea generation.
One of the biggest advantages of a co working space is the community they create. A quality co working space houses around 15 to 20 companies, coming from diverse backgrounds. Connecting and collaborating with other such businesses will assist one recover and rebound from a crisis situation like this one. You are bound to have conversations and make connections everywhere; at the lounge, the entrance, the cafeteria and the coffee machines of course! Not just that, businesses can also use their co working space as a test ground. By taking suggestions, testing their product and collecting firsthand feedback from the in house coworkers.
Helping the local community grow, is just as important as helping your own business. By working from a local co working space or a space that encourages local businesses you are bound to create a social impact.
Alas, like all the good and bad times in the world, this time too shall pass. But the decisions we take now will create what is going to be the New Normal.