The positive impact co-working spaces have on startups

Co-working spaces wouldn’t exist if people didnt actually liked them, but at the same time, most of the comments I found online about them is negative content (except for the articles that talk about how cool they are visually). For me, it has been a great experience.

At Buildawow, we started as a home office startup. We met up in a coffee shops when needed, and shared conversations in slack. We were effective, but working from home can be tiring and very monotonous. And on top of that, it doesn’t give you the experience or the discipline of an actual work space and schedule.

Being a startup, we couldn’t afford to rent an office space (most of them are both expensive and huge), and it would’ve been absurd as we were just 3 people. It was an unnecessary cost. But then one of us had the idea of renting in a co-working space. We’ve been working here for a month and a half, and it’s been a rollercoaster ride.

We are in a coworking space called Field Office in 1001 Noches, Guatemala City. This isn’t a conventional shared work space. I read a lot of critiques about coworking spaces, and why you shouldn’t be part of one. Almost every article I could find about this is negative, and I don’t see why.

Maybe the one I work in has innovated in the way they distribute the space. We are actually in a private little office, but we have the perks of a co-working space. This includes meeting rooms, kitchen, reading area, all the coffee you can drink and even a ping pong and pool table.

Besides the private offices, it does have a shared space. But I haven’t heard anyone that works there complain about anything. Maybe at lunch time there is a little more noise than usual, but we need to eat and distract ourselves for a while, don’t we?

One of the arguments I’ve read a lot is the lack of privacy. But that is why you rent your own desk, and beforehand you know that you’ll have people around. Most people when they need to focus only on their computers, use headphones. I confess that, although having a private office in a co-working space, the noise does distract you sometimes, so I do understand. But it isn’t a deal breaker.

The best thing about it is the community that forms around the people that work there. Being startups, we benefit from the connections we create. At Buildawow, we’ve known new people and businesses that we either benefit from or they need our services (and we’ve also made new friends!). Plus, now we have a professional space we can meet our clients. It does give professionalism to the business, and allows it to grow, either in employees and clients.

I said working here is a rollercoaester ride because although it seems like I only love working here, it does have a bit — very small and ocational — of a negative impact on my work. Meaning, I do get distracted with how much there is to do here, and the people around. That’s the only thing that could seem negative work related. In my personal experience, I do get things done, but I also get distracted during the day, either chatting with someone, or making coffee three times a day or by the people playing ping pong outside the office, or also by playing ping pong. But at the end of the day, it’s discipline. We need to have work ethic and discipline to focus and schedule our tasks, and get them done in time, knowing that all the distractions will be there. At the end of the day, a rollercoaster ride is really fun!

Conclusion, at the moment, I’m in love with this co-working space. I don’t know if they’re all like this one, but Field Office in Guatemala rocks! I do recommend this office spaces for people with small but growing startups. It does help you build a company culture and make connections with other businesses.

ps: If you’re in Guatemala you should come visit!