[Founders] — Utkarsh and Vinayak, Revolutionising How People Work in India by Bringing Coffee Shops and Coworking Together.
On a regular working day in the capital these days, coffee shops are no more just giggling with noises of teenagers sharing their break-up stories but instead are brimming with a low din of typing with casually dressed individuals in their 30s busily digging into their laptops. Cafes are no longer just brewing coffees during the day but are also brewing piping hot ideas as more and more of them are turning into work cafes for young entrepreneurs and freelancers.
How did this turnaround happen?
In the last decade or so, India has been among the fastest growing economy in the world with the largest young workforce. This young force is however, defying the conventional form of work, defined by closed cubicles and long hours of working and are challenging everything which has been obsoletely structured and bland.
The concept of shared working spaces has been recently redefining the way businesses function. Young entrepreneurs and start-ups immensely benefit with this new change. But then again, they lack the flexibility, the ease and the casual banter of coffee shops. Coffee shops on the other hand, although very engaging, become a tad bit distractive and noisy for real business to take place.
In their mid-twenties, Utkarsh and Vinayak were shuffling between office, home and coffee shops looking for an alternate workspace to work from on some days which didn’t cost a fortune. Well, the options didn’t exist quite the same way and left them wondering — WHY NOT?
Inspired from some of the options existing, the duo decided to bring about this unconventional work space revolution and introduce the millennials to something which had best of both the worlds! Making it a Delhi-based startup, myHQ conceptualized itself to provide affordable and flexible workspaces. For them, shared offices did not mean the same bland cubicle lifestyle though. They experimented the model at one of their friend’s cafe in Delhi’s posh bustling area, Greater Kailash.
“When we were exploring this option, one of our friend, suggested that we use his lounge during the day time as a co-working space to generate the initial demand. Though initially hesitant, we went ahead with this and were surprised to see many people in our network — joining in and working from the lounge. Within a month, with hardly any effort, the lounge was filled with 30 people working from the space during the day.
We were pleasantly surprised to see a varied user group, right from a college student using the space to complete his assignments to a freelancer who was bored working from home. From a 5 member start up team using this as their primary workspace to a consultant using it for her meetings. We were seeing a high retention amongst the users and soon started getting inbound requests from more lounge/cafe owners to set up coworking at their spaces. Seeing this, we realised that this was hitting a sweet spot of bringing efficiency and creating value for all involved stakeholders.” says Utkarsh Kawatra, the co-founder of myHQ.
“Technology allows us to work from anywhere we want. Why not pick a place that’s beautiful and inviting? With an aesthetically beautiful environment equipped with lightning fast Wi-Fi, multiple plug points, stylish yet comfortable seats, free stationary and printing facilities, and courteous staff, co-working users find it a perfect work place. And what makes everything worth is our delicious and economical food and drinks menu for the co-working users.” says Gobind Chona, owner of one of myHQ’s partner space — Tippling Street
This new concept of changing cafes, restaurants, and bars, lounges and aesthetic infrastructure to co-working or shared spaces is beneficial for everyone involved. The infrastructure is just appropriate to turn these places into workstations. Bar tables can become standing desks and private dining areas can turn into conference rooms. The light music soothes the ambiance. And just in case you thought why would restaurant owners will agree to this setup, well, restaurants with disappointing lunch traffic on weekdays often struggle to cover operating expenses and rents. As a result, they are more than willing to partner on revenue share model.
Shivani Bagel, a freelance writer using myHQ co-working facility shares her experience on how the shared office concept has added networking and growth opportunities. Shivani states that
“working at myHQ has been a fruitful experience in terms of convenience, comfort, and enrichment.”
Undeniably myHQ workspaces have turned out be the new, comfortable working zone for freelancers, young entrepreneurs, bloggers, and creative professionals. They have dedicated working zones for their members where they get to work uninterrupted without getting bugged up by chatty neighbours on the next table.
One of their myHQ customer, Rhea Bhel, Founder of ‘Osteria’ (agency providing niche marketing & design solutions in hospitality domain) says —
“I have been a part of myHQ working community for quite a few months now. In addition to a great work-experience (spaces are quite vibrant), myHQ brings along a large, well-knit community. I had been struggling for long to onboard tech developers & myHQ helped me in hiring 2 strong tech professionals from their community. The trust associated with myHQ community does help a lot in building teams & promoting businesses.”
On the contrary, sharing tables with like-minded hustlers and creatives makes way for easy networking and brimming opportunities. Being a part of the community in a developing hub augments your work experience by helping you build a strong team to back up your dreams.
The visit-based subscription plan offered by myHQ makes them the most economical, flexible and the most creative shared workspace providers in the capital. Being super flexible, these membership plans do not expire and can be conveniently used anytime within a year. As a means to give a taste of this experience to more and more people, the first visit for anyone to any myHQ coworking spaces has been made absolutely free. If this interests you and makes you discover this unique concept in person, get your seat booked at myHQ spaces now.
We have a surprise for the Coworkies Community!
