10 Reasons to Love Coworking in Kansas City

Congratulations to the Kansas City Coworking Alliance (KCCA) for taking home the “Best Collective Coworky Award” at this year’s GCUC Coworking conference in New York City! The KCSourceLink team is so proud to see how far this team has come since 2014 when we first gathered local coworking leaders and asked a simple question, “What would happen if competitors came together to cooperate?” 

Picture this, you move into a new home, you’re so excited because it has an extra bedroom that you can use as a home office. You’re going to get so much done, going to have great home-work-life balance. You can wake up whenever you want, you can work in your jammies all day, you don’t even need to take a shower! This is the life.

Then…you realize you aren’t waking up till 10 am, you are wearing your jammies for multiple days in a row, you haven’t taken a shower and you never stop working. There is no home-work-life balance. But worse than all of that, you notice that your productivity is waning, you’ve lost your creativity, you’re lonely and it’s getting worse by the day.

Here comes coworking to the rescue. Coworking is essentially a shared workspace with resources to support entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, startups, telecommuters and independent workers. There is no one-size-fits-all coworking space: They each have their own unique personality and different layouts and resources to support their members. When you join a coworking space, you become part of a community. You’re not just renting a desk. Much like at a gym, you get a membership that gives you just the amount of access you need.

So what is there to love about coworking? Let us count the ways:

1. Productivity

You might think that you’d be more productive at home, by yourself with fewer distractions. The difference is that in a coworking space you are there to work. You can shut off your home life and stay focused on your work to do list. You’ll find that it takes less time to complete that list and then you’ll have more free time outside of the office for the fun stuff.

2. Connections

How many people are you going to meet in your home office? That’s right, it’s kinda hard. But in a coworking space, you’re working beside people from all different kinds of businesses and companies. You’re looking for a social media manager or a web developer to help you with a project, they are probably sitting right next to you in your coworking space. And if there is someone that you need to meet and they are not there, you can bet that one of your fellow coworkers in the space will know someone to connect you to.

3. Collisions

This happens every darn day in a coworking space. You’re getting coffee and someone asks you about what you’re working on. Then another person jumps in the conversation. They know someone that you know: They offer some advice or a tip that solves your entire problem. Boom—you have just collided with genius.

4. Creativity

There is just something about working in an inspiring space that gets the creative juices flowing. Coworking spaces are known for their inspiring design, artwork and positive quotes on the walls. Great coffee, sometimes even snacks are available all factors to spark your creativity.

5. Meeting Rooms

We know this doesn’t really sound like a big deal, but how many times have you tried to meet up with a potential client in a coffee shop or, heaven forbid, at your dining room table. Most coworking spaces have meeting rooms at differing sizes, so you can have a private conference call, meet with a team member or pitch to a potential client. You’ve just elevated your business to the next level, and you didn’t even have to sign a lease and pay for all the overhead. 

6. Classes and Programming

Many coworking spaces offer classes, programming, networking and even member lunches or happy hours to give you additional support to grow your business and help you connect with people and resources.

7. Privacy Privacy

in a shared workspace—isn’t that an oxymoron? Coworking spaces offer differing places to get your work done. You have choices from a flex desk where you can just pop-in and work for a few hours sitting at a different place every day, a dedicated desk where you can keep your things and come and go as you please, and the ultimate in privacy your very own private office. There are also meeting rooms, phone rooms and meeting nooks to offer you more privacy and quieter heads down work and meeting options.

8. Coffee

Well duh, what would a coworking space be without delicious unlimited, premium coffee!

9. Amenities

Coworking spaces are so much more than just workspaces. Maybe you need a 3D printer or just a plain old printer, or you need to order food and drink for your planning meeting, or maybe you just need a business mailing address and mailbox to help keep business and personal mail separate. Some spaces even have cafes, hair studios, games and a workout room. You name it and you’ll find it in a coworking space.

10. People

THE most important thing you get in a coworking space is other people! We sometimes forget that we need people to survive and thrive. The connections and energy that we get from our coworking communities are priceless.

Haven’t tried coworking yet? What are you waiting for?Check out all of your options at the Kansas City Coworking Alliance website. 

Melissa Saubers is the chief connector and CEO of Cowork Waldo and the president of the Kansas City Coworking Alliance. You can reach out to her here:

Twitter: @MelissaSaubers | @KCCoworking | @CoworkWaldo