Mr. Harsh Binani, the Co-founder of Smartworks shares his insights about the opportunities and challenges in coworking space industries including pre- and post-covid era. Coworking is a business provision model where people from different backgrounds, professions, skills, and capabilities work independently in a managed office space. Coworking spaces are often opted by freelancers and self-employed individuals.
In his recent interview Harsh Binani said that the pandemic has been a blessing for the coworking industries, in particular to Smartworks. He believes that the time has come to bring the workforce back to the offices in order to enhance and maximize productivity.
The demand for tech-enabled managed office spaces has seen massive growth in the past couple of years. The coworking industry has indeed witnessed a humongous rise in recent times. We are here to shed light upon the opportunities and challenges for the coworking industry that are creating a significant impact on businesses as well as the user experience.
Co-working Industry- Major Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities in Coworking Space Industry
As we all know, the post-covid era demands the safety and welfare of employees. Coworking space has gained fame across the globe because it offers a lot of employees and freelancers the chance to work in a flexible yet professional environment.
- In a coworking space, employees do not only share the office space, but they also share other utilities that help in minimizing the overall operational costs.
- Most small business enterprises cannot afford fully furnished office space at a premium location. Coworking makes it possible for companies and their workforce to work from different locations effectively.
- The concept of coworking is accepted on a global level. Since the outrage of the pandemic, most companies have already switched to coworking spaces to offer a sense of flexibility to the workforce.
- Coworking space ensures that all the employees can feel that they belong to a certain workspace. This may lead to high morale and enhanced productivity.
Challenges in Coworking Space Industry
No business model is free from challenges, there comes a time when a business needs to revamp its approaches and techniques to sustain and grow. Some of the major challenges for Coworking space industries are as follows:
- One of the major challenges that the coworking space industries are facing is the constant distractions among the occupants.
- While working in a coworking space, there’s no possibility of privacy and security because people from different brands, motives, and perception work in the same environment. The data breach is a crucial challenge for the coworking industries at the moment.
- You have no control over the customization or redesign of the workspaces. The inability to personalize the office spaces is another crucial hurdle for coworking spaces to attain the maximum extent of user experience.
- Other challenges in the coworking space industry include insufficient equipment and lack of space extension.
Therefore, these are the opportunities and challenges that are faced by several coworking space industries. Mr. Harsh Binani stated that the demand for tech-enabled managed office spaces is not going to decline in the near future even if the industry faces complex hurdles. This is because almost every business enterprise is now focusing on creative methods and techniques that will enhance the overall office experience.
Harsh Binani Highlighted the Key Elements that Significantly aided Smartworks Expansion Post-Covid- h2
Many business tycoons predicted that Covid-19 with create a significant impact on the growth of commercial real estate sector. But the sector has witnessed a massive boom and has fixed its permanent dominance post-pandemic. This change has emerged because there are multiple factors that empower managed office spaces which ultimately help the businesses to grow.
“Companies are streamlining their operations by distributing work at more than one location to offer more flexibility to their workforce,” said Harsh Binani. Harsh Binani also believes that the pandemic has acted as a vaccine booster for coworking industries.
Considering the benefits of having managed office spaces, companies are more interested in occupying IoT enabled office spaces. This might help them to minimize the wastage of time and money and maximize the productivity of the workforce as well.
Founded in 2016, Smartworks is India’s leading platform for managed office spaces, catering to large enterprises, multinational companies, and unicorns. With a presence in 11 cities and an expanding footprint of 7 million square feet, Smartworks has experienced high growth and has aggressive plans for further expansions.
Let’s Understand Why & How Managed Office Spaces Have Gained Popularity in Recent Times
- They offer more flexibility to the workforce to come in and work in a positive environment.
- Managed office spaces are more engaging, optimized, and customizable.
- Zero hindrances in daily operations
- Managed office spaces are often packed with tech-enabled amenities like meeting rooms, work stations, cafeterias, washrooms, and so on.
- They offer more security and safety as there is a certain pre-defined criterion to grant access to the workforce as well as the visitors.
Hence, these are some of the major elements that attract the large business enterprises to get tech-enabled managed office spaces for smooth business operations and enhanced productivity.
