Cafe for freelancers
Lately, I’ve been working more and more as a freelancer and one obsessive idea constantly haunts me. It is not exactly IT, for its implementation we need a weak start-up capital, plus it can really shoot only in a big city. Since I have no familiar millionaires ready for risky enterprises, and the idea, as has been proven more than once, is impossible to sell - I donate it to everyone and hope that it will be implemented sometime. I offered this idea to several investors, but she didn’t find any interest in anyone. Maybe you can give her life?
Watching myself, reading blogs on GTD and just communicating with other freelancers, I realized that most people have common problems with working as a freelancer. Namely:
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1. Falling motivation - working at home, many freelancers often become distracted. Either this is reading articles, studying new material that are fascinating and contain links to the sequel. Understanding that the work is worth it, it is nevertheless often difficult to distract from this activity: on the one hand, this is part of the work, on the other - if there are no tight deadlines, no one drives. Laziness, home problems, visiting friends and other factors - constantly hit on motivation. Regardless of who a person works when his schedule is described as “free,” problems of motivation somehow manifest themselves.
2. Distractions - working at home and living with family, a freelancer is constantly confronted with the fact that he is distracted from work. If there is a small child in the family, then it requires attention, and the wife hardly understands what concentration on work is and how hard it is achieved. My wife thinks that you can distract for any trifles, “Well, you are sitting here, that you find it difficult for me to help for 10 minutes? Women in general are inherently overly sociable :) and can often be distracting without any need.
3. Working solitude - many freelancers (if not all) came to work at home after office work. Having lost all the shortcomings of the office, they lost their merits. Having colleagues is a healthy working atmosphere. Mutual assistance, moral support, communication and humor - is present in the team throughout the work day. Working at home - there are not enough colleagues who are professionally passionate about you, who often will help you with advice. Besides, working in a circle of colleagues, you become infected with their enthusiasm and this solves the first problem.
Free time, such as a lunch break, is also more pleasant to spend in a team. Live communication with professionals is an important factor that improves performance, makes the workflow rich.
4. Lifestyle - a freelancer, as a typical IT specialist (most often) does not feed very well and barely moves without need. This leads to understandable consequences. In the office, this is to some extent offset by group hobbies (games, going to the gym). If a freelancer is married and married successfully, then his wife will help him with meals. Perhaps she also promotes sports activities, but most often the freelancer for years of homework causes damage to her health and body shape.
The problem is solved by creating a hybrid office and cafe. Many come to work in the cafe for a free wifi and normal food. However, the cafe owners are hardly excited about such visits. And visitors do not contribute to focus on work. The solution is simple - we make a cafe, which is primarily for the freelancer. We supply part of the tables with partitions, and we make part of them completely isolated (cabins). Each place is equipped with high-speed Internet, there are cabinets (turnkey), desk lamp, mouse pad and similar trifles. Of course there is a wardrobe and other amenities. In the cafe, of course, anyone can come, but the requirement for guests is to observe silence, the lack of booze and the like.
The main visitors are freelancers, they rent tables, that is, they work for a certain period at the same place, setting it up for themselves. Minimum rent - let's say a month. Rent is not very high, because entering into a contract, the freelancer negotiates the menu (which can be changed only by prior notice) and subscribes to other bonuses. Such as visiting the gym or swimming pool. Freelancer can rent a computer, if you do not want to carry or work with a laptop. Additional buns, such as a coffee machine or meeting room, are also available for subscription. The number of options can be anything: we take any office and adopt what is good. And we offer the freelancer to use it for the minimum price at the time of rental. As mentioned above - the tables are normal, with partitions and VIP - completely isolated, with air conditioning and a sofa, for example. Yes, even with a personal shower, although it is in any way common.
Cafe owner - receives a set of guaranteed visitors, with a predefined menu that will minimize costs. The owner, depending on the number of subscribers - concludes a partnership with the gym or visiting coach, who conducts group classes. Also, partners will want to become distributors of food machines, ATMs and terminals (everything will depend on the volume). In general, in order not to list the obvious paths of development, it will suffice to say that this will be essentially an office without a boss. No bosses, but there is a team. True, everyone is busy with his own, but will you refuse to help your neighbor with whom you work side by side?
Freelancer also solves his main problems. He motivates his need to work out the rent and the general staff, he eats according to the fresh products regime, no one distracts him like at home, he has a free schedule, all the charms of work in the office are present, but there is no bad boss and he will not. And the coach reminds that it's time for training. Isn't it a dream? :)
Of course, additional costs. But given that the freelancer will be the consumer of this cafe, the rent can be made minimal. Depending on the rules, which are accepted either by the team or by the cafe management, you can enter fines, say for absenteeism. Let them be minimal, the main thing is that they are encouraged not to skip work all the time. Well, the main incentive for a truant: money is dripping for rent, you have already paid for lunch.
Such an office, in addition to all the advantages, gives you a good idea of the employer. As mentioned, such a cafe must have a conference room in which you can hold business meetings. Of course, it is only necessary to stake out the free date of such a meeting in the event calendar for the cafe.
Speaking of the general calendar. There will also be management tools for your account in the office: a lease renewal, a menu adjustment, a “bring coffee” button, if you are too lazy to go to the machine with your legs :) The service is of course paid, all prices are negotiated. With the help of a certain account management system, you can make adjustments to the ordered options.
No, it's not about the program. We got an office that is open to everyone - both employees and investors. In essence, what happens is a ready-made team of professionals that investors are so dreaming about. A team can take on group projects, make teams in a team, etc. The head can be selected, or it can simply come from the side and, having ordered a free table for himself, immediately begin to work with a ready-made team. And this is not all prospects. The owner of such a cafe - he can take orders and solve them with the help of the team. And you can pay in part and in-kind: the extension of the lease with the buns. This is of course a strongly idealized option, provided that everything works together normally, but it seems to me that when colleagues gather in a working environment and everyone is passionate about the same thing, nothing is impossible here.
How do you like the idea and how likely is it for implementation, say, in Moscow? Or maybe you already have an acquaintance with a not very profitable cafe that will be interested in remaking into such an office?
Lyrical digression
Watching myself, reading blogs on GTD and just communicating with other freelancers, I realized that most people have common problems with working as a freelancer. Namely:
')
1. Falling motivation - working at home, many freelancers often become distracted. Either this is reading articles, studying new material that are fascinating and contain links to the sequel. Understanding that the work is worth it, it is nevertheless often difficult to distract from this activity: on the one hand, this is part of the work, on the other - if there are no tight deadlines, no one drives. Laziness, home problems, visiting friends and other factors - constantly hit on motivation. Regardless of who a person works when his schedule is described as “free,” problems of motivation somehow manifest themselves.
2. Distractions - working at home and living with family, a freelancer is constantly confronted with the fact that he is distracted from work. If there is a small child in the family, then it requires attention, and the wife hardly understands what concentration on work is and how hard it is achieved. My wife thinks that you can distract for any trifles, “Well, you are sitting here, that you find it difficult for me to help for 10 minutes? Women in general are inherently overly sociable :) and can often be distracting without any need.
3. Working solitude - many freelancers (if not all) came to work at home after office work. Having lost all the shortcomings of the office, they lost their merits. Having colleagues is a healthy working atmosphere. Mutual assistance, moral support, communication and humor - is present in the team throughout the work day. Working at home - there are not enough colleagues who are professionally passionate about you, who often will help you with advice. Besides, working in a circle of colleagues, you become infected with their enthusiasm and this solves the first problem.
Free time, such as a lunch break, is also more pleasant to spend in a team. Live communication with professionals is an important factor that improves performance, makes the workflow rich.
4. Lifestyle - a freelancer, as a typical IT specialist (most often) does not feed very well and barely moves without need. This leads to understandable consequences. In the office, this is to some extent offset by group hobbies (games, going to the gym). If a freelancer is married and married successfully, then his wife will help him with meals. Perhaps she also promotes sports activities, but most often the freelancer for years of homework causes damage to her health and body shape.
What to do?
The problem is solved by creating a hybrid office and cafe. Many come to work in the cafe for a free wifi and normal food. However, the cafe owners are hardly excited about such visits. And visitors do not contribute to focus on work. The solution is simple - we make a cafe, which is primarily for the freelancer. We supply part of the tables with partitions, and we make part of them completely isolated (cabins). Each place is equipped with high-speed Internet, there are cabinets (turnkey), desk lamp, mouse pad and similar trifles. Of course there is a wardrobe and other amenities. In the cafe, of course, anyone can come, but the requirement for guests is to observe silence, the lack of booze and the like.
Read more
The main visitors are freelancers, they rent tables, that is, they work for a certain period at the same place, setting it up for themselves. Minimum rent - let's say a month. Rent is not very high, because entering into a contract, the freelancer negotiates the menu (which can be changed only by prior notice) and subscribes to other bonuses. Such as visiting the gym or swimming pool. Freelancer can rent a computer, if you do not want to carry or work with a laptop. Additional buns, such as a coffee machine or meeting room, are also available for subscription. The number of options can be anything: we take any office and adopt what is good. And we offer the freelancer to use it for the minimum price at the time of rental. As mentioned above - the tables are normal, with partitions and VIP - completely isolated, with air conditioning and a sofa, for example. Yes, even with a personal shower, although it is in any way common.
Cafe owner - receives a set of guaranteed visitors, with a predefined menu that will minimize costs. The owner, depending on the number of subscribers - concludes a partnership with the gym or visiting coach, who conducts group classes. Also, partners will want to become distributors of food machines, ATMs and terminals (everything will depend on the volume). In general, in order not to list the obvious paths of development, it will suffice to say that this will be essentially an office without a boss. No bosses, but there is a team. True, everyone is busy with his own, but will you refuse to help your neighbor with whom you work side by side?
Freelancer also solves his main problems. He motivates his need to work out the rent and the general staff, he eats according to the fresh products regime, no one distracts him like at home, he has a free schedule, all the charms of work in the office are present, but there is no bad boss and he will not. And the coach reminds that it's time for training. Isn't it a dream? :)
Of course, additional costs. But given that the freelancer will be the consumer of this cafe, the rent can be made minimal. Depending on the rules, which are accepted either by the team or by the cafe management, you can enter fines, say for absenteeism. Let them be minimal, the main thing is that they are encouraged not to skip work all the time. Well, the main incentive for a truant: money is dripping for rent, you have already paid for lunch.
Such an office, in addition to all the advantages, gives you a good idea of the employer. As mentioned, such a cafe must have a conference room in which you can hold business meetings. Of course, it is only necessary to stake out the free date of such a meeting in the event calendar for the cafe.
Speaking of the general calendar. There will also be management tools for your account in the office: a lease renewal, a menu adjustment, a “bring coffee” button, if you are too lazy to go to the machine with your legs :) The service is of course paid, all prices are negotiated. With the help of a certain account management system, you can make adjustments to the ordered options.
Open office
No, it's not about the program. We got an office that is open to everyone - both employees and investors. In essence, what happens is a ready-made team of professionals that investors are so dreaming about. A team can take on group projects, make teams in a team, etc. The head can be selected, or it can simply come from the side and, having ordered a free table for himself, immediately begin to work with a ready-made team. And this is not all prospects. The owner of such a cafe - he can take orders and solve them with the help of the team. And you can pay in part and in-kind: the extension of the lease with the buns. This is of course a strongly idealized option, provided that everything works together normally, but it seems to me that when colleagues gather in a working environment and everyone is passionate about the same thing, nothing is impossible here.
How do you like the idea and how likely is it for implementation, say, in Moscow? Or maybe you already have an acquaintance with a not very profitable cafe that will be interested in remaking into such an office?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/115299/
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