BY BEN CROUCH, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, ESSENSYS

Part 1 of How to Drive Revenue and Delight Members by Outsourcing Your Workspace Technology

The growth of shared workspaces has accelerated rapidly over the last decade. This period of rapid growth meant that service, technology and software providers to the workspace industry struggled to keep up with the requirements of both experienced multi-site operators and new single site startups. This in turn, resulted in operators who are confronted with manual processes and generic software which damages both their operational efficiency and overall customer experience.

BY AMANDA FANOUN, MARKETING LEAD, US

essensys co-hosted the first “reverse Coworking” event in New York in collaboration with the U.K. Department for International Trade (DIT), bringing together NYC Coworking operators and U.K. startups for a networking happy hour over British pub fare and beverages. With a mission to promote British trade throughout the world, the U.K. DIT serves as a valuable resource to UK-based startups settling in New York, the largest market of its 90 global locations. There is a host of opportunity for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic but very often the process isn’t as easy as meets the eye.

We’re well into the New Year and, as typically does, with it comes the New Year, New Me thought process. We resolve to self-betterment and to change our old habits and get healthy. Many approach their health resolutions with a detox. But, what exactly is a detox?

We asked Allan Darvill, our very own Chief Health & Wellbeing Officer, for pointers to stay on track with our New Years Resolutions...

The definition of detox is when you stop consuming unhealthy or harmful food, drink or other substances into your body for a period of time in order to improve your health. The main organs that help us detox are our skin, intestines, liver and kidneys. There is no magic pill, shake or supplement that will help us detox, it’s a simple formula to follow:

BY MARK FURNESS, FOUNDER & CEO, ESSENSYS

Over our ten years in the flexible workspace industry, we've seen year to year market fluctuations, abundant growth and new emerging sectors that have transformed the industry into what it is today. The impact of 2016 trends will reverberate into the coming year and we'll see new workplace trends have their way with the market. Here are my predictions for what we'll see in 2017...   

Managing a Shared Workspace of any sort - business center, incubator, accelerator, or coworking site - is no easy task considering the multiple aspects of the business that operators must juggle. Often, resources are tight and budgets are small, forcing you to focus solely on the minimal required operational tasks. When it comes to dos-and-don’ts to managing and growing your business, we’ve identified nine key steps in a condensed version of our recent 9-Part Lead to Cash series. Master these pillars for a well-oiled money making serviced office operation and, most importantly, happy members. 

2016 was a year of changes and surprises, from unexpected political outcomes across the globe to new and exciting developments within our own shared workspace industry. For essensys, 2016 was a definitive year with milestones that have reconfirmed our past successes and paved the way for what is sure to be an exciting 2017. But we won’t get ahead of ourselves, here’s our reflection upon 2016.

BY JUSTIN HARLEY, VP INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, ESSENSYS

Part 9 of the free eBook: The Complete Guide to Growing Your Flexible Workspace Business

Cash collection is what all shared workspace operators are working towards. It is the primary objective of your efforts and is what defines how you manage your overhead, reinvest in your workspace and grow your business. What many operators don’t define prior to opening a space is how they will manage the debt collection process or even what it entails.

Payments are collected via credit card, recurring bill payments or autopay. There is more to it than meets the eye. If you prepare well it can be a very simple process, and if not, debt collection can become a monthly recurring obstacle. Here’s what you need to know.

BY JUSTIN HARLEY, VP INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVEOPMENT, ESSENSYS

Part 8 of the free eBook: The Complete Guide to Growing Your Flexible Workspace Business

Thus far, our Lead to Cash series has highlighted the importance of lead generation, the sales processes, services offering, member management and core IT services in the shared workspace. There are a few recurring themes that facilitate efficiency across the board, and these are automation, self-service and integration.

To sum it up, running a sustainable and profitable shared workspace largely depends on reigning in your processes and simplifying your life as an operator with a platform that supports each and every key pillar of your business.

In this 8th chapter of the series, we'll look at the single most important part of running any successful business, assuming you want to be profitable: invoicing and billing.