IgniteHQ

Archives for December 2016

What Are The Advantages of Working in a Shared Office Space?

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Are you a small startup hoping to gain a footing? Perhaps you are an experienced business looking to expand your operations. While it may be nice to have an office to call your own, the advantages to using a shared office space or coworking space are both plentiful and profound, especially if your organization is budget-conscious and a fast-growing startup. Below is a list of some of the great community benefits of utilizing a shared office space.

Low Overhead

It can be both expensive and time-consuming to establish a new office—or even a temporary one. Shared office spaces free you from the hassle of furnishing a new office space, as they tend to carry a far greater value in providing the more important pieces needed to build a successful business. Don’t fret over furniture issues or mundane things like setting up utilities . Instead focus on building your business and getting things running smoothly.

Existing IT Infrastructure

For many young businesses that have few employees and a small budget, finding the room to pay for IT services can be next to impossible. Utilizing a shared office space offers the perfect solution to this problem. Most spaces already have dedicated IT support on-site. This means not only are you able to get started on your work quickly, it also means that you have a safety net should problems come up (as they most likely will at some point). This is yet another significant community benefit of a shared office space, freeing you to concentrate on your work.

Flexibility of a Short Lease

Shared office spaces allow you to choose the most appropriate package to suit your specific business needs.  Your needs may change from month to month.   This built-in flexibility represents a distinct advantage over private leases which may not account for your limited budget or your schedule.

Networking Opportunities

Coworking spaces are social and dynamic.  This leads to incredible collaboration, innovation and progress. Often, coworking tenants establish fruitful partnerships with one another by utilizing each other’s services or cooperating together on a project.

Encourages Serendipity

Another way to look at the community benefits of a shared office space is as a way to encourage serendipity. You may be surprised at how quickly you are able to build out a diverse social network, which can potentially lead to new clients, new resources and maybe even new investors to help you get the work done. Some of the coworking community call this, ‘accelerated serendipity’.

Access to Mentors and Resources

Some shared office spaces offer access to mentors on-site. These mentors are seasoned entrepreneurs that are available to work closely with other members of that shared office space. They provide mentoring, valuable resources, oversight and strategy as well as an opportunity to possibly even invest in certain start-ups. Some of the additional resources that may be available are:

  • Access to conference rooms
  • Fast internet access
  • Printer/Copier/Scanner capabilities
  • USPS mailing address
  • Local and long distance phone in conference room
  • Free parking

These are just a few of the many, many benefits of working in shared office spaces. Step into the new age of growing a successful business while keeping costs down and minor details out of the way so you can focus on what really matters. If you would like more information on how a shared office space should work, contact IgniteHQ for more information.

A Sneak Peek Inside the New IgniteHQ

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What do you get when you join forces between north Georgia’s entrepreneurial headquarters and one of Atlanta’s top ranked interior design firms?  A dynamic new co-working space that builds on IgniteHQ’s already proven track record of providing environments that foster dynamic solutions to the Atlanta metro start up community.  

VeenendaalCave, Inc. (VCave) recently paired with IgniteHQ to design their latest co-working space at 57 Waddell Street, delivering a hub of innovation that sparks creativity across multiple disciplines housed under the same roof.  

As luck would have it, that roof plays a pretty big role in the design of this space.  57 Waddell Street came ready-made with a pitched open ceiling and exposed architectural trusses that VCave was eager to capitalize on in their vision for IgniteHQ’s latest venture.  A series of shared offices, conference rooms and break/lounge areas anchored around the perimeter of the building open to a lofty central gathering space capped by that signature roof structure.  It’s a dynamic juxtaposition that reminds members that this is a place that can accommodate the heads down work start ups need to get off the ground, while also acting as a community where members from all areas of expertise can mingle and share ideas – a space where, quite literally, the sky is the limit.  

Other features of the design include hallmarks of the latest and greatest in co-working trends.  A large reception area anchors the building and leads to shared conferencing spaces with A/V integration built right in, as well as a dedicated event space for networking and business development events hosted by IgniteHQ and its members.  Private offices are large enough for small teams to share for maximum brainstorming potential, and a few adjoining offices feature barn doors which give members the flexibility for their work space to grow along with them.  A large communal break room and game lounge offer a welcome respite from the demanding work of building a business from the ground up, and encourage members to share ideas and build relationships that might not occur as organically in a more traditional office setting.  

Skylights and demountable glass front offices maximize daylight throughout the space, taking full advantage of 57 Waddell Street’s unique architectural features.  New finishes and lighting present a clean, modern aesthetic that start ups crave as they begin to establish their own identity – neutral enough that any member can envision their future there, and inviting enough to encourage them to stay as long as they need to in order to get their vision off the ground.  

Reclaimed wood elements capitalize on industrial-chic design trends of the moment, while also calling back to the building’s wood structure.  A playful interplay of colors and textures in the flooring and fabrics throughout lend a whimsical edge that gets creative juices flowing.  

This is a space – and a community – designed to work for the most innovative among us.  It represents a turning point in the evolution of workplace culture and an exciting new frontier of creative problem solving, and VCave is thrilled to lead the charge in seeing it come to life.  

VeenendaalCave, Inc. is an Atlanta-based interior design firm providing a full range of interior planning and design services to corporate office, healthcare and industrial clients throughout the United States. We constantly strive to improve upon our design service delivery and think proactively on behalf of our clients. This approach has allowed us to build strong, long term alliances with corporations and developers who recognize the value we bring to their endeavors.