Co-working Space vs Coffee Shop: How to choose?

Deciding where to set up shop is a personal choice; remote workers can choose between coworking spaces, coffee shops and their home office. With 30% of the UK workforce working remotely, this is a hot topic. How do you know which one will suit your work style best?

Each option has its own list of pros and cons, but for those who’ve ruled out working from home, you’re limited to coffee shops and co-working spaces. So, which to choose? In this article, we’re going to support you in making that decision by comparing the benefits and weighing the negatives so that you can make the best choice for you and your team.

Costs

At first glance, coffee shops are a cost-effective option. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can sequester yourself away in a dark corner and be left in relative peace. However, with the cost-of-living crisis triggering an increase in prices, we’d invite you to take a closer look.

For example, say you spent an entire day in your local coffee shop, from 9 am to 5 pm and bought three £2.50 cappuccinos to justify taking up space, and you did this for three days a week for a month. You’d be looking at paying £90 in total for the privilege. Surprised? We are too! Take into consideration that the only facilities you get are the customer toilets, a public Wi-Fi connection and the possibility of a free plug, and it doesn’t sound all that economical.

Especially when for the same price per month, you could buy a hot-desking membership with Huddle Hammersmith for one month and have access to private breakout and meeting rooms, phone booths, free, reliable Wi-Fi, a gym, a kitchen and a cafe!

In short, daily outgoings can save you money in the short term but might cost you more in the long term. The number of days per month x cost ÷ facilities = a cost-effective decision that works for you.

Facilities

As we’ve already discussed, coffee shops are fine for short stints of remote working or those with minimal requirements. Benefits include a change of scenery, a friendly barista, a table, public wi-fi, a communal toilet and power sockets. You have no privacy, no chance of stretching your legs without losing your table, especially at peak hours, and must frequently stop to buy coffee to prevent being moved along. Not to mention it is against coffee shop etiquette and possibly your employer's policy to hold private meetings via zoom in such a public setting.

Whereas co-working spaces provide high-quality, state-of-the-art facilities to meet the needs of every kind of remote worker. A small example of facilities you might have access to include:

● Gyms

● Cafes and bars

● Child care

● Private phone booths, meeting and break-out rooms

● Bike storage and parking spaces

● Communal kitchens

● Lockers

● Mailing addresses

● Printing facilities

● Roof terraces

● Inventory storage

● Pet-friendly desks

● Wifi

● Utilities

● 24-hour access

The list goes on and on and on. Each co-working space is unique, and there are plenty of options to choose from, designed to meet every need, budget and working style.

Environment

Depending on the coffee shop, your environment can range from peaceful to carnage, plush to uncomfortable, and collaborative to isolating. Choose the right one, and you’ll secure some peace and quiet, surrounded by the calming background noise of coffee grinders, milk and subdued chatter. Choose wrong, and you could spend the lunchtime rush amongst screaming babies, sharing your small table with other customers, and furiously trying to get the overstretched public Wi-Fi to load a page.

In co-working spaces, environments vary wildly to suit various working styles. For example, mindful collaboration and community-based learning stand at the core of Huckletree Shoreditch. It has split-level rooms, an auditorium, curiosity couches and a library, inspiring you to share your creativity and ideas with others. The environment is cosy with distinctive cutting-edge decor. In contrast, the floor-to-ceiling windows of Landmark St Paul’s fill the space with natural light to reveal polished, modern decor. It is also split into social, group and quiet zones to meet the needs of various teams. It is a space designed to motivate a business mindset and help you hit the ground running.

Regardless, your environment needs to work for you and your working style, that’s easy to find in a co-working space, but it can be a little hit-and-miss if set up in a coffee shop.

Networking

In Britain, casually introducing yourself to a stranger in a coffee shop who may or may not be a part of your industry is not precisely au-fait. We’re socially awkward by nature, and coffee shops lend themselves to digital nomads who prefer to work alone.

However, networking and collaboration are the main benefits of a co-working space. Surrounded by like-minded professionals, opportunities to connect and engage are plentiful through a combination of events, workshops, talks, and open communal areas. A casual conversation in a co-working space could result in next week’s job offer or deepen your understanding through community advice, securing that promotion you’ve been wanting.

Opportunities to meet new people, deepen your knowledge and form business connections are plentiful in a co-working space. Do your research by visiting ahead of time and asking about industries and businesses that work there to ensure you aren’t alone.

Benefits of Co-working Spaces

The benefits of booking a membership or day pass with a co-working space are:

● Increased productivity

● Networking and collaboration opportunities

● Flexible schedules

● Private and shared spaces

● High-quality facilities

● Cost-saving

● Access to shared learning

● Increased legitimacy for client meetings

So, in the battle of coffee shop vs co-working space, we’d wager that you’re already investigating London hot-desking office spaces near you.

Discover Coworking Spaces To Suit Your Need With Spacepool

Here at Spacepool, we believe that finding a coworking space to suit your needs should be simple, and with our platform, it is. With hundreds of office spaces in London you can use our listing search engine to filter options based on office type, location, team size, budget and facilities.

Stress-free, accessible and free to use, find spaces you love without annoying follow-up calls. Simply shortlist, arrange, arrive, view and ultimately book. All your information is secure, and our hosts are carefully selected and vetted to ensure they meet the high standards we expect.

Sounds perfect? Start looking today to find a co-working space in London that’s right for you.