business plan di un coworking

Come si realizza un business plan per uno spazio di co-working?

I nostri esperti hanno creato un business plan per uno spazio di co-working , completamente personalizzabile.

Aprire uno spazio di coworking rappresenta un'idea di attività della quale viene voglia a molti creatori d'impresa. Nonostante ciò, prima di avviare un progetto imprenditoriale, è necessario redigere un buon business plan. Questo strumento offre la possibilità di stabilire un piano di sviluppo per il tuo spazio di coworking considerando, ad esempio, le spese iniziali, i concorrenti, le spese ricorrenti, gli indicatori di performance nonché i futuri vantaggi del tuo spazio di coworking. In più, il business plan del tuo spazio di coworking può essere di supporto per una richiesta di finanziamento presso un istituto di credito Che cosa deve assolutamente contenere il business plan di uno spazio di co-working? Quanto dovrebbe essere lungo un business plan? Come determinare il budget iniziale del tuo spazio di coworking? Quali sono gli indicatori finanziari da presentare in un business plan? È possibile determinare il punto di pareggio di uno spazio di co-working? Nel seguente articolo rispondiamo a tutte queste domande. D'altro canto, per assicurarti la riuscita della tua impresa, affidati al nostro business plan per uno spazio di co-working .

L'impostazione del business plan di uno spazio di co-working

Perché redigere un business plan per uno spazio di co-working.

La realizzazione di un business plan per uno spazio di co-working fornisce la possibilità di: - analizzare le cifre che caratterizzano il mercato del coworking - raggruppare le innovazioni riguardo al settore del coworking - studiare i fattori di successo di uno spazio di co-working - individuare i tuoi segmenti di mercato considerando i loro bisogni - prendere in considerazione una proposta di valore duratura per questo nuovo progetto - analizzare gli spazi di coworking concorrenti così come il loro posizionamento - mettere in evidenza i vantaggi concorrenziali per il tuo spazio di coworking - sintetizzare, con un Business Model Canvas, il modello di business del tuo spazio di coworking - delineare una strategia in dettaglio (identificando ogni fase) - identificare gli eventi che possono minacciare il tuo spazio di coworking - far comprendere a un istituto di credito che questo progetto d'impresa raggiungerà il punto di pareggio I nostri analisti hanno cercato di realizzare un buon business plan per uno spazio di co-working , che renda possibili i punti appena citati. Puoi scaricarlo già da subito.

Cosa deve mettere insieme il business plan di uno spazio di co-working?

Un business plan prevede un'enorme quantità di indicazioni, dati e studi. Tuttavia, è essenziale che questi dati vengano ben strutturati per avere un business plan di facile lettura. Questo è quello che abbiamo fatto nel nostro business plan per uno spazio di co-working . Il documento si struttura in 5 parti che descriviamo qui di seguito. La parte iniziale è quella dell' “Opportunità del Mercato” . In questa parte, i nostri esperti vanno a studiare dei dati e delle cifre in merito al mercato del coworking. I dati vengono aggiornati regolarmente. Questa parte del business plan consente anche di sintetizzare le recenti innovazioni del mercato del coworking (per esempio il nomadismo digitale, gli abbonamenti internazionali (partnership tra spazi di lavoro condivisi di diverse città), gli spazi di lavoro condivisi con servizi aggiuntivi (babysitting, accoglienza di animali, ecc.), gli spazi di lavoro condiviso specializzati, o ancora gli spazi di lavoro condiviso connessi e digitalizzati (serrature collegate, prenotazioni online, codici QR per abbonamenti, ecc.)). Infine, identifichiamo i criteri che consentono a uno spazio di co-working di avere successo. La seconda parte corrisponde alla “Presentazione dell'attività” . Quest'ultima ci offre la possibilità di presentare il tuo spazio di coworking: In quale quartiere si trova lo spazio di coworking? Qual è la capacità ricettiva dello spazio di lavoro? Ha una sala riunioni e attrezzature complementari (palestra, area ristorazione, ecc.)? etc.). Questa parte presenta anche la proposta di valore del tuo spazio di coworking. Termina con la presentazione del titolare del progetto (la persona responsabile di questo nuovo progetto). Successivamente troviamo la sezione dello “Studio del Mercato” che offre la possibilità di esaminare i segmenti di clientela per il tuo spazio di coworking. Vengono presentati anche i concorrenti attraverso un'analisi dei competitor. Questa parte include , in particolare, una matrice SWOT, uno strumento utilizzato per elencare i punti di forza e di debolezza del tuo spazio di coworking, citando, allo stesso tempo, opportunità e minacce potenziali presenti sul mercato. La parte della “Strategia” ci da la possibilità di spiegare un piano a lungo termine contenente tutte le fasi che consentiranno al tuo spazio di coworking di sviluppare un'attività remunerativa. Si illustra anche una strategia di marketing che determini una crescita degli indicatori finanziari. Infine, il nostro business plan per uno spazio di co-working termina con una parte chiamata “Finanze” , attraverso la quale si presenta tutte le tabelle, gli indicatori e i coefficienti finanziari del tuo spazio di coworking.

Come creare un Executive Summary per uno spazio di co-working?

Al fine di ottenere l'Executive Summary del tuo spazio di coworking, bisogna considerare criteri specifici. Per cominciare, il tuo documento deve essere relativamente corto. Infatti, non deve superare le 2 pagine. Per definizione, rappresenta l'introduzione del business plan del tuo spazio di coworking. Allo stesso modo, però, questo deve essere pedagogico, e perciò essere in grado di far capire ad altri che il tuo spazio di coworking ha un forte potenziale di redditività. Non fare errori e sottolinea i punti di forza di questo progetto imprenditoriale (per esempio: pratica prezzi adatti al budget del mercato e attraenti rispetto alla concorrenza, offre servizi aggiuntivi (servizio di catering, servizi di contabilità, servizio di creazione del piano aziendale, ecc.), insonorizza i locali per fornire uno spazio tranquillo ai clienti o ancora offre formule di abbonamento senza impegno). Il tuo Executive Summary deve rispettare una certa struttura. Puoi trovare un esempio nel nostro business plan adatto a uno spazio di co-working , presentato in precedenza.

Come creare delle analisi di mercato di uno spazio di co-working?

Uno studio di mercato studiato per il tuo spazio di coworking ti permetterà di apprendere gli elementi che possono influenzare il tuo progetto imprenditoriale, come la forza della domanda, le innovazioni del settore come pure gli spazi di coworking concorrenti. Ogni avventura imprenditoriale deve iniziare da una ricerca di mercato. Come redigere bene un'analisi di mercato? Sarà necessario raggruppare una vasta gamma di elementi. Ecco i diversi elementi inseriti nella sezione intitolata "Ricerca di mercato" del nostro business plan adatto a uno spazio di co-working : - i dati attuali che caratterizzano il mercato del coworking - le nuove tendenze del mercato del coworking - i segmenti del mercato del tuo spazio di coworking - la ricerca degli spazi di coworking concorrenti - degli esempi di vantaggi competitivi - l'analisi SWOT per uno spazio di co-working

Gli aspetti importanti di un business plan per uno spazio di co-working

Qual è il modello economico di uno spazio di co-working.

Il modello di business di uno spazio di co-working è basato sulla fornitura di servizi di ufficio condivisi, come spazi di lavoro, sale riunioni, sale conferenze e altri servizi aziendali. Il modello di business può essere sia a pagamento che gratuito, a seconda del tipo di servizi offerti. Inoltre, l'azienda può guadagnare ricavi attraverso la vendita di servizi aggiuntivi, come l'affitto di sale riunioni, l'organizzazione di eventi aziendali e la fornitura di servizi di consulenza. Il più delle volte, all'interno del business plan andiamo a presentare il business model della tua attività futura attraverso un Business Model Canvas. Questo strumento permette di apprendere rapidamente i pro e i contro del tuo futuro progetto imprenditoriale, e soprattutto la proposta di valore, la struttura dei costi, le risorse principali, ecc. Il business plan adatto a uno spazio di co-working include un Business Model Canvas completo per questo settore.

Come spiegare i segmenti di mercato di uno spazio di co-working?

Segmentare il mercato significa suddividere una base di soggetti (e o di imprese) in segmenti con dei tratti comuni. Nella tua situazione, bisognerà ripartire i soggetti che potrebbero voler iscriversi al tuo spazio di coworking. Perché riteniamo necessaria questa segmentazione? Questa procedura ti permette di strutturare la presentazione della clientela nel tuo business plan. Pertanto, questo approccio ti aiuterà a comunicare con più efficacia (ad esempio, segmentando le diverse offerte e i diversi messaggi del tuo spazio di coworking secondo i gruppi). Dei possibili segmenti di mercato del tuo spazio di coworking possono essere i lavoratori autonomi, i dipendenti o le startup e i PMI. All'interno del business plan concepito per uno spazio di co-working potrai consultare una ricerca dei segmenti di mercato redatta per questa attività.

Come mettere a punto l'analisi della concorrenza di uno spazio di co-working?

Non sarai mai un caso isolato nel mercato del coworking. Troverai comunque gli spazi di coworking concorrenti da fronteggiare. Il tuo business plan dovrà presentare un esame approfondito di questi concorrenti. Bisognerà specificare le loro caratteristiche fondamentali, così come i loro vantaggi e anche i loro punti di debolezza. Identifica in particolar modo i loro punti deboli (per esempio: degli orari di apertura limitati, una posizione non facilmente accessibile, l'assenza di una formula di abbonamento non vincolante, l'assenza di attrezzature e materiali o dei prezzi non in linea con il budget di mercato). Perché evidenziare questi punti? Perché questi elementi generano molto probabilmente delusioni fra la clientela degli spazi di coworking concorrenti. Sfrutta questa situazione a tuo vantaggio, e ricava dei vantaggi concorrenziali per il tuo spazio di coworking. Un vantaggio a livello di concorrenza rappresenta un'ottima possibilità, che consente al tuo progetto a oltrepassare le attività che si rivolgono agli stessi clienti. Qui sotto, determinati esempi di vantaggi concorrenziali che possiamo sviluppare per uno spazio di co-working: - offre una vasta fascia oraria (per attirare diversi profili dei clienti) - imposta formule di abbonamento flessibili (un giorno, una settimana, un mese, ecc.) - è dotato di apparecchiature avanzate (come una connessione ad alta velocità) - organizza eventi (postworks, workshop, tavoli rotondi, ecc.) - ha un sito web professionale, con un modulo di prenotazione online - è in un luogo facilmente accessibile e vicino a tutti i servizi - ecc. Scarica il nostro business plan per uno spazio di co-working per avere un'analisi concorrenziale completamente redatta nonché la lista dei vantaggi competitivi redatta per questa attività.

Come ottenere la matrice SWOT del tuo spazio di coworking?

La SWOT costituisce una risorsa fondamentale , utile per raggruppare i punti di forza e di debolezza di una attività, ad esempio il tuo spazio di coworking. D'altro canto, questo strumento è utile per sintetizzare le opportunità così come le minacce presenti sul mercato e in grado di influenzare il tuo progetto. Una SWOT riuscita per il tuo spazio di coworking dovrà essere sintetica e coerente. Questo è un esercizio pericoloso per gli imprenditori alle prime armi , che molto spesso redigono delle analisi SWOT sconnesse, poco convincenti e poco comprensibili. Questa situazione non è favorevole, perché, così come il Business Model Canvas, la SWOT ha la facoltà di essere una risorsa di sintesi, che presenta una gran quantità di fattori per il tuo spazio di coworking in poche righe. Per avere un'analisi SWOT completa, redatta e modificabile, scarica il nostro business plan per uno spazio di co-working .

Come elaborare la strategia di marketing per uno spazio di co-working?

Nel business plan del tuo spazio di coworking, sarà necessario creare un piano strategico efficace al fine di garantire lo sviluppo e la crescita del tuo progetto. La strategia di marketing sintetizza l'insieme di azioni e iniziative messe in atto affinché un numero crescente di clienti sia invogliato a iscriversi al tuo spazio di coworking. Per esempio, tra queste potremmo prendere in considerazione la realizzazione di un sito web professionale per il tuo spazio di coworking. Quest'ultimo aiuterà i tuoi clienti a identificarti sul web. Questo dovrà comprendere i dati fondamentali riguardanti il tuo spazio di coworking. Sarà opportuno anche lavorare per il suo posizionamento (ciò che chiamiamo SEO) e, in particolare, fare attenzione ad alcune parole chiave, affinché il tuo spazio di coworking sia ben visibile tra i diversi risultati di Google. Per poter essere certi di posizionare il proprio sito tra i primi posti dei risultati sul motore di ricerca, puoi anche investire su Google Ads. Il tuo spazio di coworking dovrà anche avere una presenza attiva sui social media. La suite Facebook Ads integra un sistema per evidenziare il tuo spazio di coworking e l'intera offerta a degli utenti predefiniti. Questo è un'iniziativa efficace per attirare più clienti. La pubblicità del tuo spazio di coworking non si fa solo sul web. Ci sono allo stesso modo delle azioni per il mondo "fisico". È possibile , ad esempio, far realizzare dei supporti fisici al fine di promuovere il tuo spazio di coworking. Infine, si possono dare luogo a diverse collaborazioni con delle attività (in particolare quelle che si rivolgono allo stesso pubblico) che ti saranno utili per attirare dei clienti. Esistono tantissime iniziative e risorse di marketing per il tuo spazio di coworking. Scopri tutto nel business plan per uno spazio di co-working .

Gli elementi finanziari del business plan per uno spazio di co-working

Un business plan completo deve comportare un'analisi finanziaria approfondita. Bisogna, tra l'altro, fare delle stime di fatturato del tuo spazio di coworking. Certamente sarà necessario che queste proiezioni siano coerenti. Il piano finanziario per uno spazio di co-working integra un sistema di verifiche che ti consente di avere delle previsioni corrette. In questo file, i prezzi delle iscrizioni al tuo spazio di coworking sono modulabili. D'altro canto, bisogna mettere in atto un budget per il tuo spazio di coworking. Questa parte del business plan presenterà le spese di avvio nonché l'importo associato. Lo studio della redditività e dei vantaggi costituisce anche una parte essenziale del business plan del tuo spazio di coworking. Questa analisi aiuta a anticipare meglio il fatturato che il tuo progetto deve ottenere per raggiungere la soglia di redditività. Questo studio fornisce anche dei dati sui vantaggi che, in linea teorica, potresti generare con il tuo spazio di coworking. In più, bisognerà esaminare le spese del tuo spazio di coworking. Tra queste è possibile trovare gli stipendi del personale di accoglienza, il compenso dei tecnici, per la riparazione degli impianti elettrici, il budget destinato all'acquisto di prolunghe e prese elettriche o l'acquisto di tè, caffè e bevande (se offrirai un servizio di bevande). In ultimo, anche la performance finanziaria della tua attività può essere analizzata grazie alle tabelle dei bilanci intermedi, all'analisi del fabbisogno di capitale circolante e degli indici e grafici utili. Questi elementi sono parte integrante del nostro piano finanziario per uno spazio di co-working .

Altri grandi articoli Aprire uno spazio di coworking che sia redditizio Elaborare un studio di mercato per uno spazio di co-working La redditività di uno spazio di co-working Il budget per l'apertura di uno spazio di coworking Redarre un plan finanziario per uno spazio di co-working

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How to Create a Coworking Space Business Plan

Blog > how to create a coworking space business plan, table of content, introduction:, i. understanding the rise and advantages of coworking spaces, ii. conducting market research and analysis, iii. defining your mission, vision, and value proposition, iv. developing your business model and revenue streams, v. selecting the perfect location and facilities, vi. crafting an effective marketing and sales strategy, vii. streamlining operations and management, viii. financial projections and funding, ix. navigating legal and regulatory requirements, x. mitigating risks and fostering sustainability, xi. building a vibrant coworking community, conclusion:, our other categories.

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Are you considering venturing into the thriving world of coworking spaces? A well-crafted business plan is the foundation for success. Welcome to Stellar Business Plans , your trusted startup consultant service provider. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the process of creating an effective business plan for your coworking space venture. Let’s explore the essential steps and strategies to ensure your coworking space stands out in the competitive market.

Coworking spaces have experienced exponential growth, with a 43% increase in the number of spaces worldwide in the last two years alone. As the modern workforce seeks flexible work arrangements, coworking spaces offer numerous advantages, such as:

Increased Productivity: Studies show that 68% of people experience improved focus in coworking environments. The collaborative atmosphere and the absence of traditional office distractions contribute to enhanced productivity levels.

Enhanced Networking Opportunities: 82% of coworkers report expanding their professional network since joining a coworking space. The diverse community of professionals allows for organic networking, collaborations, and potential business partnerships.

Cost-effectiveness: Coworking spaces can save businesses up to 25% on operational costs compared to traditional office spaces. Shared resources and flexible membership plans provide cost-efficient solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Before diving into your business plan, understanding your target market and competitors is crucial. Conduct thorough market research to:

Identify Your Ideal Members: Determine your target demographic, such as freelancers, startups, remote workers, or specific industries. Consider their unique needs and preferences to tailor your offerings.

Analyze the Demand for Coworking Spaces in Your Chosen Area: Evaluate the local market demand for coworking spaces. Consider factors such as the concentration of businesses, freelancers, remote workers, and the overall economic climate.

Evaluate Competitors’ Offerings and Pricing: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of existing coworking spaces in your target location. Assess their strengths, weaknesses, pricing models, amenities, and marketing strategies.

To differentiate your coworking space and attract members, craft a compelling mission, vision, and value proposition:

Mission Statement: Our mission at Stellar Coworking is to provide an inspiring and collaborative environment that empowers our members to thrive in their professional endeavors. Our passion for fostering innovation and creativity drives our commitment to excellence.

Vision Statement: Our vision is to build a diverse community of innovators, fostering creativity and driving growth in every industry we serve. We aspire to be the go-to destination for professionals seeking a supportive and inspiring coworking ecosystem.

Value Proposition: Stellar Coworking offers a modern and fully-equipped workspace with tailored services to meet the unique needs of our members, enabling them to focus on what truly matters – their success. Our community-driven approach, state-of-the-art facilities, and vibrant events create a dynamic space for collaboration and personal growth.

Choose the right business model and explore additional revenue streams beyond memberships:

Business Model: Opt for a membership-based model with flexible plans to cater to different needs and budgets. Consider offering part-time or virtual memberships to accommodate various work styles.

Revenue Streams: In addition to membership fees, explore other revenue streams to enhance your coworking space’s financial sustainability. These may include:

Event Space Rentals: Offer your space as a venue for corporate events, workshops, seminars, and networking functions.

Meeting Room Bookings: Provide well-equipped meeting rooms for rent on an hourly or daily basis.

Value-Added Services: Consider providing add-on services such as printing and copying facilities, mail handling, virtual office solutions, and administrative support.

Collaborative Partnerships: Form strategic alliances with local businesses, professional associations, and educational institutions to expand your network and generate additional revenue through mutual referrals and collaborative events.

The location and facilities can significantly impact your coworking space’s success:

Location: Choose a convenient and accessible location that aligns with your target market’s needs. Consider proximity to public transportation, major business districts, dining options, and other amenities that appeal to your potential members.

Facilities: Offer essential amenities that enhance productivity, comfort, and convenience for your members. Consider providing:

High-Speed Internet: A reliable and high-speed internet connection is a fundamental requirement for modern professionals.

Comfortable Seating and Workstations: Ergonomic furniture and spacious workstations contribute to a productive and comfortable work environment.

Private Offices: For businesses or individuals requiring more privacy and dedicated workspace, private offices are a valuable offering.

Meeting Rooms: Equipped meeting rooms with audiovisual capabilities are essential for hosting professional meetings and client presentations.

Kitchenette and Refreshment Area: A well-stocked kitchenette with complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks creates a welcoming atmosphere.

Common Areas: Create communal spaces where members can relax, collaborate, and socialize.

Design and Layout: Thoughtful interior design and layout play a significant role in enhancing the overall coworking experience. Consider incorporating vibrant colors, natural lighting, and flexible spaces that encourage interaction and creativity.

To attract potential members and convert leads, create a robust marketing and sales plan:

Marketing Plan: Utilize digital marketing channels, including social media platforms, SEO-optimized content, and email marketing campaigns, to reach your target audience effectively. Share engaging content that showcases your coworking space’s unique features, events, and member success stories.

Branding and Visual Identity: Develop a distinctive brand identity that reflects the ethos of your coworking space. Consistent branding across all marketing collaterals, including website, brochures, and signage, helps build brand recognition.

Website Optimization: Design a user-friendly and visually appealing website that provides essential information about your coworking space, membership plans, facilities, and upcoming events. Incorporate a seamless booking system to enable potential members to schedule tours or sign up for memberships easily.

Content Marketing: Leverage content marketing to establish your authority in the coworking industry. Publish informative blog posts, e-books, and video content that address common challenges faced by professionals and highlight the benefits of coworking.

Social Media Engagement: Engage with your audience through social media platforms. Respond promptly to comments, share member testimonials, and promote upcoming events and promotions.

Email Marketing Campaigns: Build an email list and nurture leads through targeted email campaigns. Send personalized invitations to events, exclusive membership offers, and newsletters with valuable insights.

Referral Programs: Implement a referral program that incentivizes current members to refer new members. Offer rewards such as discounted membership fees or exclusive access to premium amenities for successful referrals.

Collaborative Events: Organize industry-specific workshops, networking events, and webinars that align with your target market’s interests. Collaborate with local businesses or industry experts to host events that add value to your coworking community.

Local Partnerships: Forge partnerships with nearby businesses, co-working spaces, or local organizations to cross-promote services and expand your reach within the community.

Testimonials and Case Studies: Showcase success stories and testimonials from satisfied members. These authentic experiences can help build trust and credibility among potential members.

Efficient operations and management ensure a seamless coworking experience for members:

Organizational Structure: Establish a clear organizational structure, defining roles such as community manager, operations manager, and marketing manager. Each role should be dedicated to fostering member engagement, managing day-to-day operations, and promoting the coworking space.

Staffing and Training: Hire qualified staff and provide comprehensive training to ensure excellent member support. Encourage staff to be proactive in addressing member needs and inquiries promptly.

Member Onboarding Process: Design a streamlined onboarding process to welcome new members and familiarize them with the coworking space’s facilities, policies, and community events.

Membership Management Software: Implement an efficient membership management software system to automate billing, track membership data, and provide members with a self-service portal.

Health and Safety Measures: Prioritize the health and safety of members by adhering to relevant health guidelines and implementing safety protocols. Display health and safety measures prominently to instill confidence among members.

Feedback and Satisfaction Surveys: Regularly collect feedback from members to gauge satisfaction levels and identify areas for improvement. Implement feedback-driven changes to enhance the overall coworking experience.

Prepare realistic financial projections and explore funding options for your coworking space:

Startup Costs: Calculate startup expenses, including real estate, furniture, marketing, staff salaries, and operational costs. Research local market rates to estimate initial investments accurately.

Financial Projections: Create detailed financial projections for the first three to five years of operation. Forecast revenues, expenses, and profits based on membership growth, pricing strategies, and market trends.

Budget Allocation: Allocate financial resources strategically across various areas, such as marketing, facility maintenance, staff training, and community events.

Funding Sources: Consider various funding options to secure the necessary capital for your coworking space:

Personal Savings: Invest personal savings to kickstart your coworking space venture.

Bank Loans: Apply for business loans from banks or financial institutions with favorable terms and interest rates.

Angel Investors: Seek investment from angel investors who align with your vision and can offer expertise and mentorship.

Venture Capital: Approach venture capital firms that specialize in supporting coworking and real estate ventures.

Crowdfunding: Launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds from a large pool of potential investors.

Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory obligations:

Legal Entity: Register your coworking space as a legal entity, such as an LLC or corporation, to protect your business and personal assets. Consult legal experts to determine the most suitable legal structure for your venture.

Permits and Licenses: Obtain necessary permits, business licenses, and safety certifications required to operate a coworking space. Comply with zoning regulations and building codes to avoid legal complications.

Insurance Coverage: Secure comprehensive insurance coverage to protect your coworking space from unforeseen events, liability claims, and property damages.

Membership Agreements: Draft clear and comprehensive membership agreements that outline terms, policies, and member responsibilities. Seek legal advice to ensure that the agreements are legally binding and enforceable.

Data Protection and Privacy: Prioritize data protection and privacy by implementing secure data storage systems and adhering to relevant data protection regulations.

Identify and manage potential risks while fostering sustainability:

Risk Assessment: Analyze potential risks, such as market fluctuations, competition, member retention challenges, and economic downturns. Develop contingency plans to address these risks effectively.

Business Continuity Plan: Create a business continuity plan that outlines steps to manage crises and ensure the uninterrupted operation of your coworking space during emergencies.

Sustainability Initiatives: Implement eco-friendly practices to appeal to environmentally conscious members. Consider incorporating energy-efficient lighting, recycling programs, and eco-friendly office supplies.

Green Certifications: Pursue green certifications such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability and attract environmentally conscious businesses.

Nurturing a supportive community can enhance member satisfaction and retention:

Networking Events: Host regular networking events, workshops, and industry-specific sessions to encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among members. Invite industry experts and thought leaders to facilitate engaging discussions.

Social Activities: Organize team-building activities, social gatherings, and themed events to strengthen connections within the community. Celebrate milestones and member achievements to foster a sense of belonging.

Coworking Memberships: Offer various coworking membership options, such as dedicated desks, hot desks, private offices, and virtual memberships, to cater to diverse work preferences and budgets.

Flexible Working Hours: Accommodate members with flexible working hours by offering 24/7 access to your coworking space or extended operating hours.

Member Involvement: Encourage member involvement in shaping the coworking community. Consider establishing a member advisory board to gather feedback and ideas for enhancing the coworking experience.

Online Community Platform: Create an online platform, such as a member portal or a private social network, where members can interact, share insights, and collaborate virtually.

Creating a successful coworking space business plan requires meticulous planning, in-depth research, and a deep understanding of your target market. With Stellar Business Plans as your consultant service provider, you can craft a compelling business strategy that aligns with your vision and attracts a thriving coworking community. Embrace the dynamic coworking industry, and let your Stellar Coworking Space shine as a beacon of productivity, collaboration, and success.

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Updated On : August 11, 2023

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Coworking Space Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Coworking Space Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Coworking Space business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Coworking Space companies.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Coworking Space business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Work Together is a new coworking space located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The space will provide a comfortable and clean setting for professionals of all industries to work in. Professionals who are interested in renting our offices can rent a private office, conference room, or a shared space depending on their needs. They can also rent offices by the day or at a monthly rate. No matter the type of office they rent or the length of their lease, all of our clients are guaranteed a clean, respectful, and professional setting for them to work in.

Work Together is led and founded by Dustin James. Dustin has been a commercial broker for ten years, and has seen an increasing demand in flexible coworking spaces. Since this is an increasing need in a world that is offering more remote and flexible working options, Dustin has decided to specialize in leasing coworking spaces to meet the working needs of the professionals and entrepreneurs of the Las Vegas area.

Product Offering

Work Together provides several offices for professionals to work in. Clients who are interested in renting our offices, can rent private offices, conference rooms, or shared spaces. They can also rent these spaces at a daily rate or monthly rate, depending on their needs.

Customer Focus

The clients of Work Together are typically business owners, investors, business executives, and realtors seeking flexible work spaces. Some clients will just need space for themselves, while others will need space for a small team of up to 15 people. Work Together will offer a variety of office space options to satisfy this diverse demographic.

Management Team

Work Together is led and founded by Dustin James. Dustin has been a commercial broker for ten years, and has seen an increasing demand in flexible coworking spaces. Since this is an increasing need in a world that is offering more remote and flexible working options, Dustin has decided to specialize in leasing coworking spaces to meet the working needs of the professionals and entrepreneurs of the Las Vegas area. His experience in the real estate industry and his connections to local leaders will ensure Work Together’s success.

Success Factors

Work Together will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Location: Work Together’s location is near the center of town and is convenient to access for all commuters and nearby residents. It’s visible from the street with many working professionals walking to and from work on a daily basis, giving passersby a direct look at our offices.
• Client-oriented service: Work Together will have a full-time assistant to primarily keep in contact with clients and answer their everyday questions.
• Management: Dustin has been extremely successful working in the real estate sector and will be able to use his previous experience to better assist his clients. His unique qualifications will serve customers in a much more sophisticated manner than Work Together’s competitors.
• Relationships: Having lived in the community for 25 years, Dustin knows many of the local leaders, newspapers and other influences. Furthermore, he will be able to draw from his ties to the community in order to build up a list of loyal and satisfied clients.

Financial Highlights

Work Together is currently seeking $500,000 to launch. The capital will be used for funding capital expenditures and location build-out, hiring initial employees, and working capital. Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

• Office Design/Build: $200,000
• Marketing and Advertising: $50,000
• Inventory and Supplies: $50,000
• Three Months Of Overhead Expenses (Rent, Salaries, Utilities): $100,000
• Working Capital: $100,000

The following graph outlines the pro forma financial projections for Work Together.

Company Overview

Who is work together.

  Work Together is led and founded by Dustin James. Dustin has been a commercial broker for ten years, and has seen an increasing demand in flexible coworking spaces. Since this is an increasing need in a world that is offering more remote and flexible working options, Dustin has decided to specialize in leasing coworking spaces to meet the working needs of the professionals and entrepreneurs of the Las Vegas area.

Work Together History

Dustin incorporated Work Together as an S-Corporation on May 1st, 2023. The company is currently being run out of Dustin’s home office but will move to a commercial location once the lease has been finalized. Dustin has also identified several office locations to lease and turn into coworking spaces.

Since incorporation, Work Together has achieved the following milestones:

• Found a location for the main office and signed a letter of intent to lease it.
• Developed the company’s branding image, social media, and website.
• Began recruiting key staff.

Work Together Services

Industry analysis.

The evolution of the coworking space concept has grown exponentially over the past ten years. According to Mordor Intelligence, over the next five years, the coworking space industry will grow at a CAGR of 11%. Several factors will contribute to this growth, as industry reports suggest:

• Higher costs associated with land acquisition and building
• Higher costs for individual office build-outs
• Higher costs for building materials overall
• Increased demand for “team or group community spaces”
• Increased purpose in resource “sustainability”
• Increased goal to minimize expenditures across the board

At the same time, as noted by Work Together, the coworking space will need to innovate more spatial designs and layouts for teams or groups that require collaboration. The team or group concept is now dominating the business world and it is anticipated that it will continue to do so for many years to come.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

The clients of Work Together are typically business owners, investors, business executives, and realtors seeking flexible work spaces in the Las Vegas area. Some clients will just need space for themselves, while others will need space for a small team of up to 15 people. Work Together will offer a variety of office space options to satisfy this diverse demographic.

The demographics of Las Vegas, Nevada are as follows:

Customer Segmentation

Work Together will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Entrepreneurs
• Remote workers
• Small teams and companies

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Work Together will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

King & Hartfield Group

King & Hartfield is a commercial broker that designs coworking spaces for small and large organizations. These rentals are on an annual basis, and they rarely allow for monthly or temporary leases. Since many professionals and teams need accommodations that are more flexible than this, we expect many local professionals to seek out our more flexible lease options.

Clarkson Coworking Connections

Clarkson provides temporary coworking offices for professionals who only need to rent offices for a few days or weeks at a time. They are specifically designed for entrepreneurs, artists, and others who only need a private space for temporary projects. Since Clarkson Coworking Connections does not offer more permanent services, many professionals and teams will seek out our offices for monthly or annual rentals.

Moss & Associates

This company has been in existence for five years and has created a short list of successful coworking space build outs. The company does not design or build out space for more than six people, working from the platform that too many people in community spaces are not beneficial to their clients. Given this limit, Work Together is positioned to succeed in the larger projects and teams that need coworking accommodations.

Competitive Advantage

Work Together offers several advantages over its competition. Those advantages are:

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Work Together will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

• Quiet and clean office spaces
• Affordable daily and monthly rates
• Client-focused services, where the company’s interests are aligned with the customer
• Service built on long-term relationships and personal attention

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Work Together are as follows:

Social Media

Dustin James will create the company’s social media accounts and invest in ads on all social media platforms. The company will use targeted marketing to appeal to our target demographics.

Work Together will develop a professional website that showcases pictures of the office spaces we provide. It will also invest in SEO so that the company’s website will appear at the top of search engine results.

Billboard Advertising

We will drive attention toward Work Together by leasing a billboard alongside major highways. Advertising on heavily traveled commute routes is an opportunity to alert large numbers of individuals who are in need of flexible working options.

Publications

The company will also invest in advertising in selected local and national publications such as professional magazines, newspapers, and other publications to build brand awareness and draw in new customers.

Work Together will charge moderate rates for its coworking spaces so clients feel they are getting a great value when renting out our offices.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Work Together. Operation Functions:

• Dustin James will be the President of Work Together. He will oversee the general operations of the organization, rent out offices to clients, and hire and train all staff. Over the next several months, Dustin will focus on hiring the following staff:
• A full time Administrative Assistant who will manage the company website and listings and assist clients with their questions and concerns.
• A Director of Marketing who will run and manage all marketing and advertising efforts.
• Janitorial staff to ensure that the offices are in clean and perfect condition every day.

Milestones:

Work Together aims to achieve the following goals in the next six months.

• 6/1/202X – Finalize lease agreement
• 7/1/202X – Design and Build Out Underway
• 8/1/202X – Design and Build Out Completed
• 9/1/202X – Hire and Train Staff
• 10/1/202X – Grand Opening
• 11/1/202X – Reach Break-Even

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The key revenues for Work Together will come from charging clients for the offices they rent from us.

The major cost drivers include labor expenses, cleaning expenses, rent, utilities, supplies, and marketing expenses.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following table outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and pay off the business loan.

• Number of clients per month:
• Year 5: 100
• Annual lease: $150,000

Financial Projections

Income statement.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Coworking Space Business Plan FAQs

What is a coworking space business plan.

A coworking space business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your coworking space business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Coworking Space business plan using our Coworking Space Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Coworking Space Businesses?

There are a number of different kinds of coworking space businesses , some examples include: Industry specialized coworking space, Business incubator, Private coworking space, and Open coworking space.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Coworking Space Business Plan?

Coworking Space businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Coworking Space Business?

Starting a coworking space business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Coworking Space Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed coworking space business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your coworking space business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your coworking space business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Coworking Space Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your coworking space business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your coworking space business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Coworking Space Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your coworking space business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your coworking space business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising.

Coworking Space Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Coworking Space Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their coworking space companies.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a coworking space business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a coworking space business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Coworking Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your coworking space business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.  

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Coworking Space

If you’re looking to start a coworking space business or grow your existing coworking space company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your coworking space business to improve your chances of success. Your coworking space business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.  

Sources of Funding for Coworking Space Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a coworking space business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for coworking space companies.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Coworking Space Business

If you want to start a coworking space business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your coworking space business plan.  

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of coworking space business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a coworking space business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of coworking space businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the coworking space industry.
• Discuss the type of coworking space business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of coworking space business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of coworking space businesses:

• Industry specialized coworking space: This type of coworking space caters to workers and entrepreneurs in a specific industry such as graphic designers, digital media professionals, or writers.
• Business incubator: This type of coworking space is specifically for startups and entrepreneurs to work on new business ventures in a supportive environment.
• Private coworking space: This type of coworking space is usually rented out by a single company.
• Open coworking space: This is the most common type of coworking space, where anyone can rent a desk or a room for a fee.

In addition to explaining the type of coworking space business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, the number of companies served, reaching $X amount in revenue, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the coworking space industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the coworking space industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your coworking space business plan:

• How big is the coworking space industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your coworking space business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your coworking space business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, schools, families, and corporations.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of coworking space business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than corporations, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.  

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other coworking space businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes other places people gather to work, such as conference rooms, libraries, and coffee shops. You need to mention such competition as well.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of coworking space business are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you make it easier for your clients to acquire your services?
• Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a coworking space business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of coworking space company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide food and beverages, hot desks, conference rooms, or fitness rooms?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your coworking space company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your coworking space business located in a busy retail district, a business district, or a standalone office? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your coworking space marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your coworking space business, including answering calls, scheduling cleaning services for the coworking space, ordering office supplies, and collecting payments from clients, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to book your Xth client, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your coworking space business to a new city.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your coworking space business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing coworking space businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a coworking space business or successfully running a small venture incubator.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will your coworking space have 20 desks, and will you charge $20 per day/per desk? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your coworking space business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a coworking space business:

• Cost of equipment and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or testimonials from happy customers.  

Writing a business plan for your coworking space is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will have an expert coworking space business plan; download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will understand the coworking space industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful coworking space business.  

Coworking Space Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my coworking space business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your coworking space business plan.

How Do You Start a Coworking Space Business?

Starting a coworking space business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Coworking Space Business
• Create Your Coworking Space Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Coworking Space Business
• Secure Startup Funding for Coworking Space Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Coworking Space Business with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Coworking Space Business
• Buy or Lease the Right Coworking Space Business Equipment
• Develop Your Coworking Space Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Coworking Space Business
• Open for Business

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Click here to see how a Growthink business planning consultant can create your business plan for you.  

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How to Write a Winning Coworking Business Plan

So often we see aspiring coworking owners and operators looking to start their business without a good understanding of the coworking business model or how their space is going to reach and maintain profitability.

Creating a business plan before you go on the journey of starting a coworking space is the best way to map out your business strategy and how you intend on making money as a business.

A well-crafted business plan can help guide decision making and give you the confidence you need to succeed. Of course plans can always change, but having a strong starting point is critical to success. 

In this guide, we’ll go through what a coworking business plan is, why you need one, and how to create a plan that covers all your bases. By the end of this article, you’ll have everything you need to be successful in crafting a comprehensive business plan.

What is a coworking business plan?

A coworking business plan is a document that outlines exactly how you will start your coworking space and create a sustainable and profitable business. If you are applying for a loan or looking to receive funding, then a business plan is not just a formality, it’s a necessity. 

Even if you aren’t looking for funding , a business plan is a good way of getting your thoughts together and making sure you have a viable business long before opening your doors or securing your location.

Benefits of a well-crafted coworking business plan

In short, having a business plan for your coworking space gives you a greater chance of overall success. Creating a business plan before opening your coworking space is needed to:

• Get a loan or receive funding
• Guide short-term and long-term strategy
• Help you make important business decisions

Here is another way of looking at it. Let’s say Steve wants to start a coworking space. He finds a property to rent in his area and starts building out the space. He looks at some of the other coworking spaces in the area and uses it to inform what he offers and how he prices it. He opens his doors a year later and…crickets. 

Because Steve didn’t have a business plan in place, he did not consider:

• Who he is targeting
• Whether this location is a good right fit for his market
• If the products he is offering are interesting to his target audience
• How he will acquire his first members
• If the cost of his services are be enough to be profitable on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis

It may feel like having a business plan isn’t necessary, especially for small or rural spaces , but as you can see, it’s easy to get off track and make the wrong decisions without a solid plan of action in place.

You don’t just need a plan when starting a business however. You’ll also want to consider creating a business plan when you are looking to grow or expand your coworking business , as your business needs may change slightly from when you first opened your space.

What are the components of a business plan for a coworking space business?

Now that you understand the importance of having a strong business plan in place, let’s take a look at the components that make up the best coworking business plans.

Business plans are generally pretty standard, regardless of the industry. The typical components are:

• Executive Summary: summary of the document in its entirety
• Company Description: description of your company including the mission statement and objectives
• Market Analysis: write-up of the market, both local and more broadly
• Competitive Analysis: deep dive into your competitors, both local and more broadly
• Description of Management and Organization: outline your team and how the organization will operate together
• Breakdown of your Products and Services: description of what you will be selling
• Marketing and Sales Strategy: how you plan to market your space and acquire customers
• Financial Projections: a breakdown of your finances and your path to profitability
• Fundraising Strategy/Sources: how you will fund your business

Each section is roughly 1-3 pages long (remember, more does not necessarily equal better). When writing your plan, optimize for clarity and completeness, while still being concise.  This article from Harvard Business Review is an excellent guide to creating a general business plan that can be applied to many different industries. Let’s take a look at each section below and how it relates specifically to coworking.

How to write a coworking business plan

Below we’ll break down each aspect of a business plan and how it applies specifically to your coworking space.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is a one-page overview that summarizes your entire business plan at a high level. It should cover who you are, the business you’ll be creating, how you’ll make money, and all other elements of the plan at large. 

Focus on creating impactful sections across the board, and then come back to your executive summary at the end. Much like an introductory paragraph of an essay, it will be easier to write an executive summary at the very end.

2. Company Description

Think of your company description as the “About” page of your business plan. Here, you’ll describe your:

Mission Statement

Why are you starting your coworking space? What do you hope your space will be able to achieve in the broader community? Consider your purpose for creating the space and weave it into your mission statement.

For Jason Jet, Founder at Grindhaus Studios , his mission is to give artists the tools and access they need to be able to scale what they do in an economical way. This guides how he makes all major decisions for his business. 

If you’re a brand new space, the history of your company may cover your personal resume and the skills you’ve acquired that will help you be successful in your role as a coworking space owner and operator. 

If you’re expanding your business, then the history will cover the history of your business up to that point, including all major milestones and successes.

Consider this section an opportunity to build the confidence needed to be successful in your business.

The biggest difference between your mission statement and your objectives is: your mission statement maps out why you do what you do, and the objectives map out what you hope to accomplish on a more tactical level.

Let’s take Jason as an example. If his mission statement is to give artists the tools they need to be successful, then his objective would be to create the number one coworking space for musical artists in the United States.

Overall, keep your company description clear and concise, and don’t get bogged down in the details. The mission statement could be two or three lines, and the history and objectives can easily be addressed through bullet points or brief paragraphs.

3. Market Analysis

Your market analysis will outline key facts and findings about the coworking market you’ll be playing in, including the local market and the coworking sector more broadly. 

This is a very important step in creating your coworking business strategy, and something that you will want to do regardless of if you are creating a business plan or not. Here are some tips for completing a thorough market analysis of the coworking market:

• Look for reports from reputable sources in the industry, such as the Deskmag annual Global Coworking survey , to get important facts and figures related to the industry
• Find communities online, like the We Run Flex community , where people are discussing coworking trends and challenges on an individual level
• Talk to operators and gauge their experience and perspective on the industry to inform your findings

Some important elements to talk about are the growth of the market, current overall trends, and your target customer and how you came to that conclusion.

For example, based on your market analysis, you found that remote workers are making up 20% of coworking space occupants with that number expected to increase. Therefore, you intend to target your coworking space towards remote workers in your area.

Another tip for this section (and your business plan overall) – support all facts and findings with credible sources. If ever a question on where a number comes from pops up, be sure you are able to back it up. 

4. Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis of your business plan breaks down the competitors in your market. You’ll want to focus specifically on coworking spaces and flexible workspaces in the area where your business will be located, as well as broader competitors that may be a potential threat.

Let’s say Georgia is opening a coworking space in her home town of Vancouver. In her competitive analysis, she’ll want to mention all of the coworking spaces in Vancouver and how she will differentiate herself, as well as large coworking brands that are expected to move into Vancouver in the near future.

Your competitive analysis is ultimately about mapping out how exactly you will win in comparison to the spaces you’re going up against. 

It’s worth mentioning that many coworking space owners and operators don’t like to think of themselves as having “competitors”. It is true that collaboration can (and does) exist in the coworking sector. However, understanding the other coworking spaces in your area is critical to understanding the viability of your business and should not be overlooked.

5. Description of Management and Organization

The description of management and organization section is an opportunity to describe the team of people you will have working with you, with a focus on their credibility and why they will help you be successful.

For many just starting off in the world of coworking, they may be a team of one or two. If that is the case, it’s worth mentioning how you will ensure success in your space in the absence of a larger team.

This could be a good opportunity to mention the coworking technology you will use to help you streamline operations and manage your space. Optix coworking software helps reduce overhead and take care of many of the day-to-day operations so that you’re able to operate a leaner team.

Integrating with an automated access control system like Kisi means you could have an even smaller team overall. This section would be a great opportunity to expand into these details, especially if you plan on operating as a small organization.

6. Breakdown of Your Products and Services

In your Products and Services breakdown, you’ll want to describe the products or services you’ll be offering in your space. For coworking businesses, this may look like:

• The core products you’ll offer ( hot desking , drop-ins, private offices, virtual offices)
• Other additional services ( childcare , marketplace, etc.)
• Amenities you’ll offer in your coworking space
• Opportunity for after hour event rentals or events in your coworking space

Finding the right mix of products to drive profitability in your space can be a challenge for new operators. We always recommend approaching it from a point of experimentation, starting with some kind of offering, and iterating on it from there. 

We also have a comprehensive guide to coworking membership plans you can offer in your space if you’re looking for inspiration on what kinds of plans to offer and how to price them. All of this will be helpful in determining the breakdown of your products and services in your business plan.

7. Marketing and Sales Plan

Investors want to know you have a plan to promote your business. This section should outline the marketing channels you’ll plan to use and give a high-level overview of your overall customer acquisition strategy.

Marketing your space is a beast in and of itself, with a lot of pieces to figure out. We wrote a comprehensive guide to marketing your coworking space that includes 23 marketing ideas for you to refer to. Use this as a starting point.

Keep in mind that your marketing strategy should be centered around your customer – who they are, what messaging will resonate with them, and where you can reach them online and in-person. With your customer at the center of the experience, you won’t go wrong. 

8. Financial Projections

Create a clear and accurate picture as to how much revenue you think you will be able to generate in your first years of business. The reality is, an investor will want to see opportunities for growth with your coworking business , so make sure your numbers are increasing, while remaining realistic.

Revenue projections is an imperfect science, but there are good places to start. The Coworking Growth Calculator by Coworking Resources can help you in creating some realistic financial projections, while giving you a better idea as to how much you can expect to make from your space.

9. Fundraising Strategy/Sources

Finally, the last section of your business plan is dedicated to how you will fund your coworking space. 

If you have received any funding up to this point, you’ll need to disclose the information for transparency. If you are seeking funding, use this section as an opportunity to outline your strategy including how much you are seeking.

A business plan can be a powerful tool in growing a successful coworking space. However, they will only get you so far. This article does a great job at outlining the pros and cons of business plans if you’re curious on what your plan can (and can’t) do for you. 

Remember, the success of your business will ultimately come down to the execution and implementation of your plan. Don’t treat your business plan like an end-all be-all. We’ve seen a wide variety of clients succeed after changing their plan significantly. Execution is the name of the game when it comes to growing a successful business, and it’s best not to lose sight of this.

Tips for writing a business plan for a coworking space

Ready to get started with crafting the perfect business plan? Follow these tips to ensure you create a cohesive plan for your coworking space from start to finish.

1. Always start with your research

The research you do around the market and your competitors should be the basis of your entire business strategy. You can’t know where to open and who to target without understanding the market first.

Be sure to answer some or all of these questions before beginning your business plan.

Market Research:

• What is the size of the market?
• What is the growth trajectory?
• What are trends in the industry?
• What is the primary demographic that it serves?

Competitor Research:

• Who are your direct competitors?
• How big are they (number of members, locations and revenue)?
• Who do they serve?
• What is their messaging and positioning?
• How do they differentiate themselves?

There are many ways to go about conducting research, as we discussed above. Coworking Resources also has a comprehensive guide on how to conduct a competitive analysis specifically in the coworking industry that serves as a great reference if you’re looking for a framework to start off with. 

2. Crowdsource knowledge from the community

The wonderful thing about the coworking community is how willing people are to share their knowledge with one another.

If you’re feeling lost on where to start with your business plan, consider reaching out to a coworking operator who has opened a successful space in the past. This can give you a sense of how to approach the project.

You can also look at other successful coworking businesses and take inspiration from them as to their:

• Business model
• Marketing tactics
• Products and services

Every space is different, but gathering insight from other coworking spaces that have been successful can be a great place to start.

3. Think about who is receiving the business plan and what is important to them

As you go through the process of creating a business plan, you may find yourself becoming unfocused and unsure how to edit your information.

Put yourself in the shoes of who is going to be receiving your plan. Who are they? What do they care about? What information are they hoping to receive from your document?

Use this to help tailor your coworking business plan to fit their specific needs.

Pay special attention to the things that are going to drive business results including:

• Market research (is there room in the market to be successful)
• Competitor research (how saturated is the space and how will you differentiate yourself)
• Products and services (what is your business model and how will it generate revenue)
• Financial projections (is your business able to grow and scale over time)

Read your entire business plan from start to finish through the eyes of who it is intended for before submitting it.

4. Be conservative with your numbers

It’s easy to get excited with your numbers. You need to show that your business is going to succeed and you want the numbers to back it up.

The problem with overestimating these numbers is that it can set you up for a tremendous amount of stress later on if your business fails to meet expectations.

It’s best practice when creating a business plan to always be conservative with your numbers and remain realistic in your expectations. This includes:

• Financial forecasts
• Market size

This article outlines ten common mistakes people make when creating a business plan, including being unrealistic with numbers and forecasts.

It’s always better to underpromise and overdeliver rather than the opposite.

5. Set measurable objectives

Goals and objectives are an integral part of any business. Throughout your business plan, you will want to make sure you are creating clear KPIs and objectives to drive your business forward.

One way of creating measurable objectives is by following the SMART goal framework. SMART goals are goals that are:

• Specific (narrow enough to be achieved)
• Measurable (quantitative)
• Attainable (realistic in the given time frame)
• Relevant (furthers your overall business goals)
• Time-based (can be measured in an amount of time)

Here’s how to apply the SMART goal framework to your coworking business plan.

• Marketing Objective: Acquire 50 new hot desking users in the first 6 months
• Management Objective: Hire a part time community manager in the first 60 days of opening

Measurable goals can help move your business forward and ensure you’re staying on track to achieve them.

Plan for success with your coworking business

At the end of the day, a plan will only get you so far. Focus on executing on the plan and remaining flexible in order to ensure you’re giving yourself the greatest opportunity to succeed.

Looking to start a coworking business? Don’t miss out on these 15 essential costs of starting a coworking space. Want to learn more about Optix and how it can help you start your coworking business? Connect with a member of our team today.

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The Ultimate Guide to Crafting a Winning Business Plan for Your Coworking Space

Table of contents:.

Business plans are cornerstone documents for any company, as they contain essential details about:

• The target market.
• The main competitors.
• Revenue and cost projections .
• Products, services, marketing strategies, and more.

This means writing down a detailed business plan is vital for both your team and outside investors looking to finance your coworking space. In this article, we’ll go over the essential topics your coworking business plan must cover and give you an outline for structuring the document in a logical way.

First, let’s start with a quick overview of business plans.

Business Plans 101 (High-Level Outline Template)

A business plan is a document describing how you plan to start, grow, and manage a business.

You can think of it as a high-level road map that shows where your business is today, where it will go, and how you plan to get it there.

There are tons of useful resources online on how to write a business plan, so we won’t reinvent the wheel here. You can check out QuickBooks’ guide to writing business plans , which proposes a 10-step structure:

• Executive summary , which is a one-page overview of the business. 
• Company description , which includes things like history, objectives, and mission statement.  
• Market research and potential , which describes your target market, including things like names, demographic info, location, company size (for B2B), and so on. When it comes to naming your coworking space, check out this article on some creative coworking space name ideas .
• Competitive analysis , which identifies other businesses selling similar goods or services to your target market.
• Product or service description , which explains what you’re planning to sell, how it works, and its unique benefits.
• Marketing and sales strategy , which goes over how you plan to get your product or service to your target market and convince them to buy.
• Business financials , which can include a whole host of documents like income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and so on.
• Organization and management , which lays out your organizational structure and key role inside your company.  
• Funding requests, which is an optional element for companies looking to raise funds.
• Appendix for official documents , which can be all sorts of documents useful to potential investors, like patents, certificates, deeds, licenses, and so on.

This outline can be a good starting point for any organization looking to build a business plan. In the next sections, we’ll cover 6 topics that are specific to coworking spaces and should be heavily featured in your business plan .

#1 Target Market and Differentiators

Your coworking business plan should answer two key questions near the start:

• Who’s your target market? For example, some coworking spaces focus on enterprise businesses looking for stable, long-term offices. Others target startups that need a small office and a meeting room but have the potential to expand rapidly. 
• What differentiators are going to attract customers from that market to your space? This typically starts with location . Are you going to be near the city center, with lots of amenities nearby, or in a more quiet and secluded suburban area? If you want more details, we have an entire guide on how to choose the right location for your space. Amenities and price can also be additional differentiators.

#2 Main Coworking Product Mix

Your coworking product mix is made up of the products you sell.

As we said in our article on creating a strong product mix , new coworking spaces should focus on three main products:

• Open spaces
• Private offices
• Meeting rooms

It’s important for your business plan to establish what percentage of the space will be allocated to each product . Additionally, it should also include information about how much you plan to charge for them and why.

For example, desks in open spaces may be available for rent on a pay-as-you-go basis, while private offices should be included in membership plans. Meeting rooms can also be included in membership plans or be available for rent by the hour.

#3 Extra Revenue Generators

The bulk of your revenue typically comes from your main product mix. However, there are also plenty of ways to add extra revenue streams.

For example, you can diversify your regular membership plans and charge more for them based on 24/7 access, for example. Or, you can create virtual memberships for businesses that want to establish a legal presence and get a reliable correspondence address.

You can also consider a host of value-added services to help you generate more revenue like:

• Secure lockers
• Half-day or day passes
• Mailroom services
• Office relocation services 
• Printing and copying services 
• Custom office design, and more

For more details on this topic, check out our article on generating more revenue for your coworking space .

#4 Marketing and Sales Plan

Once you’ve established your revenue generators, it’s time to get into the details of how you plan to get customers through the door. 

Here are some of the key questions you’ll need to answer here:

• Which marketing channels do you plan to use and why? This typically includes a mix of physical and digital touchpoints, like word of mouth, flyers, social media ads, and search engine optimization (SEO).
• How much will it cost for you to attract one customer (CAC)? CACs are highly dependent on the channel, so you’ll need to run a few initial tests before you can answer this one. 
• How much will you earn from one customer over their lifecycle with your brand (CLTV)? You can break this down by customer segments, e.g., freelancers, startups, and enterprise companies. Keeping a pulse on your CLTV will also help you refine your ideal target persona over time.
• How much will you spend on marketing and sales every month? This is usually a pretty straightforward calculation if you have a few months of experience under your belt.

If you’re just getting started and don’t have any experience with marketing and sales, check out our article on the 14 proven strategies for attracting more coworking space members .

#5 Expenses

For most coworking spaces, the biggest recurring expense is the monthly lease (except for operators using management agreements ). 

You also want to include other key costs here, such as:

• Space maintenance
• New purchases (desks, chairs, etc.)

#6 Revenue and Cost Projections

The goal of listing your revenue generators and expenses is to get a good idea of how much revenue you’ll need to cover your costs and turn a profit. 

For instance, say you have $5000 of regular expenses every month. Your projections should show how long it would take for revenue to reach and surpass that number. This is perhaps the most important part of any business plan, especially if you’re looking to attract outside investors.

In general, it’s better to be conservative than to set unrealistically high expectations and fall way below them . It’s also a good idea to factor in some unexpected expenses in your calculations.

For example, if your regular expenses are $5000, you want to reach $5500-6000 of monthly revenue before considering the space profitable on a monthly basis.

This coworking revenue calculator is a useful resource for projecting profits and losses, as well as building charts for investor decks.

Establish and Grow Your Coworking Space with OfficeRnD’s Flex Startup Program

Writing a business plan is only one step in building a successful coworking space. You also need to find the right location, promote your space, and before everything else, choose the right coworking management software . 

To help you out, we created the OfficeRnD Flex Startup program . It’s geared towards aspiring flex and coworking entrepreneurs and offers an attractive 20% annual discount on OfficeRnD Flex’s startup plan .

Apply for the Flex Startup program here.

Asen Stoyanchev

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Coworking Space Business Plan Essentials

Starting a coworking space can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor, but it’s not without its challenges. Before you take the plunge, it’s essential to have a solid business plan in place. This step-by-step checklist will help you get started.

Click here to download a free business plan template.

1. Define Your Business Model

Think about what kind of coworking space you want to create and what services you’ll offer. Ask yourself:

• What services are you offering? (e.g., hot desking, private offices, meeting rooms, event space)
• Who’s your target market? (e.g., freelancers, startups, remote workers, small businesses)
• What does your pricing model look like? (e.g., membership fees, hourly rates, monthly packages)

These are a few of the components that will make up the foundation of your coworking space business plan. As you learn more about the market and what works for your particular niche, you can revisit it and make updates as needed.

2. Do Your Research

Now that you’ve defined your business model, it’s time to do some research. This step is all about understanding the market for coworking spaces and getting a better sense of the competition. Since some spaces will have different demands in different markets, you need to make sure there is a market need for what you offer.

Additionally, you need to understand your target customers and what they’re looking for in a coworking space. Here are some specific research tasks you should consider.

Market Analysis

First, look at the bigger picture to help understand the overall trends in the coworking industry. Then you can overlay those trends on your local market to get a better sense of what’s happening in your area.

While local trends often follow national trends, there can be significant variation from one city to the next, especially if your city offers something unique that’s appealing to coworking space users.

Competitor Analysis

Once you understand the general trends in the coworking industry, it’s time to take a closer look at your local competition. This will help you know what’s already being offered in your area and where there might be gaps in the market that you can fill.

For example, maybe you’ve noticed that there are no coworking spaces specifically targeting freelancers, but there’s a large population of freelancers nearby. If that’s the case, you could consider catering your space toward that segment of the market.

Customer Analysis

In addition to understanding your competition, it’s also essential to understand your target customers, including their needs, wants, and pain points. One of the best ways to do this is to reach out directly to your target market and ask them about their coworking experiences.

You can do this through surveys, interviews, or focus groups geared toward:

• Needs : These are the basic requirements your target market has for a coworking space. For example, they might need a place to work outside of their home with reliable Wi-Fi and a comfortable chair.
• Wants : These are the things that would make your target market’s coworking experience even better. For example, they might wish for a space close to public transportation with a kitchen where they can make their own food.
• Pain points : These are the things that make your target market’s current coworking experience less than ideal. For example, they might be unhappy with the noise level or the lack of privacy.

By understanding your target market’s needs, wants, and pain points, you’ll be able to create a coworking space that’s tailored to them and meets their specific needs.

3. Assemble Your Team

No business can succeed without a great team in place, and your coworking space is no exception. As you start to put together your team, it’s important to keep your target market in mind. For example, if you’re targeting freelancers, you might want to hire a freelance accountant to help with the financial side of things.

You should also consider the skills and experience of your team members. As another example, if you’re planning to offer coworking memberships to small businesses, you might want to hire someone with experience in business development or sales.

These are all critical questions to answer as you assemble your team. By taking the time to find the right people and put together a strong team, you’ll be setting yourself up for success.

4. Create a Budget

Now that you understand the market and what your target customers are looking for, you can start putting together a budget . This will help you know the estimated costs of starting and running your coworking space. Some of the necessary expenses you should consider include:

• Rent or mortgage

5. Membership Fees

Once you’ve calculated all of your costs, you can decide how much you’ll charge for your space. You’ll need to ensure your prices are high enough to cover your expenses and leave you with a profit, but not so high that people are deterred from joining.

There are different ways you can approach this. You might want to offer different membership levels, such as a basic membership that gives access to the space during business hours or a premium membership that includes access to the area 24/7.

You may also want to consider discounts for longer-term memberships or people who sign up for multiple memberships. For example, you could offer a 10% discount for six-month memberships and a 20% discount for 12-month or more memberships.

Keep in mind that as you add more tiers, you will have more billing and invoices to keep track of. Therefore, you will need a management software that can handle billing and payments seamlessly. No matter how complex your pricing model is, a software like CoWello automates payment collection for you.

6. Marketing

You’ll need to market your coworking space to attract customers and grow your business. The cost will vary depending on the type of marketing and how much you spend. For example, if you plan to do a significant amount of online marketing, you might want to invest in a website and pay for online advertising.

Your marketing efforts will also vary depending on who your target audience is. Start by identifying your ideal customer and then craft your marketing message accordingly. For example, maybe you’ve realized there is a market for coworking spaces that offers services like childcare or pet-sitting. In that case, you want to make sure your marketing and messaging reflect that.

7. Use Technology to Make Your Life Easier

There are a lot of different software programs and apps that can help you run your coworking space more efficiently. For example, you might use an app to manage membership fees and bookings or help with marketing and promotion.

You can also use technology to make it easier for people to find and book your space. For example, you might use coworking space management software like Cowello to help manage bookings and payments.

You might also want to invest in some security cameras and access control systems to help you keep an eye on your space and make sure only members have access.

Starting a coworking space can be a great way to bring people together and create a community. But it’s important to remember that it’s also a business, and you need to treat it as such.

Do your research, create a solid business plan, and price your membership fees correctly. If you do all of these things, you’ll be well on your way to running a successful coworking space.

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How to Create a Business Plan for Your Coworking Space

In this article you will find:

This article is part of the school of coworking course through Archie. Make sure to check out the other articles to learn more about how to start a coworking space business.

1. What is a Business Plan?

Chances are, you have probably heard of a business plan before but in case you’re unfamiliar with what a business plan is, it is a written document that helps a business define who they are and how it will be profitable. 

This management tool is widely recognized as one of the first and most crucial steps in starting a business, especially when seeking investors and financing for your project. 

These documents can quickly become quite hefty due to the sheer amount of information included in them. For the same reason, it can also be rather difficult and even confusing to draft up one of your own from scratch. 

This article will review and explain the key points to include in your coworking space business plan as well as provide templates to help you get started.

Key Components of the Coworking Business Model

• Membership Tiers : Most coworking spaces offer different membership levels, such as hot desks (shared spaces), dedicated desks, and private offices. Pricing varies based on the amenities and exclusivity of these options.
• Event Space Rentals : Many coworking spaces have conference rooms and event spaces that can be rented out for workshops, meetings, or events.

Ancillary Services : Additional revenue streams might include printing services, mail handling, storage solutions, and even in-house cafes or snack bars

2. Why do you need a Business Plan?

Whether you are planning on sharing your business plan with potential investors or if you are writing it for internal purposes, this document is one of the foundational tools for kickstarting your business idea. 

Above all, you can expect to be asked to hand in your business plan anytime you are looking to raise funds for your project. If you don’t have one, raising capital will be nearly impossible as your investors won’t be able to assess the viability of your project and are unlikely to invest in a business without a promise of return on investment. 

A well-written business plan will help you clearly identify your strategy, potential roadblocks and required resources to name a few. Remember that each segment of your coworking space business plan is interdependent on the next and will serve as building blocks for one another.

3. What Goes in a Business Plan?

While there is no official set structure or length for business plans, there are some elements that should always be included. Your plan should provide as much detailed information about your business but you should be careful to keep it concise to avoid confusing or even boring your reader. Your business plan should demonstrate your expertise and dedication to the project. 

Below is an example of a coworking space business plan table of contents: 

Business Plan Table of Contents (Sample)

• Executive Summary 
• Company Description 
• Market Analysis Team and Management 
• Products and Services 
• Marketing Strategy 
• Operations Strategy 
• Financial Plan 

It is important to take note that the information below serves as a guideline for your coworking space business plan and that there is no set length for any given section. Your business plan should reflect your company’s uniqueness and lucrative potential.

4. Your Coworking Space Business Model

The following section of the article will review each point found in the sample table of contents above in detail so let’s jump right into it!

4.1 Executive Summary

This is a high-level overview of your plan. The purpose of including this summary at the beginning of your business plan is to highlight the keys points found in it for your potential investors. This summary should be persuading the reviewers to continue reading further. 

This summary will be the first section of your business plan and shouldn’t go much longer than one page. Additionally, it should be the last section you write since you won’t know what the key points to summarize are before you have written the bulk of your business plan. 

Your executive summary should include: 

• Company overview . What is the company’s mission, goals and vision? 
• The team . Who is involved in the project, and what are their roles? 
• Product and services . What is the company selling and who are you selling to? 
• Marketing strategy . A brief overview of your strategy for reaching your target audience. 
• Financial plan . What is the revenue or revenue projection, how much are investing or looking to fund?

4.2 Company Description

This next section of your coworking business plan is the basis for your entire project. Your company description should clearly inform the reviewers of who you are and what you plan to do. 

This portion of your business plan should provide clear, persuasive answers on what sets you apart from the competition. Identify the uniqueness of your product and services; is your business model solving issues in its industry? What are the strengths of your business? What advantages does it hold? 

The goal of this portion is to convince your potential investors that your business model is a good investment and should include the following points: 

• Business structure : this refers to the type of legal entity your coworking space will fall under. There are different types of structures such as sole proprietorship or partnership, each with their respective benefits. It is extremely important that you are careful with your choice since different structures are subject to different laws on personal liability, taxation, funding, etc. 
• Your industry : you will need to identify which industry your business will be a part of. For example, your coworking business is an industry of its own but if you were drafting up a business plan for a new women’s boutique then the industry would be retail. Mission statement: is a concise explanation of the reason your company exists. In other words, in a sentence, you should be able to provide the “why” behind what your company does. 

WeWork’s  Mission Statement : “Empowering tomorrow’s world at work.” 

• Vision : here you should paint a picture of the impact your company is foreseen to have on the world once it is fully realized. Ultimately, your vision should clarify what your company will bring to the industry. 

WeWork’s Vision : “WeWork was founded in 2010 with the vision to create environments where people and companies come together and do their best work…” 

• Goals : naturally, you also want to provide an overview of what you hope to achieve. You will want to include both short-term and long-term goals. Your short-term goals should be realizable within a year’s time and your long-term goals projections should be attainable within 1 to 5 years.

4.3 Market Analysis

Your business plan will require market research and analysis as well as a competitive analysis. 

The goal of this section is to provide an overview of your industry and target market and define your potential market. 

You will want to collect relevant data on your industry trends and trajectory and your target audience. Your analysis should also reveal your market size and total addressable market . 

You will need to establish a perimeter for your market and research the competition within this perimeter. For example, you could set a 10 miles radius from your location as your perimeter and conduct your market and competitor analysis within this radius. 

A good analysis should provide answers to questions such as: 

• How will your company impact those habits? 
• Why is the selected target market the right choice? 
• How is your company helping them meet their needs? 
• What are the projected future changes in your market? 
• How will you meet the projected changes? 

For the competitive analysis portion, you will want to look at what competitors are doing and why it is working or not. Consider how your competition is approaching the market and identify their strengths and weaknesses to help you visualize how you can do it better. After conducting a competitive analysis, your company’s unique offering should be well-defined. 

Below are some examples of criteria for a coworking space competitor analysis: 

• Design of their space 
• Services offered 
• Price point 

During this time, you will likely want to perform a S.W.O.T. analysis to help you clearly identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your company. 

That being said, while a S.W.O.T. analysis is an excellent exercise to conduct you should avoid including it “as is” in your business plan. Instead, try to summarize the main findings of your analysis and incorporate them in your market analysis section.

4.4 Team and Management

This part of your coworking space business plan should include details on who is running the company. 

With an organizational chart, present the internal structure of your company with the respective roles and responsibilities clearly listed. 

This section should effectively communicate how each key management role is contributing to your company’s success. 

You will also have to reiterate the legal structure of your company which you established with your business structure. Is your company a C or an S corporation? Is it a form of a limited partnership, or are you a sole proprietor or limited liability company (LLC)?

4.5 Product and Services

This section is meant to provide a clear outline of the key details of your product or service offerings. You will want to describe each selling point, whether it is a specific product or a general service provided at your company and demonstrate how it benefits the consumer. 

Consider the life cycle of your product or services and future product and services your company will offer and describe how you plan on implementing them.

4.6 Marketing Plan

The overarching goal of your marketing plan is to detail your strategy for attracting and retaining customers. A marketing strategy is ever-evolving and unique to each business. This section of your business plan should reflect this and should include both your current and future approach for marketing your company. 

Things to consider for this section: 

• How is your strategy fitting for the needs of your target market? 
• Will you be using a particular channel more than another to promote your business and why? 
• How much does your product or services cost? 
• What is the reasoning behind the price? 
• How will you put your offerings in front of the desired audience? 
• Where will you be selling your product or services? 
• What is the cost of acquisition and lifetime value of a client? 

Your value proposition is another key element of this section. This summarized statement of why the consumer should buy your product or services refers to the promised value a company vouches to deliver if a consumer chooses to buy what they are selling. 

This statement should provide some insights on the company’s intent, what it stands for, how it operates and why it deserves the consumer’s business. 

Another goal here is to put down on paper how sales will take place in practice. You will use what you’ve learned about marketing and sales again in later sections so it’s important that you thoroughly describe your strategies and include as many tactical details as possible without overcrowding the overall marketing plan.

4.7 Operations Strategy

Operations and logistics refer to the workflow strategies you plan on implementing at your company in order to make your business come to life. This section should assess your company’s needs in regards to the premises and capital goods in order to provide an in-detail plan of your operations including structures related to suppliers and production, the facilities and required equipment, etc.

4.8 Financial Plan

The financial health of your company should be your top priority. Naturally, without financial health, your business will not succeed. Your financial plan should present how you expect your business to thrive financially. 

This section should include financial projections for the upcoming years presented in the form of a financial model. 

5. Coworking Space Business Plan Templates

If you’re looking to dive into the specifics, there are several resources that can help:

• Coworking Space Business Model Canvas : A visual tool that provides an overview of your business strategy, value proposition, and customer segments.
• Coworking Space Business Model PDF : A complete guide into the intricacies of running a coworking space.

Excel Templates : F or those who prefer a hands-on approach, “coworking space business model template excel” resources can help you map out your financial projections and business strategy.

It is also a good idea to use a business model canvas to map out all of your ideas before you start. This will give you an overview of everything you need to include in your business plan.

6. Conclusion

Your coworking space business plan should remain clear and succinct. Keep in mind your audience when writing out your plan. 

If you are looking for funding, you will want to pay extra attention to the financial and marketing aspects of your business plan and include a clear exit strategy with maximum profits for your potential investors. If you are writing a business plan for internal purposes you may want to add a more in-depth description of the marketing strategy and operations. 

You’re now readily equipped to draft a comprehensive and effective business plan for your coworking space 

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Coworking Space Business Plan Template

Establish your Coworking Space venture confidently with our detailed business plan template. Designed specifically for the coworking industry, this template provides specialized market analysis and financial projections to ensure your success in offering collaborative workspaces for professionals and entrepreneurs.

Download the template today!

Features of our coworking space business plan template:.

Market Analysis: Understand your target market's needs and preferences.

Business Model: Define unique services and identify target clientele.

Financial Projections : Predict revenue, expenses, and profitability.

Marketing Strategy: Develop effective plans to promote quality services.

Benefits of Using Our Template:

Time and Effort Saving: Utilize our pre-designed template to streamline planning.

Clarity and Guidance: Stay on track with essential aspects for optimal success.

Increased Success Opportunities: Improve chances of success with a comprehensive plan.

Coworking Space Business Plan Frequently Asked Questions

Q: why do i need a business plan for my coworking space.

A: A business plan for your coworking space is crucial for guiding your success in the industry. It helps analyze the market, set objectives, and devise strategic approaches. Additionally, a well-structured plan can attract potential clients, investors, or partners interested in supporting your venture.

Q: What are the key components of a coworking space business plan?

A: A comprehensive business plan for a coworking space should include vital elements such as market analysis, your space's business model, financial projections, marketing strategies, and operational plans tailored to coworking needs. These components are essential for understanding the market, managing finances, and outlining how you will provide quality coworking services.

Q: How can a coworking space business plan help in securing funding or partnerships?

A: A well-prepared business plan demonstrates to potential investors, lenders, or partners your understanding of the coworking industry, a strong business model, and a clear strategy for delivering quality coworking services while achieving financial sustainability. Financial projections play a vital role in showcasing the potential for a return on investment. Presenting a comprehensive business plan can significantly enhance your chances of obtaining the necessary capital to establish or expand your coworking space, highlighting your commitment to providing exceptional coworking services.

We Know a Good Business Plan When we See One

Collectively, our team has reviewed thousands of business plans and has nearly 20 years of experience making SBA loans. We've also helped more than 50,000 businesses create financial projections across many industries and geographies.

Adam served as Executive Director for a SBA microlender in Indiana for over 10 years helping businesses and reviewing thousands of business plans.

Grace has built hundreds of custom financial models for businesses as well as our projection templates which are used by thousands of businesses every year.

Kyle served as an SBA loan officer for 7 years working directly with startups and business owners to review their business plans, projections, and prepare their loan package.

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Coworking Business Plan + 6 months strategy launching [PDF Download]

Business Plan for Your Coworking Space

Developing a business plan for a coworking centre can be a long and complex process, especially if you are inexperienced. However, you are an operator going for your second space. In that case, a business plan will help you improve your strategy and better define the actions to carry it out because it is a living document that needs to be updated every year as the business grows .

Whether you are opening your first or second coworking space, before investing in the project , you should first conduct a feasibility study to determine the project’s profitability and confirm that there is a business opportunity.

Once you have validated the project’s feasibility, the next step is to draw up your business plan. The feasibility study and the business plan are closely linked; the first one assures you that there is a business and sets the economic objectives , while the second one proposes the strategy and the actions to be implemented to achieve the goals.

At HWL, we have completed nearly 50 coworking projects worldwide and have the experience in Coworking Development , knowledge and resources to help you create your business plan. In this article, we explain how we can help you to make this process less complicated.

Why do you need a business plan for a coworking space?

Making a coworking business plan is essential because:

• It defines the strategy of your company and the actions to be implemented.
• It plans the growth of your business.
• It projects the financial profitability of the business over the years.
• It reduces risks.
• It improves your operations.
• In addition, it can help you obtain financing.

What are the components of a coworking business plan?

Divide the business plan into three blocks:

1. Business model validation.

2. Business development.

1. Business model validation

You elaborate on the feasibility study . This section is critical because it will help you decide whether your coworking project will work. 

Executive summary

It describes the company and provides critical conclusions once you finish the business plan. It includes:

• Overview of the company.
• Description of the partners, management team and key collaborators.
• Value proposition.
• Space allocation summary.
• Financial study summary.

Market research

A market study helps you to detect if there is a business opportunity for your coworking, who your demand is , what they need and how you can standby from your competition . It includes:

• Local environment analysis: Explore the location and detect surrounding services (bars, restaurants, gyms), nearby competitors, corporations, universities, coworking spaces, technology hubs, business centres, etcetera.
• Benchmarking of local and inspirational competitors: Compare data such as services offered, prices, size of space or number of workstations, common areas, value proposition and audience.
• Demand and needs exploration: Segment the audience and design your Buyer Persona (user type, generation, pains and needs, interests, habits, purchasing power).
• Value proposition: Identify the objectives and needs of your potential users and link them to the value proposition.

Property analysis

Hire an engineer to confirm the property is valid, comply  with the coworking activity regulations , and obtain all the necessary permits.

Space distribution

• Space allocation programme: Define your space’s different uses and needs according to your demand. With the architectural programme, you obtain the productive units to generate income in your financial plan.
• Preliminary architectural study: Preliminary design of the space distribution following the space allocation programme’s indications. An architect must dump the information from the programme into AutoCAD to validate the productive units obtained.

Business model

10-year economic and financial study under three different occupancy scenarios will project monthly revenues, operating expenses and cash flow. It also will include the Capex and critical financial profitability metrics for the space as a service business model. As a result, you will get a perfect financial picture of the business and set the financial targets to be achieved.

2. Business development

You create the strategy of your coworking business and plan all the actions to be carried out to achieve the objectives established in the financial study.

Marketing strategy

This serves to attract , engage and retain potential members of your coworking space. It includes:

• Products and services: Describe all plans, memberships, included services and additional services.
• Promotions and pricing: Document the prices you will offer and compare them with your competitors. Also include plan opening promotions, contract promotions, etc.
• Key alliances: Proposal of potential partners (associations, universities, influencers, perks).
• Sales channels: Identification of the different brokers and specific sales channels for coworking.
• Communication plan: Define the channels through which you will communicate (social networks, website, posters, events, etc).
• Community development plan: Stages and actions for the development of the community (creation, development and retention) including a programme of activities for each stage.
• User experience: Design and describe the coworker journey in all its stages, from lead generation, conversion, on-boarding, and retention to exit.
• Lead Generation Strategy (Facebook and Google ads).
• Media plan.
• Blog and SEO strategy.
• Newsletter strategy.

Technology strategy

Proposal of technological solutions for intelligent space and business management :

• Management software.
• Software integrations: electronic access, printing, platform, community, internet, etc.
• Business production tools: project manager, CRM, cloud workspace, etc.
• Description of the management team, their roles, responsibilities, tasks, remuneration and schedules for each position.
• Training plan for the team.

Operations manual

Describe how you are going to achieve the related objectives. It includes all the daily processes and tasks to be carried out by each department:

• Space or facility Manual.
• Team manual or employee handbook.
• Sales Manual (including the Coworking Agreement).
• Venue hire/ external events manual.
• Communication manual.
• Community manual (including the House Rules).

3. Strategy & timeline for the launch of your coworking business

Prepare to go to market three months before the opening and three months after .

We share with you a co-created launch strategy made by 20 coworking operators from different countries as a result of a workshop facilitated by Claire Carpenter from The Melting Pot and Vanessa Sans from HWL. You can download the launch plan with the leading strategies and action plans for setting up a coworking centre during the three months before and after its opening date.

As you can see, developing a business plan for your coworking is a worthwhile endeavour. Follow the structure we have proposed. You will become an expert capable of generating a marketing strategy, making an operational plan, and starting up and growing a thriving coworking centre. If you need help in the process, contact us .

If you enjoyed this article, you would like How to open a coworking space .

Featured picture courtesy of Aticco coworking .

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Coworking Space Business Plan

If you are planning to start a new Co-Working space business, the first thing you will need is a business plan. Use our sample coworking space business plan created using upmetrics business plan software to start writing your business plan in no time.

Before you start writing your business plan for your new co-working space business, spend as much time as you can reading through some examples of service-related business plans .

Reading sample business plans will give you a good idea of what you’re aiming for and also it will show you the different sections that different entrepreneurs include and the language they use to write about themselves and their business plans.

We have created this sample coworking space business plan for you to get a good idea about how a perfect coworking space business plan should look like and what details you will need to include in your stunning business plan.

Co-Working Space Business Plan Outline

This is the standard co-working space business plan outline which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Company Overview
• Partners/Management Team
• Service Strategy
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Plan
• Sharing and Collaboration
• Working from Home
• Cloud Computing
• Having an affordable, professional place to work and meet
• Collaborate with the community at space
• Number of members in a co-working space
• Age of space (Maturity of the community)
• Other sources of income
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers
• Bargaining Power of Buyers
• The threat of New Entrants
• Availability of Substitutes
• Rivalry among Competitors
• Our Mission
• Management Team
• Co-working Space
• Classes & Workshops
• Consulting Services
• Other Services
• Market Size
• Market Segments
• 5 Year Sales Goals
• 5 Year Sales Goals Projections
• Promotional Strategy
• Operations Plan
• Management Compensation and Ownership
• Staffing, Employee Compensation, and Work Schedule
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

Say goodbye to boring templates

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After getting started with upmetrics , you can copy this sample business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your coworking space business plan pdf and doc file. It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

Download a sample coworking business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free coworking business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your coworking business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

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How to write a business plan for your coworking space.

Starting a coworking space is a great idea because it allows entrepreneurs and freelancers to work in a collaborative environment that can help them grow their business.

Additionally, it provides a great opportunity to build relationships and network with other professionals in the same field.

However, prior to that, you must have a business plan.

Creating a business plan is essential before jumping into a new project, as it will help to identify potential risks, outline the necessary steps, and provide a roadmap for success. Additionally, it can help to secure financing and attract potential investors.

In short, a good business plan will help ensure the profitability of your coworking space .

What should be covered when creating a business plan for a coworking space? What's the basic outline for the structure? Which metrics should be part of the financial analysis? What's the fastest way to outline a comprehensive business plan?

You're in luck! This article has you covered with answers to all these questions.

One last thing: you can avoid starting your business plan from scratch.

Instead, you can download our professional business plan for a coworking space and tailor it to suit your project.

How to construct a business plan for a coworking space

Should you consider writing a business plan for your coworking space.

Yes, you should consider writing a business plan for your coworking space.

Crafting a well-structured business plan will help you to:

• get familiar with the coworking space market
• be aware of new trends and incorporate them into your project
• highlight viability factors for a coworking space
• understand professionals' workspace needs and preferences to provide a collaborative and inspiring coworking environment
• come up with a great value proposition for your shared office space endeavor
• research competitor pricing strategies
• identify strategic advantages for your coworking space
• find a business model that will drive profitability
• formulate a resilient strategy to achieve success in the short and long-term
• evaluate risks associated with operating a coworking space, including data security, facility maintenance, and tenant satisfaction

Our team has created a business plan for a coworking space that is designed to make it easier for you to achieve all the elements listed.

How to outline a business plan for a coworking space?

A business plan has plenty of facts, numbers, and indicators. It must be arranged in a manner that is easy to read and understand.

When we designed our business plan for a coworking space , we made sure it had a proper structure.

There are 5 parts within the business plan.

1. Market Opportunity

The section number one is titled "Market Opportunity."

Access relevant data and metrics for the coworking space, assisting you in analyzing the opportunities and challenges within the shared office and flexible workspace industry.

Data here is always fresh, as we update it twice a year.

2. Project Presentation

The second part is dedicated to the "Project" where you can outline your coworking space concept, amenities, membership plans, location, and the unique value proposition your venture offers to freelancers, startups, and remote workers.

Also include a short description about yourself at the end of this section.

Discuss your vision for the coworking space, your range of amenities and services, and how you plan to create a collaborative and inspiring workspace for professionals. Highlight your flexible membership options, your vibrant community, and your dedication to providing a productive and supportive environment that fosters innovation and success through your coworking space.

We composed text for you in our business plan. Modify it as needed to fit your concept.

3. Market Research

The next item on the list is the "Market Research" section.

In this section, you will find a market segmentation analysis for your coworking space.

It includes a study of other coworking spaces in the area that will be competing with you. Your space's unique amenities and competitive advantages are also highlighted. A customized SWOT analysis is included.

4. Strategy

The fourth section, "Strategy," provides a comprehensive growth plan for your coworking space, with step-by-step instructions on how to achieve high profitability.

Moreover, this section has a marketing strategy, a way to deal with risks, and a Business Model Canvas that is filled out.

5. Finances

To summarize, you'll find the "Finances" section, which includes all the financial metrics and data for your project.

How to make an Executive Summary for a coworking space?

The Executive Summary is like a quick overview of the business plan of your coworking space.

Make it short and concise, no more than 2 pages. Include only the important stuff.

It's the first section that a bank will read when you present your business plan. It should make them interested and eager to read the rest of the plan.

In the Executive Summary of your coworking space, provide answers to these questions: what services does your coworking space provide? who is your target audience? are there other coworking spaces in the area? what funding do you require?

How to do the market analysis for a coworking space?

The market study of your coworking space helps you understand external factors such as client demands for flexible workspaces, competition within the coworking industry, and emerging trends in remote work and entrepreneurship.

By conducting a comprehensive market study, a coworking space can understand the needs of remote workers and startups, provide a productive and collaborative workspace, optimize pricing strategies, and execute targeted marketing campaigns, ultimately leading to a high occupancy rate, increased memberships, and a prominent position in the coworking industry.

This is what you'll find in the "Market Research" section of our business plan for a coworking space :

• figures, data, and statistics related to coworking spaces, including occupancy rates, industry growth, and the impact on remote work
• a list of potential market segments for a coworking space
• the competitor study
• the potential competitive advantages for a coworking space

The key points of the business plan for a coworking space

What's the business model of a coworking space, business model of a coworking space.

A coworking space's business model revolves around providing shared office spaces, amenities, and networking opportunities to freelancers, entrepreneurs, or remote workers. Revenue is generated through membership fees, potentially offering additional services such as meeting room rentals or event hosting.

The business model focuses on creating a collaborative and productive workspace, delivering essential amenities and technology infrastructure, effective marketing to target professionals seeking flexible workspaces, and building a supportive community within the coworking space.

Success depends on maintaining a vibrant and inclusive coworking environment, delivering exceptional customer service, fostering professional connections and networking opportunities, and continuously adapting to the evolving needs and preferences of the coworking community.

Business model vs Business plan

Avoid conflating "business plan" and "business model."

A business model defines how a company creates, delivers, and monetizes its offerings.

In a business plan, you articulate your business model through a framework known as the Business Model Canvas.

Rest assured, there is a Business Model Canvas (already completed) in our business plan for a coworking space .

How do you identify the market segments of a coworking space?

Segmenting the market for your coworking space involves dividing your potential clients into different groups based on their professional needs, working styles, and demographics.

These categories may include factors such as freelancers, startups, remote workers, or professionals from specific industries.

By segmenting your market, you can offer a range of workspace options, amenities, and community activities that cater to each segment's specific requirements. For example, you might provide dedicated desks and private offices for freelancers and small teams, offer collaborative spaces and networking events for startups, focus on providing comfortable and productive environments for remote workers, or create industry-specific coworking spaces that cater to professionals in technology, creative fields, or other specialized industries.

Market segmentation allows you to effectively target your marketing efforts, foster a vibrant community, and provide an inspiring coworking experience tailored to the unique needs of each client segment.

In the business plan for a coworking space , you will find a comprehensive market segmentation that helps you know and understand your customers.

How to conduct a competitor analysis for a coworking space?

It's clear that you won't be the only coworking space in your city. There are other shared office spaces providing flexible work environments for professionals.

Ensure that your business plan includes an in-depth competitor analysis, which involves assessing their characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.

Ensure to identify their weaknesses (such as limited amenities and facilities, ineffective community-building efforts, inadequate networking opportunities, or lack of flexibility in workspace arrangements).

Why is it important to pay attention to these points? Well, these weaknesses definitely cause frustration for people who choose to work at coworking spaces. But you can turn this situation to your advantage by developing competitive advantages for your own coworking project.

It's what we call competitive advantages—develop them to make your business stand out.

Here are some examples of competitive advantages for a coaching practice: specialized expertise, a proven track record, a unique methodology or approach, personalized coaching, and strong communication skills.

How to draft a SWOT analysis for a shared office space?

A SWOT analysis allows for an evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a coworking space, helping to identify potential areas of focus and improvement.

As you can guess, there is indeed a completed and editable SWOT matrix in our business plan for a coworking space

The strengths for a coworking space

S stands for Strengths in SWOT, representing the project's internal factors that contribute to its success.

For a coworking space, potential strengths include a collaborative environment, flexible workspace options, the availability of amenities such as high-speed internet, and access to a wide network of professionals.

The weaknesses for a coworking space

W represents Weaknesses, which are the project's weak points that need to be addressed.

For a coworking space, potential weaknesses could include inadequate parking, limited amenities, inadequate security, and limited space.

The opportunities for a coworking space

The "O" in SWOT represents Opportunities, indicating the potential openings or advantageous external factors that can benefit the project.

In the case of a coworking space, potential opportunities may include providing meeting spaces, hosting events, offering educational classes, and providing virtual office services.

The threats for a coworking space

When we use the "T" in SWOT, we're talking about Threats, which are the external risks or challenges that the project may face.

How to elaborate a marketing strategy for a shared office space?

A marketing strategy is critical for a business plan as it details how a business will engage customers and drive sales.

A coworking space can connect with freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers in need of a collaborative and flexible work environment by implementing a targeted marketing plan that highlights the space's modern facilities, networking opportunities, and convenient amenities.

Professionals won't choose your shared office space without proper promotion; highlighting the amenities, flexible plans, and professional environment is necessary.

Have you explored marketing approaches to attract clients to your shared office space? Consider showcasing your modern workspace amenities, offering flexible membership plans, and utilizing digital marketing strategies to reach freelancers, startups, and remote workers.

If you're lacking ideas for your project's marketing strategy, don't panic.

How to build a solid financial plan for a shared office space?

A solid business plan must include detailed financial information such as projected income, expenses, cash flow, and balance sheets.

As you prepare your business plan, it is important to include revenue forecasts for your coworking space.

A relevant and credible revenue forecast is vital for your business plan to appear solid when read by investors.

Our financial plan for a coworking space is designed to be user-friendly, incorporating automatic verifications that assist in identifying and correcting any assumptions. This ensures you can build credible projections with confidence.

Naturally, you'll have to prepare an initial budget for your coworking space. Don't forget any expense (we have listed them all in our financial plan !).

The break-even analysis plays a crucial role in the financial plan, as it helps determine whether your coworking space will be profitable or not.

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The WeWork Business Model

Despite very public ups and downs over the last few years, WeWork remains at the forefront of the shared workspace industry. By quickly becoming the driving force behind the industry's growth—and thriving despite a worldwide pandemic—WeWork's success proves definitively that coworking is the new normal. At only a little more than a decade old, the brand is poised to keep growing in the coming years, especially with new CEO Sandeep Mathrani.

Today, WeWork is still shaking up the industry at every turn. Over the past few years, it has acquired tech startups such as office sign-in system Welkio and physical data software company Euclid in a move toward domination in the business sphere. The brand's app, WeWork On Demand, expanded in late 2020 and is now available in 17 major U.S. cities. And despite a disastrous downfall under founder Adam Neumann, WeWork is now on track to be profitable once again by the end of 2021.

If there is anything that the controversial story of WeWork can teach us, is that resilience is key in growing a business, as recently revealed an early strategy of WeWork was to walk into Starbucks and pitch to people working on their laptops .

WeWork's unprecedented success has prompted dozens of questions: Who are the investors behind WeWork? How does WeWork make money? What are the financial risks associated with its business model? Why do landlords decide to take WeWork as a tenant as opposed to leasing directly? The answers might surprise you.

What is WeWork?

WeWork was founded in New York in 2010 with a goal to offer coworking spaces to entrepreneurs, startup companies, freelancers, and even larger enterprises . The company grew rapidly since its establishment, making it one of the largest and most visible coworking chains in the world. It now has thousands of employees and over 800 locations worldwide, including outposts in 40 of U.S. cities and 32 countries, like Brazil, Germany, and Thailand.

What are its membership options?

Flexibility is key in WeWork’s business model: They ensure that clients no longer need to worry about long-term leases. The company offers six levels of membership: All Access, On Demand, dedicated desks, small private offices, office suites, and custom full-floor offices.

For single workers, the all-access subscription option provides access to open workspaces across the world, so members can show up whenever they wish, pick any available seat in a common area, and start working immediately. Alternatively, the on-demand option allows you to pay only when you use a space, like a desk or a conference room, on a day-to-day or hourly basis. For those who want a little more stability, WeWork offers dedicated desks that they lease to one client or one business only.

Teams and businesses of all sizes can also opt for private offices, which come equipped with furniture and can accommodate dozens of workers as businesses grow. The most personalized option is a custom build-out, which presents maximum freedom for groups that want to customize their workspace with features like CEO suites, conference rooms, or labs. WeWork scouts buildings and then transforms them, for businesses big and small: They've already done this for Facebook, Microsoft, HSBC, and Deloitte.

Who are the investors behind WeWork?

WeWork's investors have included a number of global entities, including holding conglomerate SoftBank, private equity firm Hony Capital, and real estate developer Greenland Holdings. In August 2017, SoftBank and its founder, Masayoshi Son, poured a massive $4.4 billion investment into WeWork. This included $3 billion for WeWork itself, namely through primary investment and the purchase of existing shares, and $1.4 billion dedicated to WeWork’s expansion into the Asian market: WeWork China, WeWork Japan, and WeWork Pacific. In August 2018, WeWork announced  yet another $1 billion in funds from SoftBank.

As of 2019, WeWork had raised nearly $47 billion in private equity and venture capital funding in the years since its founding. The immense interest by Asian companies such as Hony Capital, Legend Holdings, and China Oceanwide represents WeWork’s promising expansion into Eastern markets. Apart from its Asian investors, Western companies like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and T. Rowe Price have also invested in the Manhattan-based WeWork. Unfortunately, when founder Adam Neumann greatly mismanaged the company in late 2019, WeWork lost its chance at an IPO as its valuation dropped more than 90% .

After a very public demise under Neumann's leadership, the company has made an unexpected turnaround. CEO Sandeep Mathrani, who took over in February 2020, is now looking towards a possible IPO for the company once again.

How does WeWork make money?

In a nutshell, WeWork rents buildings from property owners at one price and then rents them out to clients at higher prices. Not all of the locations WeWork uses are similarly priced; buying up real estate in Baltimore or Nashville, for example, is cheaper than in New York City. These price discrepancies help keep WeWork's overhead from getting too high.

After renting the buildings, WeWork transforms them, updating everything inside and adding features like cafés, offices, and community spaces. Once finished, the company rents out the spaces for significantly higher prices. Apart from making money on rent, WeWork also provides additional services for a fee, such as partnerships with local businesses, car rentals, and other à la carte amenities.

What are the financial risks of WeWork’s business model?

WeWork pays landlords a huge amount of money and sinks even more into cosmetic updates, so it relies heavily on the revenue from renting to its clients to cover its high costs. If a location does not onboard enough clients to fill the available spaces or if the client's rental income does not cover WeWork's own rent, the company finds itself in a risky position.

As of 2019, WeWork had signed $18 billion worth of leases over the next few years and committed to renting 14 million square feet of office space worldwide. The company had written off massive losses as the cost of massive growth and valued itself at $47 billion at its peak. After a rocky few months in late 2019 and early 2020, today the company is back in the black and sees a promising future ahead. It's important to note that loss periods are not abnormal for startups, especially in the case of WeWork's unusual business model.

Why do landlords take WeWork as a tenant?

A look into the future of Coworking Spaces

The co-working market is about to be disrupted. Let's see how

From the perspective of a landlord , WeWork's business model makes sense despite the high fixed costs and long-term lease agreements. For commercial property owners and managers, it's easier to have one contract with a single large company for a fixed period than to find and lease to several different tenants for shorter periods, especially if the building is in a challenging real estate market. Overall, the managing efforts and negotiation processes are much less troublesome with one tenant, and WeWork usually leases properties for 10 years. This takes less time and resources away from the building owner while taking care of the biggest concern for landlords—vacancy rates. WeWork has also garnered enormous media exposure by attracting young, innovative businesses and curating established corporate clients.

What happened to WeWork under Adam Neumann's leadership?

There’s no arguing that WeWork , which was managing millions of square feet of office space as of late 2019, has grown astronomically since its launch in 2010.

Once one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, WeWork was on top of the coworking food chain. In late 2019, a series of shocking events surrounding Neumann's leadership decisions put the future of the company and its massive workforce in question, along with the general perception of the coworking industry and its implications on the commercial real estate market.

Below, we take a look at how and why this coworking giant went from being one of the most highly valued startups to contemplating bankruptcy in the space of 6 weeks, before Mathrani swooped in and helped bring the company back to stability in 2020.

From WeWork to The We Company

Valued at $47 billion (Softbank being the largest investor), the company rebranded from WeWork to “The We Company” early in 2019. According to reports, the decision was made to help the firm grow and reach a wider audience.

Many business journals and analysts questioned the brand's ability to turn a profit after it lost more than $2 billion in 2018. For years, industry experts in the commercial real estate and tech industry questioned the vacancy rates of WeWork locations and the overall viability of the business model amid its rapid expansion into co-living, education, childcare, and several other sectors.

What Went Wong?

In August 2019, The We Company submitted its S-1 filing in preparation for an IPO (initial public offering). Almost immediately, headlines and reactions from tech bloggers and economics experts alike criticized the prospectus and the company for its complex corporate structure, questionable business practices, negative financial projections, and inflated language.

After the filing, the company faced more scrutiny of its leadership and finances from both investors and potential shareholders. Conflicts of interest were revealed in CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann’s ownership of the “We” trademark and several stakes of the company’s real estate holdings, raising red flags among stakeholders, employees, and observers alike.

By the second week after the IPO filing, these revelations and criticisms of the company had severely damaged the outlook of the IPO, putting the company in a very fragile position along with Softbank’s $10 billion investment. Amid reports of self-dealing, sexism, and unprofessional behavior, Neumann eventually had to step down from his role as CEO and chair of The We Company in September 2019, just a few days after the company decided to delay its IPO.

As a result, WeWork’s value plummeted from $47 billion to just over $8 billion.

Adam Neumann steps down

Neumann’s reported behavior and business practices were at the heart of much of the criticisms the company received in the press. The fact that he personally trademarked the word 'We' and licensed the use of the word to his own company for $5.9 million raised red flags among executives and business experts, prompting a rollback of this arrangement soon after it came to light.

Neumann was also reported to have frequently encouraged employees to drink shots of tequila and smoke marijuana at work. This carefree attitude from the CEO, coupled with reports of an increasing lack of gender diversity among the company’s managerial staff and high-level executives, severely damaged the public perception of the company culture. Even before the planned IPO, WeWork was heavily criticized for its lack of female board members or decision-makers in general.

WeWork’s valuation plummeted more and more with every negative report about WeWork’s corporate governance practices and Neumann’s behavior, further disconcerting investors and delaying the official IPO. The turning point occurred after marijuana was found on Neumann’s company jet after it landed in Japan (where it is illegal). Shortly after this incident Neumann stepped down as CEO and drastically reduced his voting power on the board from 10:1 to 3:1. As co-founder of the company, he now only retains a non-executive chair on the board of directors, but no controlling stake in the company.

Though many company decision-makers sought to quell investor’s fears and save the IPO by removing Neumann, his exit package drew even more criticism. By leaving WeWork, the 40-year-old entrepreneur walked away with more than $1.7 billion by selling his shares to SoftBank, earning a sizeable consulting fee in the process.

SoftBank, WeWork’s biggest investor, took control of the company, with former Amazon exec Sebastian Gunningham and CFO Artie Minson filling the CEO position temporarily. Its top investors and executives re-evaluated WeWork’s path to profitability and implemented more conservative strategies to attain positive revenue in conjunction with the company’s drastically reduced valuation. These strategies include cost-saving measures like laying off of over 2,000 employees worldwide, the sale of several companies that WeWork previously acquired, and an immediate halting of the aggressive expansion of the company into new markets. Upon stepping into the CEO role in February 2020, Mathrani has continued building the company back up by cutting costs and righting the company culture.

What this means to the coworking industry

This scaling back of one of the world’s fastest-growing companies and its IPO troubles bear many similarities to large tech businesses facing the ultimate test of going public. Many coworking space operators are worried about how WeWork’s failed IPO will affect the public’s outlook on the industry.

Though recent events may be disheartening to potential investors in coworking spaces, studies show that WeWork barely scratched 2% market share in the flexible office space sector, with many of its clients being large corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. As a whole, the coworking industry has grown steadily year-over-year and demand for local, independent flexible workspaces with strong communities remains stable, and demand is expected to rise again after the COVID-19 pandemic.

If anything, the controversies surrounding WeWork serve as an example to other expanding coworking brands, highlighting the necessity of creating a sustainable company culture and a clear path to profitability in order to earn the trust of members and stakeholders alike.

Carlo Belloni

Carlo is the Project Manager and SEO Specialist at Kisi.

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2    comments

Scritto da Paolo

Ultimo aggiornamento il  09/03/2022 21:27

• 86.8K shares

Aprire un coworking è oggi uno dei business più redditizi e intelligenti, soprattutto per chi ha già dei locali inutilizzati a disposizione.

Con la rivoluzione del mondo del lavoro, il boom delle startup e dei liberi professionisti, la richiesta di uno spazio lavorativo è cresciuta tantissimo negli ultimi anni.

Grazie alla rivoluzione digitale infatti, oggi è davvero facile mettersi in proprio .

Per questo motivo c’è sempre più la necessità di poter affittare un luogo di lavoro a basso costo o per periodi brevi.

Ma anche in questo caso sarebbe riduttivo pensarlo come un modo di spendere meno per l’affitto, perché in realtà il suo valore va molto al di là di questo.

Condividere l’ufficio con altri significa anche scambiare idee e collaborare, creare sinergie tra competenze diverse e complementari.

Per molti è diventato anche un vero business redditizio ed è di questo che voglio parlarti in questo post.

Ma cosa vuol dire esattamente, aprire un coworking?

Leggi questo articolo fino in fondo e troverai tutte le informazioni necessarie per aprire un coworking di successo.

Cosa troverai in questo articolo:

Cos’è un coworking?

Questa è la definizione di coworking di Wikipedia .

” Il coworking è uno stile lavorativo che coinvolge la condivisione di un ambiente di lavoro, spesso un ufficio, mantenendo un’attività indipendente. A differenza del tipico ambiente d’ufficio, coloro che fanno coworking non sono in genere impiegati nella stessa organizzazione. Un coworking attrae tipicamente professionisti che lavorano a casa, liberi professionisti o persone che viaggiano frequentemente e finiscono per lavorare in relativo isolamento.  “

Sicuramente avrai già sentito parlare di Airbnb e di Bla-bla-car , le piattaforme per l’affitto di stanze e l’uso di auto per viaggiare condividendo il proprio mezzo di trasporto con altri.

Queste startup innovative, come anche le attività di coworking, permettono di condividere degli spazi o dei mezzi per ottimizzare i costi di gestione.

La sharing economy , grazie al suo modello di business intelligente ed accessibile a tutti, sta conquistando ogni giorno sempre più persone in tutto il mondo.

L’idea alla base del coworking è fondata su un semplice concetto: se anziché possedere un bene lo condivido, il risparmio per tutti è assicurato!

Ma non di solo risparmio si tratta….

In realtà l’economia della condivisione è una vera e propria filosofia, che tende anche a ridurre gli effetti negativi di un eccessivo consumismo e del rischio di isolamento a cui ci espongono le tecnologie.

Da qui nasce l’idea geniale del coworking:  ovvero usufruire di uno spazio lavorativo in condivisione a costi contenuti.

Come aprire un coworking?

Innanzitutto prima di aprire un coworking, dovresti assolutamente studiare molto bene la sua localizzazione.

Ci sono zone delle principali città italiane come Roma e Milano in cui i coworking pullulano e altre che invece risultano totalmente scoperte.

In generale le zone ad alta produttività, come le città ed in particolare le aree commerciali ben servite dai mezzi sono quelle più appetibili.

Ad esempio, aprire un coworking a Milano è stata sicuramente un’idea vincente per molti imprenditori.

Ma solo se saprai creare un offerta di valore per i tuoi utenti, in modo da differenziarti dalla concorrenza delle attività già presenti.

In secondo luogo occorre capire se la località in cui vuoi avviare il tuo business ha le caratteristiche giuste.

Sicuramente un luogo dove ci sono molti giovani, liberi professionisti dei settori tecnologico e creativo è più promettente di un paese o quartiere popolato prevalentemente da persone anziane.

Un altro aspetto da tenere in considerazione è che per aprire un ufficio coworking servono quasi sempre spazi medio-grandi.

L’ideale sarebbe dai 200 metri quadrati in su, al di sotto di questi rischi di non avere una redditività sufficiente a coprire i costi.

Anche perché il tuo business prenderà il volo solo se saprai sfruttare al meglio gli spazi: non solo uffici in condivisione, ma anche organizzazione di eventi, corsi e seminari da cui potranno derivare entrate aggiuntive.

Più avanti esamineremo più in dettaglio l’iter burocratico, la normativa da rispettare, il business model e le migliori opportunità per aprire un coworking in franchising.

Ora però vediamo subito insieme quanto costa aprire un coworking…

Quanto costa aprire un coworking?

Aprire un coworking può costare da qualche migliaio di euro a molto molto di più…

Tutto dipende dalla grandezza degli spazi e dalla localizzazione della sede.

L’affitto dei locali è difficilmente calcolabile, in quanto varia molto tra una località e l’altra e dai servizi offerti.

Aprire un coworking  a Torino, Bologna, Firenze, Roma o Milano  ad esempio avrà costi di affitto molto diversi da quello in un centro di provincia, anche se le grandi città possono riservare sorprese interessanti.

Spesso infatti le amministrazioni comunali mettono a disposizione di queste imprese, soprattutto se gestite da giovani o da donne, dei locali in immobili pubblici con affitti calmierati.

Un’altra opzione che puoi valutare per creare degli uffici in condivisione , è quella di affittare alcuni locali che si sono liberati presso un’azienda che abbia avuto necessità di ridurre il proprio raggio di azione.

Oltre alle spese per l’affitto dovrai considerare anche quelle per i servizi essenziali come:

• arredamenti da ufficio
• i pc e le attrezzature informatiche
• la rete informatica dell’ufficio
• la connessione wi-fi
• le utenze (in particolare quella per la corrente elettrica)
• il personale per la gestione e per lo sviluppo commerciale dell’attività

Per abbattere i costi del personale potresti anche valutare la possibilità di un co-marketing: concessione dello spazio a uso ufficio gratuito o a prezzo scontato in cambio di ore di lavoro.

Infine non dimenticare di informarti su bandi, sia italiani che europei, che permettono di accedere a fondi per finanziare questo tipo di attività.

Numerose ad esempio sono le opportunità di ottenere incentivi, finanziamenti per l’imprenditoria femminile, fondi europei e agevolazioni per giovani imprenditori.

Se vuoi saperne di più, ti consiglio di leggere subito questo articolo su come ottenere finanziamenti a fondo perduto per la tua attività.

Come aprire un coworking: normativa e requisiti necessari

Mettersi in proprio è sicuramente un grande passo nella vita e per affrontarlo al meglio bisogna sempre conoscere il più possibile il settore in cui andrai ad operare e la concorrenza con cui avrai a che fare.

Dopo aver analizzato i vari aspetti generali di questo tipo di attività, vediamo ora in pratica  come fare per aprire un coworking , ovvero quali sono i passi necessari da compiere da un punto di vista burocratico.

La prima cosa da fare è decidere il tipo di società da costituire.

La scelta spazia tra diverse possibilità: Srl, Cooperativa sociale, Associazione o Fondazione, e va fatta anche considerando le proprie necessità a livello amministrativo/finanziario ed il proprio target di riferimento.

Una volta scelta la forma societaria, magari facendo affidamento ad un commercialista per qualche consiglio, dovrai poi rispettare tutte le normative di questo settore.

Ecco quali sono gli adempimenti burocratici richiesti per aprire un coworking:

• Dichiarazione di inizio attività (SCIA) presso il Comune interessato
• Comunicazione unica per la nascita dell’impresa presso la Camera di Commercio di riferimento
• Apertura della partita IVA e relativi adempimenti fiscali
• Iscrizione all’Inail
• Valutazione del rischio e dell’agibilità dei locali presso l’Asl

Se la burocrazia non è il tuo forte e non vuoi impazzire a gestire tutto direttamente, puoi valutare di avviare un coworking in franchising.

Aprire un coworking in franchising  potrebbe essere una buona opportunità per avviare questo splendido business sfruttando il know-how di imprenditori del settore che hanno già avuto successo e che condivideranno con te le loro conoscenze, oltre a fornirti tutto il supporto necessario in fase di start-up.

Aprire un coworking conviene?

Aprire un coworking oggi può essere un’attività davvero redditizia e duratura.

Il coworking è un settore in crescita costante e probabilmente per alcuni anni non accennerà a fermarsi.

Un’opportunità vincente soprattutto per chi ha degli spazi vuoti inutilizzati o chi ambisce a lavorare in ambienti giovani e stimolanti.

Il coworking in Italia è un business molto attuale e proiettato verso il futuro con grosse potenzialità di sviluppo.

Se vuoi  avviare un’attività redditizia devi conoscere molto bene innanzitutto il settore in cui andrai ad operare, ma non solo…

Ti consiglio davvero di non improvvisarti imprenditore, ma di studiare e informarti prima di investire anche solo 1€ nella tua nuova attività.

Dovrai imparare soprattutto le migliori strategie di marketing e business startup fondamentali per avviare con successo la tua nuova attività.

E tu sei pronto per lanciarti nell’economia della condivisione?

Se vuoi davvero avviare un coworking di successo ,  scarica subito il mio Report e parti con il piede giusto!

In bocca al lupo per il tuo progetto 😉

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Se non l'hai già fatto, metti un mi piace e condividilo con i tuoi amici :) 

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A proposito dell'autore

Dopo aver conseguito la laurea in Marketing e Comunicazione Aziendale ho avviato diverse attività in vari settori. Esperto in organizzazione eventi, digital marketing, brand positioning, digital trasformation, lead generation, PPC Google Ads, landing pages design, conversion rate optimization, UX & UI, growth hacking e marketing automation. Ogni giorno aiuto imprenditori a trovare nuovi clienti, aumentare le vendite e il fatturato delle proprie aziende.

Ciao grazie per le dritte. Ho una domabda dafarti: quabdo parli di Associazione, che intendi? APS?

Ciao Monica, grazie a te! Perdonami ma non capisco la tua domanda.. Puoi spiegarti meglio?!

Altri contenuti interessanti che potrebbero piacerti:

Mettersi in proprio

Come cambiare vita: 10 consigli per cambiare la tua vita in meglio

Idee imprenditoriali

Come fare un planning mensile e migliorare la tua vita in 5 mosse

Come raggiungere gli obiettivi efficacemente: 5 strategie infallibili, come aprire una partita iva online: normativa e iter burocratico.

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If you’ve never sat through a business class, you might never have created a SWOT analysis or financial projections. Templates that offer guidance—in plain language—about how to fill in each section can help you navigate sometimes-daunting business jargon and create a complete and effective plan.

Knowing you’ve considered every section

In some cases, you may not need to complete every section of a startup business plan template, but its initial structure shows you you’re choosing to omit a section as opposed to forgetting to include it in the first place.

Tips for creating a successful business plan

There are some high-level strategic guidelines beyond the advice included in this free business plan template that can help you write an effective, complete plan while minimizing busywork.

Understand the audience for your plan

If you’re writing a business plan for yourself in order to get clarity on your ideas and your industry as a whole, you may not need to include the same level of detail or polish you would with a business plan you want to send to potential investors. Knowing who will read your plan will help you decide how much time to spend on it.

Know your goals

Understanding the goals of your plan can help you set the right scope. If your goal is to use the plan as a roadmap for growth, you may invest more time in it than if your goal is to understand the competitive landscape of a new industry.

Take it step by step

Writing a 10- to 15-page document can feel daunting, so try to tackle one section at a time. Select a couple of sections you feel most confident writing and start there—you can start on the next few sections once those are complete. Jot down bullet-point notes in each section before you start writing to organize your thoughts and streamline the writing process.

Maximize your business planning efforts

Planning is key to the financial success of any type of business , whether you’re a startup, non-profit, or corporation.

To make sure your efforts are focused on the highest-value parts of your own business planning, like clarifying your goals, setting a strategy, and understanding the target market and competitive landscape, lean on a business plan outline to handle the structure and format for you. Even if you eventually omit sections, you’ll save yourself time and energy by starting with a framework already in place.

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Business plan template FAQ

What is the purpose of a business plan.

The purpose of your business plan is to describe a new business opportunity or an existing one. It clarifies the business strategy, marketing plan, financial forecasts, potential providers, and more information about the company.

How do I write a simple business plan?

• Choose a business plan format, such as a traditional or a one-page business plan. 
• Find a business plan template.
• Read through a business plan sample.
• Fill in the sections of your business plan.

What is the best business plan template?

If you need help writing a business plan, Shopify’s template is one of the most beginner-friendly options you’ll find. It’s comprehensive, well-written, and helps you fill out every section.

What are the 5 essential parts of a business plan?

The five essential parts of a traditional business plan include:

• Executive summary: This is a brief overview of the business plan, summarizing the key points and highlighting the main points of the plan.
• Business description: This section outlines the business concept and how it will be executed.
• Market analysis: This section provides an in-depth look at the target market and how the business will compete in the marketplace.
• Financial plan: This section details the financial projections for the business, including sales forecasts, capital requirements, and a break-even analysis.
• Management and organization: This section describes the management team and the organizational structure of the business.

Are there any free business plan templates?

There are several free templates for business plans for small business owners available online, including Shopify’s own version. Download a copy for your business.

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