The number of independent workers has risen over the number of permanent workers over these years due to the increased intent of remote working and independence.
This has forced people out of their homes, to work in a relatively productive and convenient environment. Cafes, coworking spaces and even the basement of your home are being chosen by people to work remotely.
The chart below shows the ratio of people working in different places.
The relatively greater number of people working at a coworking space rather than a cafe is due to the advantages it has over cafes.
But, as time progresses, the thin line between cafes and coworking spaces are fading out, and a hybrid business trying to cater both the functionalities are taking space in the market.
What is a coworking cafe?
Coworking cafes are a bit of a posh cafe that serves all the facilities of a cafe, providing them with a good internet connection and other amenities of a coworking space.
Coworking cafes try to bring together the cosiness of a cafe and the productivity in a coworking space. Usually, they present the users with a membership with access to food and beverages from the cafe along with amenities. Many co working space in Pune have been trying to incorporate cafe vibes too within the spaces.
While there are pros and cons to this, comparing the coworking spaces and cafes would do the job to know how far coworking cafes have been successful in complementing each other.
Coworking cafe – Pros and Cons
The best thing about working at a coworking cafe is the unlimited coffee and pastry that you can have during your work. As coffee can help you with being productive and steer concentration into work, more of it can badly affect your health too.
Being at the coworking cafe can give you coffee refills, but make sure you can be in the limit of the required amount of caffeine.
Your perfectly neat table will be a nice space for you if you are a freelancer working on your own. Because being a team and getting the work done at the cafe can be a bit of a tedious job in a cafe. If you think a cafe is not the place that you need to work, then you are always welcome to hit a Coworking in HSR Layout.
Coffee shops can also run out of plugs, leaving with you no choice for a backup power supply. Also, internet connection can also get worse if a lot of people gets connected over the network, and the coffee shop does nothing to widen the bandwidth.
The constant chatter in the background and the noise of the coffee machine might take away your concentration from your work.
Also, when you need to hit the washroom or go outside to make a call, the gadgets you use might have to be left there unattended or carry them wherever you go, due to the lack of security and guarantee when you work in a cafe.
A likely seat at your cafe with a power plug is not guaranteed always when you come to a cafe to work. This can even make it harder to work.
And then again, you will have to find places that are welcoming to the workers who might use their cafes for hours, filling a spot which could have been used by someone else.
Coworking spaces- The pros and Cons
Coworking spaces are for those people who want to take their work seriously and professionally. It is best suited for people who want to work in teams and a calm environment is inevitable for a group discussion.
Coworking spaces will need to be having a paid subscription, which avails you the access to all the required amenities, good internet connection and a cafe, which at times you will need to pay apart from the subscription fee. You can also choose a space that you like- a hot desk, a cabin, a meeting room or the walkway.
Taking about the advantages, at the coworking spaces, you can always make a reservation for your favourite spot and you will be assured of enough plug points and a strong Internet connection along with the amenities like printers, scanners etc.
You can also use the coworking space for the address of your business, giving you a more professional look on your business rather than asking the cafe management to handle the posts for you.
You can use meeting rooms at the coworking space, where you can have a meeting with your team, and also have video calls with your client.
The productivity while working in a coworking space rises out of the collective effort of being surrounded by like-minded people aiming success and triumph. This serves as motivation and inspiration from the air thickened by the entrepreneurial urge to anyone who works in coworking spaces.
Networking is something that you will always get out of a coworking space and might not get from a cafe. You can get decent contacts and new strings to pull when required to fuel your business.
Bringing everything together-coworking cafe
At a coworking cafe, being a paid subscriber, you will be promised with plug points, coffee, snacks and a decent internet connection any time.
A decent table, that you can reserve earlier, with safety guaranteed for your gadgets will be available, but when it comes to networking, it can be a bit of a setback for a coworking cafe.
A meeting at a coworking cafe in person, or on a video call is unimaginable with all the hustles and noise happening all around you, giving a less professional look on you.
Communication, Networking, and motivation, which are some of the most specific reasons for the existence of a coworking space do not get addressed at a coworking cafe. You might not be able to talk to the other coworker in a cafe and maintain a constant loop, as people might not be consistent at a coworking cafe.
Coworking cafe is best suited for people who need to work for a few hours or maybe a few days, while they are in the town. People who work remote continuously or are freelancers must choose coworking space, a smarter choice.