Co-working spaces have disrupted the traditionally persisting work culture and the market is witnessing a surging growth since past few years. Co-working spaces are typically business services provision model that provide services such as office equipments, rentable conference room/board rooms, communal printer/copier/fax, shared kitchens, bathrooms and lounges and other facilities with a shared work environment for independent workers and groups of workers who are short of a work space.
As per reports, 40% of the worldwide workforce would be freelancers, temporary workers and start-up entrepreneurs by the year 2020, which will harness the growing demand for co-working spaces in near future. So, what is it that actually fuels the growth of this nascent market in India? Read on to know five business trends igniting the growth of co-working industry massively.
#1 Growing Freelance Economy
Ever since the world has gone technologically advanced, concepts like work from home and freelancing are becoming acceptable among the work culture across the world. Statistically speaking, India has now roughly 15 million freelancers based mainly in the urban areas and the number of freelancers is anticipated to get doubled every five years until 2035.
The exponential growth in the freelance economy is directly proportionate to the growth of co-working spaces as co-working spaces are actually one of the most sought-after places for freelancers to work. A space that has all the essential requirements of an office and is available anytime is all that a freelancer needs!
#2 Larger Enterprises embracing the trend of Co-working Spaces
Not just the start-ups and freelancers fancy this new workspace model, but many large enterprises are also showing their interest in the co-working spaces to maintain their values of caring for their employees. By giving their employees office spaces that do not compromise on the standards, bigger enterprises are cutting off the cost of maintaining their own office workspace and recruit as many talents as possible, hence increasing output and productivity simultaneously. Big players like Amazon and Starbucks are embracing the trend for their own benefit and contributing to the growth of the fledgling.
#3 Niche Co-working Spaces
Co-working spaces serve diverse amenities such as fast WiFi, conference rooms, snack bars, gaming zones etc to make it a comfortable and fun environment for its customers, yet they are more generic in nature. They are for all kinds of people regardless of their jobs and personalities. So, niches in co-working space are likely to emerge so that co-working space providers can cater to particular industries. This trend is emerging in the co-working space market and is going to become a prominent one in the near future, opening ample opportunities for innovations in the field.
#4 Tier II markets to own the trend
With the office rents continuing to move upwards in India, co-working spaces are providing opportunities to entrepreneurs in the smaller cities, mainly in the tier II cities. As per reports, it is revealed that co-working spaces in tier I and tier II cities could touch 6 to 10 million sq ft by 2020, which suggests that the smaller regions are going to own the trend for their own profits.
#5 Franchising Model to Dominate the Market
Big players in the co-working space are running through franchise models and are earning greater profits in their field. Brands like Co-offize and Innov8 are the established players in the field and operate via franchising model. With franchising coming into the picture, the reach of such concepts are multiplied as franchising is a very low-cost model. The co-working franchises are going to take over the whole market in the coming future.
