How We Built a Coworking Space
Well, we did it. Yule and I have opened Good Axe Preston for business.
And man, has it been a journey. In twelve months we have learned so much about an entire industry and exactly how the ‘cake is baked’ when it comes to investment in start-ups. In this Journal entry, Yule and I take a deep dive into the process of opening a new business that we thought would be a ‘no brainer’ for investors. We unpack why we decided that a co-working space was an ideal business, and we detail the risks and opportunities involved in this venture. There were many assumptions we made that served us, and others that did not. We discuss navigating financial uncertainty and the challenges of finding the right site and the most appropriate approach to fit-out.
We hope this Journal entry informs your business decision-making, as we share the experience of building a baby business from ideation through to ‘doors open’.
Good Axe and Creating a Coworking Brand
I’ve been based in co-working spaces for nearly 14 years. Yule has been likewise. That’s a lot of time experiencing what worked and what did not about communal, commercial spaces.
When we returned to our luxe communal office in the city post-pandemic, we knew it wasn’t going to work. It isn’t that there was a problem with the coworking space (we loved it, quite frankly). It was simply too far from home and too far from our small child’s daycare. Locally, there were no coworking spaces. And yet we knew (from our peers and from vox-popping the community more generally) that there was indeed demand for professional-quality communal workspaces in Melbourne’s outer suburban communities.
As ‘do-ers’, our philosophy is that if something isn’t there … you build it your damn self. Thus, Good Axe professional coworking spaces was born as a brand.
We understood the benefits of a truly collaborative and managed professional space, and we wanted to build a sustainable family business to house our own principal businesses and to house other professional brands. Reducing commute times is important to the life of the individual and the family (however that looks for you!), as it means more time spent doing things you love, less time travelling, and more time in the community you live. This strengthens economies, real-world relationships - and of course - reduces our ecological footprint.
The Good Axe values
We view the ideal working life as whole-self integrating. That essentially means: a space that acknowledges you are a human that deserves comfort and support. The values we bring to Good Axe are:
Inclusion
Good Axe should welcome and accommodate all respectfully.
Courtesy and Collegiality
Good Axe remembers who you are, and witnesses your everyday with enthusiasm and positive regard.
Generosity
Cheapness is not OK. In handwash or in spirit.
Community wellness
Good Axe should provide opportunities for colleagues to learn from one another, and to enjoy the support of their peers. Spaces for rest are as valuable as spaces for work.
Good Axe // The Opportunities
The cheery people you’ll meet at Good Axe Preston HQ.
Yule and I felt confident to progress on bringing Good Axe to life because of a conflation of opportunities including a scarcity of competitors, a growing community of professionals familiar with contracting, and changed workplace values around flexibility. Many organisations now recognise that employees want the benefits of both working independently and coming into a shared space (whether that is the business’ principal location, or a ‘third space’ like Good Axe.
To ensure Good Axe enjoyed market awareness, we built it like any other brand: a full website, offering and most importantly a tenant waitlist.
What did we learn?
Wow. What didn’t we learn? As a business owner of 14 years, I like to think I’ve seen a few things in my time. I felt completely confident that I’d be able to raise the investment funds necessary for drive Good Axe.
I was wrong. But in being wrong, I learned exactly how the ‘investor’ cake is baked - and let me tell you that it has nothing do to with the quality or market-testedness of a business concept. We worked with our accountants to make sure we had all the credos necessary to show when Good Axe investors would begin to receive profits. It was within three years. At no point did any investor suggest that the offering wasn’t a sound one; the biggest issue was that it simply wasn’t a big enough project to be considered.
Private investment firms weren’t interested; they were mostly peopled by boomer-era property investment-centric Directors who questioned whether there was any value in coworking full-stop. This was frustrating to say the least. Family offices (essentially high net worth family groups under management) were our best bet, but (and here’s the golden takeaway for you!) such groups are only interested in a $5 million investment at the lower end. This explains why some of the corporate co-working spaces you might be familiar with explode onto the market with multiple sites in the same city and luxurious fit-outs. It’s not about making money; loss-making is just as much of benefit to commercial investors.
We didn’t need anywhere near this sum of funds. And we didn’t want Good Axe to be a growth-only, loss-making venture with the aim of off-loading it to other investors before its value topped out. We want to grow an ultimately cash-flow positive business that is more than speculative. Which is why we’ve done it with our own limited casheroonies.
Depending on your economy, money is much harder to get than you might imagine as a seasoned business owner. However; we also found a community of ‘helpers’ who supported us to refine our initial offering and to prioritise non-negotiables in the Good Axe launch. You can learn more about these stellar individuals on my podcast Sell Less, Mean More. There were absolutely periods of time in the past year when Yule and I were more than discouraged; we were crying into our porridge and feeling hopeless. At this time we looked for support which helped us get the show on the road with a bit of rest in our back pocket, and fresh eyes.
The Future of Good Axe
As we grow into our hero space and look for our next northside location (yaaass we’re going to grow, fam!), we will be investing heavily into our vision of an inclusive, welcoming coworking space. The additional amenities we look to offer our community include:
Dedicated parent’s room
Budget for regular social, facilitated member experiences
Dedicated media space
Soundproof pods
Additional, hireable large meeting and event space with AV
Beauty and art in every GoodAxe space
Ultimately, delivering on the Good Axe promise was a painful, realpolitik experience and an exercise in radical self-determination. We got real about our budget, our capacity and our ‘must haves’, and found the right location at the right cost. We pushed ourselves to furnish Good Axe in a way that honoured our promise to you, and we are proud to welcome you to our space.
Enquiries on your dedicated Good Axe deskspace: chop@goodaxe.com.au
