Believe it or not, starting a business is actually easy. A great idea, a bit of planning, a bit of spare cash and there you go. What no-one tells you it that the challenge isn’t in starting it, but keeping it going – making money today and ideally knowing that you can make money tomorrow, next week, next year and beyond. And if that wasn’t challenge enough then, as entrepreneur Levi Roots recently lamented, the whole concept of ‘self-employment’ highlights the fact that the journey you embark on can be and for the most is a very lonely one. Even when you’re lucky enough to have a partner and you each support one another through the tough times there will inevitably be, there will be times so tough that even together it still feels lonely.
The unique and rather intriguing concept of co-working, often known as ‘Jelly’, began in the US less than a decade ago to enable freelancers to connect with ‘real people’, and simply to break the cycle of lone – and often lonely – working practices. Yet more interestingly, it was so named after the initial snack of jelly beans provided for attendees! The concept itself is, overall, a really simple one, as business bods and corporate homeworkers alike meet, laptops in tow, on a regular basis at a nominated venue, more simple still just to work. For some, and particularly those with family at home, it can be a quiet place to escape to, and for those escaping from too quiet a place, it’s great to be back in the buzz of clacking keyboards and pinging mobile phones. Throw in a good dose of chinking mugs – ours is in a really friendly local pub, so throw in the lingering aroma of veritable soul food to tempt you down at lunchtime too – and you could almost be back in the corporate swing, although this time without the inherent politics.
So is it networking? No. Yes you might find a contact or two along the way and exchange the odd business card for reference and post-Jelly catch up, but that’s not the point. Is it a meeting? No, not really. Yes, technically you meet, but there’s no agenda… other than your own ‘to do’ list. The premise is basically for you, as an attendee, to do what you normally do, but in the company of others, although the natural social environment means that ideas and indeed problems (if no-one minds) can be shared and ideally the latter thus halved. A real eye-opener for most, and particularly newbies to the field of ‘going-it-alone’ is that the problems you’re encountering are not unique and, in many cases, ‘solveable’ with a little advice and experience from those who’ve already been there and have several t-shirts.
Who goes is always a valid question too, and from experience you couldn’t hope to create a more diverse group, but it doesn’t really matter, as the ‘common ground’ on which discussions are built focuses on the collective challenges of making work, and particularly your own business, well… work. So forget the ‘it’s not really me’ apprehensions, get off the sofa, and go – you’ll never feel lonely again.
The unique and rather intriguing concept of co-working, often known as ‘Jelly’, began in the US less than a decade ago to enable freelancers to connect with ‘real people’, and simply to break the cycle of lone – and often lonely – working practices. Yet more interestingly, it was so named after the initial snack of jelly beans provided for attendees! The concept itself is, overall, a really simple one, as business bods and corporate homeworkers alike meet, laptops in tow, on a regular basis at a nominated venue, more simple still just to work. For some, and particularly those with family at home, it can be a quiet place to escape to, and for those escaping from too quiet a place, it’s great to be back in the buzz of clacking keyboards and pinging mobile phones. Throw in a good dose of chinking mugs – ours is in a really friendly local pub, so throw in the lingering aroma of veritable soul food to tempt you down at lunchtime too – and you could almost be back in the corporate swing, although this time without the inherent politics.
So is it networking? No. Yes you might find a contact or two along the way and exchange the odd business card for reference and post-Jelly catch up, but that’s not the point. Is it a meeting? No, not really. Yes, technically you meet, but there’s no agenda… other than your own ‘to do’ list. The premise is basically for you, as an attendee, to do what you normally do, but in the company of others, although the natural social environment means that ideas and indeed problems (if no-one minds) can be shared and ideally the latter thus halved. A real eye-opener for most, and particularly newbies to the field of ‘going-it-alone’ is that the problems you’re encountering are not unique and, in many cases, ‘solveable’ with a little advice and experience from those who’ve already been there and have several t-shirts.
Who goes is always a valid question too, and from experience you couldn’t hope to create a more diverse group, but it doesn’t really matter, as the ‘common ground’ on which discussions are built focuses on the collective challenges of making work, and particularly your own business, well… work. So forget the ‘it’s not really me’ apprehensions, get off the sofa, and go – you’ll never feel lonely again.