Maybe you can enlighten me about what I'm getting here? It's $20/day if I want to drop in and work? What are you offering me that a coffee shop or bar does not?
Or the $325/mo? But I don't even get to keep my stuff there?
Do I get access to a conference room or a receptionist or something like that?
Peace and quiet; no screaming babies or giggling teenagers or laughing office workers on break. No espresso grinder in your ear or frappucino blender. No smell of an employee warming up a panini full of stuff you hate.
For $325/mo though I'd better get my own desk and a place to stash my things.
If it's peace and quite you're after, go to a library...
Isn't that what a lot of these hackerspaces/workspaces basically ammount to? Privately-funded libraries without the books? Or maybe with soldering irons instead of books?
Actually, most coworking spaces have a kitchen area with a coffee maker and coffeebeans grinder and a microwave where people most definitely warm stuff up. You are dead on with the "quiet" part though.
Yep, we've got a kitchen (and micro, and coffee pot, etc) at my co-working space in brooklyn.
And, yeah, the fact that it's a work environment (to respond to further up this thread), is a huge benefit. Way easier to focus here than at a coffee shop or at home.
Permanent storage areas and desks are common at the pricier places (I'm pretty sure Cowerking is offering you your own desk space).
In other spaces, like the one I work at, we have a setup that's really dynamic and flexible so we can re-purpose the room, so we provide everybody with large lockable cubby-style storage. Thus, we're a lot cheaper, too, than places that offer your own desk space.
Another advantage to spaces like this is that you don't have to take the risk of leasing a commercial space yourself if you want an office out of your home. And I think that's valuable in and of itself (CRE leases are often for 3 years in many places). My space is $200/mo and it's a write off for our company that's a heck of a lot cheaper than leasing our own office.
[ by "my space" I mean, the one I work at, and by "our company", my boss's ;-) ]
Or the $325/mo? But I don't even get to keep my stuff there?
Do I get access to a conference room or a receptionist or something like that?