When it comes to scaling coworking spaces sustainably, automation is your best friend. In a coworking space, you likely have a wide range of responsibilities, from member assistance to accounting and marketing.
Using software that’s designed for coworking spaces will help you get those tasks done faster. Your members will have a better booking experience and your space will run more efficiently.
Here are hybrid workplace best practices for choosing a platform that will boost your performance without breaking the bank.
What Is Coworking Management Software?
Coworking spaces are casual work environments and community centers with shared workspaces, conference rooms, or private offices. It’s a space where people from different backgrounds can come together to create, collaborate and share ideas.
Software For Coworking Spaces: Five Benefits
- Manages daily operations: tracks members and resources.
- Data management: Collects payments, reports, and generates data.
- Improves user experience.
- Helps scale your space.
- Helps elevate your brand and attract new members.
1. Time Management Through Automated Member Management Duties
Software designed for coworking spaces manages all daily tasks associated with members and space administration. It tracks members and provides reports on the utilization of workspace, attendance, and payment schedule.
Using an automated platform to track members saves time and reduces costs by eliminating errors in data entry. That way your focus can be on growing your business, onboarding new members, improving member satisfaction, etc.
2. Data Management Gained by Collecting Payments and Generating Invoices
Coworking space software provides an easy way to track member payments. It helps you to manage invoices, track bookings, and check the availability of each space before accepting a member’s request.
3. Improved User Experience
Coworking space software provides a convenient and intuitive user experience. Using software helps you enhance your relationship with members by providing them with benefits such as private networking opportunities and discounts at local businesses.
Members can use the platform to check the availability of a coworking space or office, book time with you, contact you directly, and pay their bills online.
4. Software Helps Scale Growing Coworking Spaces
Coworking space software allows you to scale your business and manage a growing number of members without hiring a team of full-time employees. It helps you to be more efficient as your business expands by automating tasks and cutting back on labor.
5. Software Helps Elevate Your Coworking Brand
By using a platform to manage your business, you can expand your brand beyond the physical boundaries of your workspace. You can connect with members and customers through social networking, email marketing, and influencer marketing to build customer trust and loyalty.
How To Choose the Best Coworking Management Software For Your Space
To save time and money, the platform should be customizable to fit your exact space needs. Look for software that can grow with your business. Large, robust applications are less likely to grow alongside you than newer, more nimble software.
A platform like CoWello, for example, offers personalized onboarding, so together, we can focus on providing a solution that you, your members, and your community managers will love. As you might expect, with already-scaled software, this level of focus decreases.
So how do you choose which software to purchase? It’s simple.
Step 1: Determine your top challenges and if the features address the needs of your unique workspace.
Step 2: Evaluate the onboarding and ongoing support that comes with the coworking management software.
Step 3: Assess whether the software can scale with you as you grow the business.
Step 4: Work within your budget.
1. Challenges You May Encounter In Your Space
Membership Billing and Discounts
Membership billing and custom membership plans can be confusing, as they vary from space to space and across different payment methods. Software like CoWello makes it easy to set up membership plans, manage promotions and generate invoice reports.
Booking and Scheduling Resources
The manual booking and scheduling of resources are time-consuming and can be prone to errors. Your software should allow you to program member availability, track the allocation of resources to new members, and generate reports on scheduling conflicts.
Issue Reporting and Capturing Feedback
Issues will arise in a coworking space. Whether it’s a technological problem or an issue with a coworking member’s experience, individuals expect the staff to handle problems swiftly and address their concerns.
Lack of Data Insight
The lack of good data in a business can be a form of business failure. The data you collect should be timely and accurate, allowing you to make meaningful decisions and provide high-quality member services.
Your software should enable data management, generate custom invoices, schedule workshops, and track key metrics.
Scaling Your Business
The software you choose should make it easy to add and manage member accounts, provide information about the number of members taking advantage of specific facilities, and track the performance of each facility.
2. Evaluate the Onboarding and Ongoing Support That Comes With the Coworking Management Software
After you choose a software, ask about the onboarding support you receive. Onboarding means that the software integrates with your current tools to make it easier for your employees to leverage the new technology.
Ongoing support translates into how frequently your staff receives training and assistance from the vendor managing and maintaining the software tools.
3. Assess Whether the Software Can Scale With You as You Grow Your Business
Take some time to consider where your company is and where you want it to be in the future. Is this software fixed in stone or is it flexible enough to accommodate your business’s growth and changes?
If you plan to manage multiple locations, ensure that the software can handle them all. The dashboard should be able to manage multiple locations easily and provide comprehensive data analytics for each one.
4. Work Within Your Budget
Work out the financials before purchasing coworking software. Decide if you prefer a lower cost upfront to have more flexibility or go with a higher initial investment with long-term discounts.
You should also pay attention to any maintenance costs or upgrade fees, especially if you need customizations and plugins frequently.
Final Thoughts
Coworking management software makes it easier for you to run an efficient workspace that aids in keeping track of member records and finances.
At CoWello, we are committed to offering you personalized support and helping you grow. The software we offer is constantly evolving, so together, we can focus on providing a solution that you, your members, and your community managers will love. If you’re ready to join us in this journey, start your 14-day free trial today.
Ready to turn your coworking space into a revenue-generating machine? Contact us to learn more!
