A Freelancer’s Guide to Coworking Spaces in the Philippines
Before coworking spaces emerged, coffee shops and other similar establishments were the go-to workplaces for freelancers and independent entrepreneurs. However, there are times when these cafes could become too crowded, preventing you from holding a private conversation with a client or with your coworkers. Imagine the pressure of chasing a deadline; you need all the focus you can get. Just as you are moving on to the key points of your presentation or output for the client, rowdy laughter interrupts your train of thought. Although there are perks of doing your job at home or the office, working at a coworking space in Manila can provide you with more opportunities.
Continue reading to learn the benefits of migrating your operations to a coworking space in Manila.
Amenities to Look for in a Coworking Space
The growing numbers of coworking spaces prove how effective and beneficial they are to the many individuals in the country. Immerse yourself in the culture of it all to really experience the perks for yourself. From accessing free Wi-Fi and coffee to having your own dedicated phone line, here are some of the amenities followed by perks that you can obtain from a coworking space in Manila and not elsewhere.
Workspaces and Meeting Rooms
Coworking spaces in Manila are not exactly silent crypts, but you can be assured that only professionals will be staying on their premises or private rooms unless they need to use public areas. This means that tenants should not be as loud as those people talking in coffee shops. If you are an individual freelancer and do not require an entire private room, you should find the public area of a co-working space suitable to conduct your freelance work or business.
A fully-equipped co-working space should have allocated meeting or conference rooms wherein you have access to the projector and other equipment needed to conduct a presentation. Ideally, coworking spaces offer the use of conference rooms for all occupants at a given duration within a month. Depending on the package you avail of, you have the opportunity to use the conference room for up to 8 hours a month.
Free Wi-Fi and Coffee
If there are two reasons why coffee shops became a conducive place to work for many solo freelancers, it must be free access to Wi-Fi and coffee. A coworking space should offer you stable internet access as well as free freshly brewed coffee supply. When looking for a coworking space, make sure they are located in an area where there is excellent internet reception. As a remote worker, having a reliable internet connection is necessary to connect with your clients and coworkers.
Invitations to Seminars and Workshops
One of the most promising benefits of obtaining a space in a coworking space is the opportunity to learn and grow your network. Most coworking spaces hold events, seminars, and workshops entitled to the occupants. Most seminars organized by coworking spaces are tailored to the nature of the occupants’ business. You should have the opportunity to partake in copywriting lessons, applied leadership, and anything that can be the source of new learning for individual entrepreneurs, solo freelancers, and start-ups.
Dedicated Phone Line
A coworking space should also offer an official landline or mobile line to its occupants. A dedicated phone line may not be important to you as you begin your business, yet as you grow your operations, you also grow your client base. With that, a dedicated phone line may be the key to enabling your business to professionally entertain and accommodate your clients.
Getting a hold of a dedicated phone line should also entitle you to have the calls for you answered in a professional manner. The admin assistant of the coworking space should be able to receive the call and direct it to your line. Regardless of whether you are a start-up business offering consultancy services or a freelance graphic designer, having your own dedicated phone line should make your business sound more professional and corporate.
Tips to Get the Most out of a Coworking Space
By personalizing approaches to community involvement, you are allowing yourself to get the most out of whatever services you pay for. From going out of your way to getting to know the community to attend free seminars and making use of the amenities at your disposal, here are some tips to get the most out of a co-working space in Manila.
Attend Networking Events and Seminars
Events held in a coworking space include guest speakers giving insightful talks about niche topics, writing and development workshops, as well as leadership seminars that you might not be able to obtain for free if you are not a tenant.
These events not only allow you to get along with the other occupants but also present a great opportunity to expand your own personal knowledge on topics that might never have crossed your mind. The solution to your ever-present and daily problems may just be tackled in one of the seminars offered by the coworking space.
For instance, as a starting business consultancy firm, you might not have the chance to attend copywriting workshops. In a coworking space, valuable knowledge is always within your grasp.
Allow Your Productivity to Flow
Similar to the setting of traditional office space, there can also be numerous distractions in a coworking space that hinders your productivity. While a coworking space promises a venue that increases levels of growth and productivity, it still depends on what you make of it. Like most things in life, you must use the tools and resources at your disposal to make the most out of the amenities and perks offered to you by the coworking space.
Get to Know the Community
If not for the people in it, a coworking space might not foster a healthy community culture. The very occupants in it help increase the laidback yet productive ambiance of the coworking space. Apart from the efforts of the coworking space provider of creating areas conducive for collaboration, it is the occupants’ efforts to maintain the culture. In addition to joining seminars and workshops, one of the most effective ways to become part of the community is to offer and seek expert opinions as well as advice.
Make Use of the Amenities
On a final note, make sure to be responsible for every equipment and area when using the amenities provided in the coworking space. For instance, tidy the meeting room after using it. Make sure the cords are properly kept and the chairs are tucked under the table. When it comes to getting your daily cup of coffee, make sure to let the admins know if the pot is running low in case you are the last person to get it. By doing so, you are not only showing respect to the coworking space and the other occupants but also exhibiting a good example to others. This way, you foster a culture of respect within the coworking space.
Reasons Why You Will Thrive in a Coworking Space
The increasing popularity of coworking spaces has been fueled by the growing number of freelancers and remote workers in the country. More and more individuals realize that there is career and personal growth in doing freelance work. At the same time, start-up businesses began to jump aboard the coworking space set. Here are some of the reasons why others thrive in a coworking space that should convince you to migrate to a coworking space in Manila.
Sense of Community and Belongingness
Working in a coworking space alongside creative freelancers, start-up businesses, and entrepreneurs should already give you a strong sense of identity in the community. Being surrounded by people with the same skills, passion, and level of creativity is something that you might not find in a traditional office setting. The greatest thing about the presence of identity in the coworking space is that it takes on the natural way of interacting and socializing. Occupants are not forced to talk to one another despite using the same public areas every day.
Opportunity to Collaborate and Learn
Working in a coworking space might mean working alongside a designer today and a web developer the next day. The diverse nature of a coworking space set should allow you to meet different kinds of people that often provide you with collaboration and learning opportunities.
If you are working from home or at an office, do you think you will have the same chance of having a meaningful conversation with a co-freelancer? It might be possible to encounter a freelancer in these settings. Yet there is a different kind of personal space that envelopes a person when they are working at places other than a coworking space.
Find Meaning in Your Work
A lot of freelancers, entrepreneurs, and start-up businesses find meaning in their work because they are not bound by the 9 to 5 work hours. Once they are done with their work and satisfied with the day’s results, they can easily relieve themselves and have the perfect work-life balance. Apart from that, occupants find meaning in their work because they can be themselves at coworking spaces.
Boost your career growth and increase your business opportunities at Workplays!
Performing your daily business operations as a start-up or working on your freelance job in a coworking space in Manila should enable you to obtain benefits with no inconvenience on your part. The space you rent takes care of all of the essentials including the infrastructure, utility bills, and rental terms. Reap the growth that comes along with investing your money in a coworking space that offers everything you need from a fast internet connection to the daily cup of coffee your system requires to fuel your mind. Accessible to everyone on the Metro, Workplays is the answer to all your freelancing and start-up woes such as reducing distractions b and stress on the commute
Work with SEO Hacker at a Trendy Coworking Space
As mentioned before, networking opportunities are the best benefit you can have from a coworking space in the Philippines. Learning opportunities are also in attendance as well.
Curious about all things SEO?
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Exchange ideas with the SEO Hacker team when you start your career in the best coworking space in Manila.
Freelancing Made Easy at Workplays
Being a freelancer is hard work, but of course, you need to play a little sometimes. Workplays is a trendy coworking space in Manila that allows you to do both. It is a conducive workspace and a social playground at the same time.
Your flexible work schedule will find its structure here and aside from the option of having a lone space that will maintain your Zen, you are also given opportunities to learn from different startups as well as well-established companies. The diversity of people and the different characters you will meet are what solidifies the benefit of a coworking space to a freelancer.
With Workplays, you won’t even feel the pressure of working with its ambient personality and trendy pieces. Want to de-stress? Then work under a tree with egg swings! No joke, they have it.
Accessible to all people in the Metro, Workplays is the answer to all your freelancing woes such as reducing distractions and stress in commute.
Drop by their space and get a closer look. You can click here to know more about Workplays!