US office space group recently warned it faced ‘substantial doubt’ about ability to continue as a going concern

WeWork announces 1-for-40 reverse stock split to retain New York listing::US office space group recently warned it faced ‘substantial doubt’ about ability to continue as a going concern

  • TehWorld@lemmy.worldEnglish
    382·
    1 year ago

    I’m pretty much the target for this, I travel a lot for work and it’d be nice to have a place to “office” out of, but the competition here is:

    1. Free - Even after checking out of my hotel, the lobby always has a corner or two to work in and decent wi-if. 1a) I have status at one chain and they’re always great about just letting me walk in to any of the chain and suck up some internet and plug in my laptop, even if I wasn’t staying there. Bonus is that they usually have coffee!

    2. Free - my car. With tethering my phone to my laptop, I’ve done more calls than I care to admit by just finding a random shady place to park the car and get to work. 2a) The park (when it’s nice enough outside)

    3. Free- Libraries - The public library system is great. Not a good place to take calls, but if you need a place with a chair and internet to do some work, it’s an option.

    4. Free - Client’s offices. I have a good enough relationship with a number of clients that I can ask to take over an empty desk (one even has an empty office with a KILLER view of the city that they’re just fine with me taking over for a couple hours.

    5. Cheap - Coffee shops. Buy a drink (bonus) and grab a seat for a bit. They’re super abundant and you can almost always find one close to your next meeting.

    I’m certain that WeWork has its benefits, but competing with free is pretty hard.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.worldEnglish
      43·
      1 year ago
      1. If you’re not travelling, you often don’t have a hotel. You could argue that working from home is also an alternative though. People looking for a WeWork may be trying to separate home and the office though, or escape distractions like children or roommates.
      2. I could see doing this in your car for a short period, but not an entire day. It will get hot, cold or hard to breathe. Not to mention street noise.
      3. Yes, though most libraries in major cities are full of homeless people, which makes it a hard regular option. It might work fine one day, but another day might be overcrowded. I’m guessing people getting WeWork are looking for some regularity.
      4. Sure, again works for a day or two. Not a long term solution. No client will let you work there everyday without eventually charging you rent.
      5. Yes, you can certainly do this for a couple hours. After awhile you gotta buy another coffee or lunch. It will start to get expensive. Also, doing this everyday in the same location may start to become weird or get you kicked out.

      WeWork isn’t targeted at people who need an occasional office, but people that don’t have a traditional office building and need a regular, stable workspace.

      • TehWorld@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        All good points. I have a nice home office and a desk at HQ that I can go to. I guess I’m not the target market.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      418·
      1 year ago

      Good one, McGill. Now ask yourself in which of those places you can meet a client twice and still keep them on.

      • TehWorld@lemmy.worldEnglish
        16·
        1 year ago

        McGill?

        For a client meeting I prefer a nice lunch place or just to meet at their office? I do have a FEW clients that work out of their homes. They’ve always been happy with whatever coffee shop is close to them.

      • killeronthecorner@lemmy.worldEnglish
        51·
        1 year ago

        It’s the coffee shop. But I can only speak from experience.

        Of course you might be working in an industry where a certain level of huffing clients’ farts is required, however, the vast majority aren’t.

        • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Realistically yeah, the coffee shop was the only plausible one. But coffee shops won’t be the downfall of coworking space because (1) there are clients who simply don’t like talking business in a public place and (2) coffee shops only work if the number of people who use them that way is small and/or only do it occasionally. If everbody constantly used coffee shops for that it would stop being fun for all those involved really fast.