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The summer break is finally over now, and it is time to get back to work & studies; and for some of us, get back to both! 🙈 For those who are not very familiar with aviate labs yet, I would love to give you just a bit of context. Our team got together in a student city, mainly by students. And what we learned over the past years of studying in one of the most challenging universities in Belgium while at the same time trying to pursue something really ambitious on the side, having a fantastic team is not always enough. A great environment & a great space for your startup can make a massive difference, and that is precisely what we will be talking about in this article. So let’s not waste more of your precious time and dive directly into why we think flex-spaces are awesome for startups!
When we just started, there were only 3 people in the core team. It was not that interesting nor beneficial to rent out a big office with the expectations that we would expand the team within the upcoming months, as we would have ended up paying a higher rent on something that was not used to its full capacity in the meantime. Especially in this hybrid world, where teams can choose to work remotely anytime, as they wish, as a head of a company, you can’t expect your team to work from the office every single workday at their own fixed desk. This is way too old-school and far back in the pre-pandemic past.
That’s why we decided to opt for more flexible variants and came across flex-spaces, which instantly seemed like a financially-interesting alternative to renting out a full-stack office.
If you work at a startup, you just know that your day is completely packed with all the different tasks & meetings that you have, and there is not too much time to spare. On top of that, moving into a new office, furnishing, and hiring an office manager might be a bit tight for the budget for most of the startups, as there are way too many things on the priority list coming before hiring an office manager and spending way too many hours on fully equipping the office.
For a moment, let’s put aside the financial part; time is precious for us who work on our startups, and having extra chores that take away our concentration, energy, and time from the activities we should be focusing on is not a way to go.
The good news is that with flex-spaces in the co-workings, you don’t need to worry about paying the electricity bills, fixing your office’s Wi-Fi when something goes wrong, and then presenting those expenses to your accountants. Everything is taken care of in your flex-membership, which let’s all agree on is amaze-balls.
I have been saving the best for last. Let’s finally talk about the people! It is crucial and life-changing to have a closer network around you with people sharing similar aspirations as you do. And that is the case when you are a startup in an incubator, co-working, or any other collaborative environment. It offers the advantage of building an amazing foundation of long-lasting connections.
Flexi-spaces are the next big thing disrupting the old office culture. It is truly a robust environment with an emphasis on openness, knowledge, innovation, and of course, collaboration! Undoubtedly, any ambitious venture would find these components essential for thriving.
It sounds very cliché, but it is true! Sharing is caring, and there is no other discussion!
And by saying sharing, I imply sharing work-space, coffee, knowledge, ideas, expertise, well basically everything! We have seen and experienced countless times how those interactions on a deeper level, with individuals who want to thrive and make an impact, have led to great developments! It is fascinating to be around startups because when times get tough, which it usually does, you see how your mates are overcoming challenges to make the world a better place. That fills up the house with an inspiring wavelength everybody ends up sharing.
Coming to the end of our little article about flex-spaces, we want to share a bit about the flex-space we are located in, in the town!
Being in Leuven, one of the most fast-growing (as well as one of the most expensive 😅) cities in Belgium, it was challenging to find a little house for our startup and our team. After about 2 months of extensive searches, we met our current landlord, who was passionate about housing startups at his vibrant office building. We instantly found it to be a match! And thanks to that, it has been about 8 months now that we have been here at Barn58.
It really has been (and still is) an amazing place for us to get inspired, work hard and of course play hard on Fridays after work around the BBQ at our cozy terrace.
If you still are in your nightmare-like searches for your startup’s place to be, and if you are located in the surroundings of Leuven, you should give it a chance & visit Bårn58 for a cup of coffee! Disclaimer, you might really like it here… We have heard they have some flex-spaces available.🤫
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