As the generation churns out more and more entrepreneurs, the demand for office space increases. Of late, coworking spaces have become the best option for these budding innovators. Riding this wave is ONE Co.Work, a Delhi-based coworking space that made its way into the South Indian market recently, with their new 22,000 square feet facility in Namma Bengaluru. This move comes after gaining a foothold in Delhi and Mumbai and the founder, Himanshu Bindal, tells us that another five are in the pipeline.
In this sprawling space, situated in Koramangala, you can easily find yourself a seat in this 257 seater, their largest one till date. And if you feel like taking a break, then fuel up with a power nap in one of their sleeping pods, or just chill out in their game lounge. Nowadays, entrepreneurs are not the only ones who are opting for coworking spaces. The tides are changing for MNCs too, Bindal, who will turns 25 this month, informs us.
"Even MNCs have started to consider it as an option," Bindal says, adding that they are in talks with a few MNCs right now. SMEs are not far behind either. The reason for all this is that, "all the balance sheets want to move from asset-heavy to asset-light and make things easier. The aim is to also bring back focus on the business rather than concentrating on managing the business," says Bindal.
But of course, ONE Co.Work is not the only one to identify this trend. There are many other sharks in the sea that they are trying to navigate in. But that is not something that worries Bindal at the moment because, as of now, no one is eating into the other's pie when it comes to coworking ventures. "There is plenty of room for all of us," he says, adding that what sets them apart from their competition is their prime locations and their infrastructure.
Though Bindal started this as an incubator in 2015, he saw better prospects in the coworking field and hence shifted his focus. But that came with its own challenges, one of the most basic of which continues to be convincing the landlords. "First they used to think how we can rent the space from them and rent it out to others, but now, we find some landlords approaching us," he adds. But setting up the office in Bengaluru was pretty much smooth sailing for the team.
The team, apart from focusing on the infrastructure, also innovates. For example, when you book a meeting room through their app, the room automatically unlocks itself five to ten minutes before your slotted time and locks itself ten minutes after. Bindal tells us that this in-house invention might just be the first of its kind.
Check them out at oneinternet.in
