Strickly business

Fresh out of post-grad school, you may not sign up for the opportunities that your college’s placement cell might have to offer but instead start tinkering with your own ideas. Those ideas, with the right inputs, could also take shape and turn into the next avant-garde venture. Or maybe after years of expertise in a particular field you decide it’s time to get onboard some like-minded professionals and set forth on a new vocational journey.

The first step will mostly focus on a detailed blueprint which may list the necessary resources for your start-up while also keeping in mind the moolah factor. Whether a one-man/woman venture or one with more members, you will require a workspace for coordinating with your potential future (or already existing) partners, even if you want to do it in your pajamas. The next step would be to get in touch with those already in the trade for mentoring and networking purpose. This will be followed by the basic facilities like the office stationary, regular supply of caffeine to keep the heads running and again, high-speed Internet among other things.

Many collaborative workspaces in Delhi and Gurgaon are cropping up to provide the entire package to the new entrepreneurs.Stirring Minds, which started operating from 2013, is spread across three floors at Asaf Ali Road (two kms from Connaught Place). The space dedicated to the challenges of start-ups providing an eco-system for thriving entrepreneurial ideasPranav Bhatia, founder, tells us “Experiments make a place exciting. To compliment the new ideas, we at Stirring Mind give you access to the most amazing products and services stirring your start-up growth. We get the ingredients you need to develop a plan or put your idea into action with our expertise. Our idea is to create a platform of opportunities where start-ups, entrepreneurs, freelancers or offshore teams can leverage and set the tone for their future growth.”

Many companies from Rohini, Noida, Ghazibad, et al. look for more centrally-located office areas “where it is easier for them to meet and connect with their clients.”Stirring Minds will soon set up a work area in Gurgaon. Bhatia feels that Gurgaon is more start-up-friendly with many young people experimenting with intriguing concepts. “With all the MNCs around, it is the hub where investors can come in and see what you are doing. Other professionals can also step in to help and provide one with some guidance, he shares.

The Delhi office which operates 24x7, under the watchful eye of the CCTV cameras, apart from the basic Internet facility provides sofa-cum-beds to cool off, they also have concierge-like service where they offer to help deliver your package or drop a courier. One can also sign-up for meal plans (`4,000 per month for two meals a day) and if sitting at a desk gets tiresome then opt for a Yoga session they offer or rent a bike and go on a head-clearing ride.The price for using the space and services comes to `8,000 a month and one can also pay on daily basis (`500). They also offer a cordoned-off space to bigger teams who might want to keep their discussions a secret.

Social in Hauz Khas Village and Defence Colony has played host to many musical nights and we’ve all flocked the café-bar for their Wao Baos or Social Dawgs along with the signature intoxicating concoctions. They also offer a collaborative work space during (more sober) daytime called Social Offline. The ‘office-timings’ are from 9 am to 6 pm but if you want, you may continue with your work if the loud music doesn’t bother you.And you don’t simply walk in with your laptops and get cracking on your project. You are required to fill out a form and after serious scrutiny by the Social bosses, the decision to allow you to utilise their uber cool space will be made.

Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and MD of Impresario Entertainment which owns Social, says “People are now abandoning offices and are on a look out for such spaces where they don’t feel that they are missing out on things. They feed off energy of the people around and it’s also fun. In cafes, one would be too conscious and would keep wondering if they should order more food or coffee since they must have been sitting and working for long hours, here its guilt-free work.”

Social Offline doesn’t allow single day or weekly use. They charge `5,000 a month which is redeemable against food and drinks. They also have Culture Managers who can help you connect with fellow workers who might be of some help to your new start-up and may even collaborate with you.

“We do prefer creatively inclined people to use the space and help them with networking by connecting them to the right people,” Amlani tells us.

They, too, are equipped with high-speed Internet, lockers, stationary, 3-D printers, et al.

The trend actually started with Coworkin which rented out space to individuals and teams in a GK villa back in 2011. They have four properties now — one in lajpat Nagar, two in Gurgaon and one in Chandigarh .Yatin, founder, tells us the idea of creating such space was after he, too, struggled to find a place for himself and the cost of renting a place for official work were exorbitant. 

“We decided to collaborate with property owners by offering them a space management option and these places are also easily accessible. We give you the space for `6,500 per month and for 12 days it’s `3,500. We currently have over 100 people working from our three properties and have sheltered over 150 startups in the past. Quite a few of our freelance entrepreneurs started as single founders out of our space and ended up building large teams,” he shares.