Consider the problem of Alex Hillman, 23, Web entrepreneur, quasi-college student, and architect of the Philadelphia version of an international trend known as co-working.
“Three months working at my house, I was talking to the cat, and I don’t even have a cat,” Hillman said, describing what had happened after he quit his job as a Web designer in December. “I was going crazy without the socializing.”
No, he didn’t buy a cat.
Instead, he got together with a group of work-at-home entrepreneurs, found some hip space in Philadelphia’s Old City, and set up desks so he and others like him could work at work.
think of co-working as an entrepreneurial version of parallel play, with owners of their own small businesses working side by side in a drop-in place that looks like a coffee cafe, minus the barista, with all the accouterments of what’s hip: high ceilings, beer fridge, pool table and Internet access.
Paying as little as $175 a month, they mostly work on their own. But they also trade ideas, help solve problems, and move in and out of loose collaborations.
Hillman said he already had experienced one benefit, previously unforeseen. His relationship with his girlfriend has improved.
“Now I leave my work at work,” he said.
Photo by Clem Murray.
William Lehman on November 5th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing. Maybe there should also be (or maybe already is) a site that would provide information on co-working groups that meet regionally too?