The days when we used to work in set offices belonging to a single company are quickly coming to a close. Offices belonging exclusively to one company are becoming a thing of the past, mostly due to the rise of co-working. There are many reasons why co-working offices have increased in popularity, whether it’s money constraints, a search for a more creative office or even as a convenience. Shared workspaces are especially popular among freelancers, independent workers, consultants and small enterprises. Here are a few of the reasons listed below.

Why Co-work?

Every answer begins with a question. The question asked here is “Why the rise in co-working spaces?” There are many different reasons as to why this is happening. Here are five reasons why

Co-working spaces are growing in popularity.

1> First and foremost is the rise in start-ups and small businesses. When you’re a new company, capital is at a premium. The endless effort in setting up and ensuring success, to the rigorous search for investment, sparing the money to lease an office space is a burden on most start-ups. Generally speaking, office spaces are mostly located in premium localities, making the price for workspace rentals prohibitively expensive.

2> The second reason for the increased interest in co-working spaces ties in to the first one.

Renting or leasing office space, especially one that meets your needs is a daunting prospect.

You have to find the right one location-wise, size-wise and one that fits your style. What makes this even more troublesome is that you’re locked in to a rental or lease agreement for a specific period of time, whether it’s a year or more.

3> Offices generally follow a one-dimensional structure, like a top-down work structure. Co-working spaces on the other hand encourage creative workflow, collaboration and more importantly, networking and “career fluidity” as Anne Kreamer, a writer for the Harvard

Business Review described it.

4> Co-working office spaces also come with many benefits. You get plenty of opportunities to share ideas, communicate effectively with others, collaborate on projects with your co-workers and brainstorm when you need to.

5> Another positive of co-working spaces is that they are incredibly flexible. They can be designed according to what a company needs and, the layout of the office can be changed as needed too. Co-working spaces are also flexible in their rental agreements, whether it’s for a day, week, month or year.

There is so much more to a co-working office. Increased productivity, better networking, more creativity and a higher level of freedom compared to a traditional workspace are even more reasons for enterprises and freelancers to go the co-working route!