Something that continues to grow in popularity is coworking and co-living spaces. With more and more people leaving the traditional office life to spend more time in these properties, we'll likely see the number of them grow.
But, how do the businesses behind these properties work?
To find out, we caught up with Emmanuel Guisset, who is the founder of Outsite, a company that offers spaces where you can both live and work with others.
We talk to Emmanuel about:
- How he ended up starting Outsite and where he got his very first customers from.
- Why supply is more challenging than demand in his market, how he finds properties, and what partnerships he does with the property owner.
- The growth metrics Emmanuel measures to know if Outsite is successful.
Happy Growing
[2:30] - Emmanuel takes us through what OutSite is. It combines both a coliving and coworking space.
[6:05] - Emmanuel describes how he started Outsite after becoming a digital nomad himself and not finding great options that combined community and work. He tested the idea by creating a listing on Airbnb to check if there would be demand for it.
[9:20] - Outsite don't buy property, they lease it and re-rent it out to people
[10:55] - One of the trickiest parts of Outsite's business is finding the right supply. The property has to be able to accommodate a group of people who plan on working from that space.
[12:00] - Emmanuel tells us about the types of properties that have worked for Outsite to date.
[14:00 ]- On the supply side, Outsite does a mix of long-term leases and management contracts where they share revenue with the owners. Investors don't like long-term leases anymore after what happened to WeWork.
[15:35] - Emmanuel tells the story of the first property he rented out when starting Outsite and how difficult it was to convince the owners to let him rent it.
[16:30] - Early demand for Outsite came from listings on Airbnb. After that, it scaled through word of mouth and social media.
[18:40] - There are three different personas that Outsite target, part-time nomads, people who are working remote, and business travelers.
[21:00] - Growth metrics for Outsite are - total revenue, occupancy rate, and the number of paying members.
[23:25] - One of the ways Emmanuel and the team have improved the retention rate at their properties is to introduce the membership package. It started at $100 a year and is now $250.
[26:00] - Emmanuel talks us through his plans for Outsite.
– Emmanuel on LinkedIn / Twitter
– Kieran on Twitter / LinkedIn / Medium
– Scott on Twitter / Linked / Medium
Topics: Podcast, Founder, Remote Work
