When opportunity knocks…
Last week the coworking space I cofounded made national news with a quote from me in The New York Times. You can read the article here.
What a difference a year makes!
Last June, we had been open for one month and were operating at less than 20% capacity (and even less revenue.) While today it is easy to look forward, last June it seemed a little bleak. No matter how much we believed in the benefits of coworking and how much our community needed it, the simple fact that most people were not leaving their homes was a challenge that hadn’t figured into our business plan, our pro forma or our cash flow forecast. Additionally, as a relatively new business without a pre-pandemic track record, most of the aid offered to businesses was not available to us.
And yet today, we are open and thriving. How did that happen?
We found the people who needed a place to work – those essential businesses who were supporting other essential businesses. Online and remote workers, therapists and medical sales and folks whose homes just weren’t set up to do work from home. We invested in technology and created processes and procedures that made us a safer place to work. We built an environment that was productive and a community that was appreciative. We looked for opportunities everywhere we could and pivoted like crazy.
And we were lucky. And by lucky, I mean that we worked hard AND had opportunities come our way. The new hotel around the corner needed 10 offices for four months before their building was complete. Some remote workers had temporary stints in Tucson. None of these folks were in our original business plan.
Did it work?
Just this morning, someone reached out to us from one of the largest companies in the world looking to join our community because they saw us mentioned in The New York Times. While we don’t have exactly what they want today, I was able to refer them to another local coworking space with similar values. Our entire community wins.
When I work with my one-on-one clients, I help them create strategies and plans that get results through effort and opportunity. As I often say, the road to hell is littered with amazing ideas never executed. “Getting stuff done” is always my highest priority, even if sometimes, I need to pitch in to make that happen. That’s what a COO does (or a Fractional COO, in my case.) Every single day.
If you are looking to create some of your own strategy + execution meets opportunity, we should talk. I have a few, limited openings to start with new clients in July. And, if you’re tired of doing everything by zoom, let’s meet in Tucson at La Suprema Works for a day that is completely focused on you and your business for an experience “as seen in The New York Times.”
