If you enter any coworking space today, you will notice that every space looks roughly similar. Coworking is too generally focused. There are 20 other places in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad that are willing to offer what you do. Hence the concept of Niche/Specialized coworking is gaining traction.
Imagine a shared workspace focused solely on food. Food tech, community kitchens, catering, pop-up restaurants, etc. kitchen staples, spices, equipment are few of the things that can be shared for members. You could even have culinary events, programs to engage members and attract audiences. This model could also include professional workspaces and meeting rooms, just like a typical coworking space.
This makes it easier for people who are interested in doing a food start-up or people who want to invest in a food start-up. This can be applied to any industry, be it beverage, art, fashion, writers, graphic designers and many more.
A young, New York-based start-up called Alma raised $8 million in funding to expand its “co-practicing community of therapists, coaches, and wellness professionals.” Apart from space they also provide billing, scheduling and even a matchmaking service that aims to connect professionals with patients.
Therapists are just the newest that we’ve heard, but there are plenty of others. L.A. alone is home to Glitch City, a 24-hour co-working space that caters to indie game developers; The Hatchery Press, for writers; and Paragon Spaces, for those working in the cannabis industry. Elsewhere, it’s possible to find co-working spaces for people in the construction industry, and spaces for tech companies with on-demand workforces, and spaces for people committed to a zero-waste lifestyle.
Coworking has recently settled in the Indian Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities such as Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Indore and continues to expand. Therefore, for this concept to expand it may take some time. Currently, about 41 percent are activity-based users, and this is expected to grow to 78 percent over the next two years, driving the growth of such niche spaces, says the CBRE report. Hence, niche coworking is the future of this industry.