Desk occupancy
More desks can raise available membership capacity. Yet floor space used for working quietly cannot also be used for informal conversations.
RHM · COWORKING SPACES
Coworking: selling desks is not the whole business.
A coworking space offers desks, rooms and membership plans. For many members, its value also comes from meeting people, exchanging ideas and feeling part of a community. Making better use of every square metre might strengthen the business—or weaken something people came for.
Explore the book →CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
What really matters in this business?
Membership and retention
Price plans must reflect demand and costs. But staying can depend on the day-to-day experience, not just the price per desk.
Rooms that connect people
Meeting rooms earn revenue directly; shared areas may create opportunities for people to learn from one another. They do different jobs.
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & RHM
Two ways to understand the decision.
The economic view
Capacity, membership pricing, usage patterns and contribution help explain the financial side of a coworking space. They show what each square metre can earn and when demand is strongest.
The RHM perspective
RHM asks us to consider the space as both an economic product and a social environment. Academic research on coworking identifies knowledge sharing and community as important parts of the experience. We should therefore ask whether a more profitable layout also preserves the reasons that people choose to work there. It may; it may not.
AN EXAMPLE TO THINK ABOUT
Imagine replacing the lounge with desks
The new desks could increase monthly capacity. But if members used the lounge to meet collaborators, removing it also changes the experience. Before calling the redesign an improvement, we would need to understand both the additional income and the value of those interactions.
THE IDEA IN PRACTICE
Questions worth asking
- What value does each kind of space create directly?
- What do members gain from the people and encounters around them?
- Which changes could encourage membership renewal rather than only immediate occupancy?
UNDERSTAND THE RESEARCH
Research on coworking explores how space, community and knowledge exchange shape the experience. RHM invites us to consider those dimensions alongside occupancy and income.
REVENUE HARMONY MANAGEMENT · THE BOOK
The full method lives in the book.
These examples open a different way to look at revenue. The book develops Revenue Harmony Management from its foundations, starting with hostels and reaching beyond hospitality.
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