Entrepreneurs turn to co-working spaces as an alternative to offices
Entrepreneurs struggling with high rents hire desks in shared offices - and reduced costs aren't the only benefit for growing businesses
Setting up a business in Hong Kong is easy, but finding affordable office space is anything but. That has been the experience of young entrepreneurs who are turning to the city's new co-working spaces as an alternative.
Co-working spaces are open-plan offices rented to individuals who work alongside one another but independently. Rent is comparatively cheap and terms are flexible. Fixed desks can be rented by the month, and a six-hour pass costs as little as HK$100.
By contrast, prime office space in Central costs HK$105 per sq ft a month, second only to St James's in London, according to property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. And such is the demand that the city will face a shortage of up to 8 million sq ft by 2020, consultant Knight Frank predicts.
As a result, 10 co-working spaces have popped up across the city within the last two years, offering a combined 90,000 sq ft of space. The newest, Wynd, opened in Lan Kwai Fong in September.
"The co-working space is a very new concept in Hong Kong," co-founder Michael Ma said, adding that traditional workplaces, such as serviced offices, might not suit the new generation of app developers and online retailers.
Jennifer Barba, founder of a beauty website, has worked at Wynd every day for the past several weeks.
"I didn't want to be tied up with a long-term lease," Barba said. "If you want your own office space [in this location], it's going to cost you probably five times what I'm paying now, at least." Her monthly membership costs HK$3,500.