SHARING SPACES OF CREATIVITY
Co-working studios offer artisans chance to launch businesses, keep costs in check With a co-working model you can ride the wave at a faster pace because you have the networking and sourcing community ...
The inspiration for Sarah Dougall’s business venture came when her jewelry-making classmates were talking about their future careers. “Everyone except me stood up and said ‘I’m going to be selfemployed.’ “
Dougall realized what stood in their way was the cost of equipment and physical space. “As a whole, they were trying to be creative in a vacuum situation. It struck me that if you could take the college environment and turn it into a professional setting and add a retail component, that would be like heaven for us.”
With that in mind, she sold her condo and purchased a building in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood to establish Made You Look. The combined storefront and workshop has 12 workbench spaces, which she rents out for $300 to $450 per month apiece, depending on the number of hours each is used.
She spent $80,000 on the studio setup, which includes the workstations, an industrial area and retail space. Now anyone starting their own business will only need about $5,000 up front — enough to pay for their own hand tools, some raw materials and a couple of months’ rent.
“I was simply trying to create a recipe that allows artists to have a sustainable lifestyle. When I opened 16 years ago, there was nothing else like this. Over the years, people have started their own versions for things such as stained glass, sewing or carpentry.” In fact, The Workroom just across the street rents out its sewing equipment facilities by the hour.
“Any artist has already chosen the path of most resistance,” Dougall says. “They’re not being spoon-fed anything. But with a co-working model you can ride the wave at a faster pace because you have the networking and sourcing community available without the high overhead costs.”
The idea of co-working spaces is nothing new in corporate circles, where shared office services abound. But the challenges are somewhat unique for artisans, who face significant overhead costs from the get-go — and a much higher risk of failure.
One area in which the shared model is thriving is commercial kitchen space. Aruna Antonella Handa, founder of Alimentary Initiatives in Toronto, says an ever-growing number of new businesses have been able to gain traction by going this route.
Alimentary Initiatives keeps listings of available “hot kitchen” spaces in Ontario, and has plans to expand across Canada and into the U.S. A modest-size kitchen with basic equipment runs from $20 to $35 an hour. For kitchen owners, membership is $150 a year, which is usually recoverable from a single booking.
“Many people starting out in this industry don’t have the guarantee of having a market to ensure a steady flow of income,” Handa says. “Shared commercial kitchens are now playing a huge part in how entrepreneurs can enter the market.”
Beyond the astronomical kitchen equipment costs faced by beginners, there are also stringent inspection and certification requirements. “It’s just easier to rent a space whose certifications are up to date,” Handa says. “So many kitchens are commercially inspected and sit empty every day. Owners can use them to earn extra revenue.”
When Christine Manning explored the idea of bottling and selling homemade preserves, she rented a commercial kitchen space in a butcher shop to test the waters. By the end of 2014, Manning Canning had grown to the point that she decided to lease a larger facility and rent out co-working spaces by the hour or in six-month lots.
“The cost of getting a kitchen started is pretty huge,” says her business partner and husband, James Houston .“An industrycompliant ventilation hood alone could cost $40,000. Not only is the equipment expensive, you also have to run power to it, which is not cheap. Then there are the costs associated with making it compliant. And if the rent is high when you start out, that adds a real burden.”
For any artisan looking to start their new venture with a co-working space, here are some basic questions to ask:
What type of insurance do you need, and should you include the facility in your liability policy?
Is the equipment up to date and in good working order?
Does the facility and/or equipment meet health and safety standards for your industry?
Is the site zoned for commercial use?
What are the rental terms? Is there a minimum commitment?
What support services do they offer if any? (e.g. marketing, distribution, packaging)
Ultimately, a co-working space provides a great opportunity to work through mistakes with minimal risk, Houston says. “That’s important, because in this industry there are a lot of good idea people, but not a lot of good businesspeople.”