What's going on?

Listening to Marvin Gaye driving through the snow capped, but sun drenched peaks of the Lake District the other day made it feel like 2013 is about to get going. Sitting in a cosy Spaceworks today after a lovely baked potato (with lamb curry) from Oven Made on London Road the warm glow of progress is still in place. (The picture is one from Magna, to keep the warm feeling going).

2013 will see Spaceworks make our next step into a new even more purpose built space in our Harland Works ... been talking to the builder today and been prioritising coffee making and meeting room facilities. Our current sharers are enjoying planning the new space with us and it'll be great to have a bigger meeting room as well as the flexible individual desks/shared big desk that has been so popular in our current room.

Of course the Harland Cafe will be even closer (2-3m or so!) and we'll still be close to Norton Mayfield who have outgrown us and need their own new space, happily still in Harland Works. Those architects are sure loving planning their own office ... who new how exciting insulation board dimensions were so much fun.

So, well keep you up to date on what's going on as 2013 warms up ...

A good mix of Sheffield businesses

One of the nice things about coming into work at Spaceworks is the delightful mix of businesses that we have as neighbours .... this is, of course, in addition to the previous mentioned fab cakes at Cafe Euro and our lovely red chairs and funky curved steel wall.

There are the sign makers, a video production company, a reknowned artist, a recording studio, rehearsal spaces, the climbing wall. Its an interesting mix and that is in addition to our own sharers of Spaceworks.

The courtyard between Harland and Clifton Works is probably a bit underused at the moment, but we are working on that ... any ideas welcome too. A few local groups have used our main area as an evening meeting room too and we are happy to do more of that.

Come and have a look and see for yourselves what is going on in one of Sheffield's best kept secrets.

Spaceworks and white goods

Having decided to work from home today it seemed a bit of an issue to see I'd written 'new Spaceworks post' on my to do list today. How could I could I honestly write about the wonders of shelling out for a shared office space when I had spurned it today?

Well, that was about 9.15 when I had that thought. By 11am when I'd hung out the washing, filled the dishwasher, chastised the cat for terrorising birds, swept the kitchen floor and read the sports section of the paper, drunk two mugs of coffee, booked in the car to the garage and speculated on the emptiness of the fridge, quickly got the washing back in again when it started to rain ... well I was seeing it rather differently.

I know that I am particularly distractable, but all of us can be diverted from our must dos, by some ought to dos. Its not to say I work uninterrupted in Spaceworks, but the interruptions are more welcome and usually involve hot drinks and biscuits instead.

So, a call to others in Sheffield who fall prey to working at home distraction - join us - the white goods can wait!

Why set up in business?

Spaceworks tenants Norton Mayfield Architects were interviewed today by architecture students at Sheffield Hallam University. The students have been sent out to interview architectural practices to find out the realities of running a business for the Professional Practice element of their course.

Norton Mayfield Architects had to answer a range of questions including:

• Why set up your own business (as opposed to working as architects for a larger firm)
• Why become a Limited Liability Partnership instead of a Limited Company
• Their involvement with the Sheffield Society of Architects (Alastair is the current President)
• What kind of contracts they use with clients
• How they calculate and charge fees, including bidding for work

These are not unusual conversations to hear in Spaceworks as tenants are often comparing notes on how they run their businesses, find and secure work and the all important renumeration.

The two points that Norton Mayfield Architects made that particularly pricked our attention were that their tenancy at Spaceworks was core to their strategy of running a lean effective organisation and that this also ties in with their environmental strategy which includes minimising their use of resources through sharing space, office infrastructure etc.

Norton Mayfield Architects helped us design our space and are working on proposals for the courtyard outside.

Its not about the networking, but?

Spaceworks is not about the networking. It is about having somewhere nice to go to work and people to share with instead of being on your own in your bedroom all the time. But, it can be a part of it and today two sharers have teamed up to try and get an idea moving with some other bright sparks in Leeds.

It would not have happened otherwise, even with the wonders of Twitter and miracle workers like @stellamedia in Sheffield ... anyway, coffee anyone?

A Turkish delight - lunch at Zeugma

Spaceworks popped out for a sandwich today and it was chilly and it looked nice and warm in Zeugma on Abbeydale Road ... what with the charcoal thing and lovely smell it was not really a difficult decision. We have been firm favouritess since it opened and it is nice to blog about Zeugma's as we are not really sure how to pronounce it!

The location of Spaceworks is dangerous in this respect. While you can intend to pop out to get some ingredients to make your own lunch (in our kitchen) from Sainsbury's or Aldi it is all too easy to end up going into Dim Sum (Chinese) or Dhanistha (Sri Lankan) or even getting a chip butty from 'A salt and battered'. That is all if you manage to pass by Cafe Euro and the egg and chip temptations.

The fact that we are next The Edge Climbing Centre could act as a counterpoint to the excessive calorie intake if you are into climbing ... today I'll just try to cycle home a bit harder to make space for supper ...

Great offer for mugs ...

We tend to go for the soft sell here at Spaceworks. Yes, we talk about a friendly shared office space ideal for part time self-employed people looking to escape their bedroom. And yes, we talk about flexible deals, someone to go with the pub with, wireless, printer and so on.

But, we realise we have not been making enough of the ongoing offer we have for all new sharers. Well here it is, the secret is out!Every new sharers gets their own FREE mug with the initial letter of their first name on it and their coffee and tea requirement.

The second bit is very useful when you offer to make tea for everyone and don't have to remember who has black, white, sugar etc. But, the initial bit is the nice thing. When we opened we went around Sheffield taking pictures of all the 'works' signs in the city. Like the lovely Beehive Works or Eyewitness Works. The letters from the mugs are taken from those pictures and every new client gets to pick their letter. The shot above shows a quite nice 'A'.

So sign up today and get a new mug! We'll even put a drink in it now and then too ...

Egg, chips and 2011

First egg and chips of 2011 for Spaceworks sharers today. Not sure that it is all that impressive to have lasted until the 10th of January before succumbing, but it was very tasty. Having the Euro Cafe just down our steps is very handy for hunger and of course meeting clients and contacts.

The newspapers are full of articles suggesting that 2011 will be tough, especially for places like Sheffield where the public sector is relatively big. The answer for some will be to go freelance and we hope that people who have a part time base here will get some tangible benefits from sharing. It does not matter what your business a lot of the issues to be dealt with are the same for everyone.

For example, insurance, tax, writing bids, social media and and so on. So, good luck everyone in 2011 and give us a call if you want some allies!

Come and try out Spaceworks Sheffield

With the new ice age we have entered and the festive season it is easy to end up feeling a bit stir crazy if you work from home ... even if duvet has been the must have office accessory recently!

Come and join us at Spaceworks and get all the advantages of having an office to go to without the hassles. You can still work from home too, but when you need to get out, but still work, you've got somewhere friendly and fun to come to.

For the new year we are offering tester days, when you can come and work for the day and see how it feels. If you like it we can sort out a bespoke package just for you.

Call / email or send a carrier pigeon to find out more. We look forward to hearing from you.

Cabin fever ... mulled wine

Most Spaceworks people have a work at home option too. It may be a bedroom, the dining table or a 'shed' in the garden. This is one of our sheds, which is pretending it is a Alpine chalet at the moment.

The pros are that is snuggly warm, 18 seconds from the back door. The con is that after a week of snowy limited travel you can go a bit crazy. I have more of an understanding of cabin fever now than I ever did before!

At Spaceworks we do part time deals because we know that mixing working from home with having a shared space works for us. Its great to catch up in person to hear about fellow sharees snow adventures over the weekend; sledging, igloos, bike rides and even skiing.

Sneaking a quick pint, or mulled wine perhaps is another added bonus too to having sharing mates.

Work at home versus commute

When it is cold and slippy it is nice to have the option to stay at home and work. Have laptop, have phone, have duvet and away you go ... hot water bottle too.

If the weather persists, as predicted, it can get a bit lonely though and having the central heating on all day can get costly too, if you are the only one there.

Most of us at Spaceworks do a bit at home, as well as working here too. It was great this morning to be handed a steaming cup of coffee after sliding in down Abbeydale Road.

Spaceworks cycling above the clouds

The Spaceworks Friday ride set off today in unpromising conditions, sustained by a big hot coffee and warmed pain au chocolat from Cafe Euro.

Emerging from the cloud cover near Stanage was amazing, as this picture shows.

Back to the office for a quick sandwich and an afternoon of work and feeling productive. A couple of hours well spent.

The rides will be every 3 weeks, which makes the next one 10th December. 9.30 from Spaceworks, well from the sofa in Cafe Euro probably.

Spaceworks on wheels - Friday rides

A few of us who share Spaceworks have been going out on regular bike rides on Friday mornings. It is a social ride for all sorts of people, but we like the idea that it is an opportunity for fellow self-employed people to take advantage of being your own boss. Bobbing out for a bike ride (if that is what you like doing) should be one of the advantages of controlling your own time, but it is easy to not get round to it. Having a regular slot in your diary makes sure you do do it.

Most rides have been on road bike for a couple of hours into the Peaks, but off-road is an option too. Main thing is that it is at a social pace, it is not training and to emphaise that point we try to incorporate cake, not energy drinks, into the schedule.

We'll tweet the rides, but there is one tomorrow 19th. We are having coffee at 9.30 in Spaceworks first.