Co-working spaces boost the innovations of SMES.
What is it, that drives innovation?
Nowadays innovations are not only the engines of our economy – they are more than necessary in order to succeed in the western market competition. This is why we must ask ourselves the following question more intensively: What is it, that drives innovation? Therefore it can be clearly outlined, that innovations begin in the brain of human beings. Or do you know any machine that comes up with innovative new product ideas?
Innovative solutions are always linked to a mix of creativity and know-how. Creativity rises when you feel comfortable and when you are satisfied with your life. When it comes to acquiring knowledge, there are several ways to not stand still – started from university, training, socialize with others, read, and much more. Bringing together knowledge from different areas combined with creativity is the key success factor for innovations. So co-working will be the future.
Since German SMEs are still in a low rank when it comes to the level of innovations I conducted a survey and found out the reason why!
Let’s sum up a few key characteristics of German SMEs
The majority of them are located in rural areas, outside the big cities. The reason for that is simply the limited liquidity they have and that the rent in the city center is a lot more expensive than in the suburbs. This is also why it is highly important to them having success with their product. One failure or a not well-conceived thought can already lead to bankruptcy. Moreover, they only have a few employees. Although limited stuff simplifies communication and decision-making it still requires completing all necessary tasks including, innovation, production, marketing, sales, accounting, human resources; for example the owner of the business may be as well the HR manager, which is why there is less time to find an adequate employee. This implies that there is often a lack of competences, which does not really push innovative capacity.
What is important to us?Â
Since our aim is to foster creativity and bundle knowledge to put forth innovative ideas, we need to find out how our work needs to be so that we are satisfied and happy with it. To explore that, I conducted a survey and want to share the most important results with you.
For the majority, work-life-balance is more important than salary. That means that flexibility regarding place&time as well as extra offers like gym-classes, food, child-care etc. became a higher value than money. One of the biggest incentives for young professionals to apply for a company is the fact, that they can continuously learn from it. In addition, an international work environment and meeting new people are of enormous value when it comes to the question “What motivates you?“. Interestingly enough, nearly all of the participants having a bachelors or masters degree would not be willing to move to the countryside for work. Nevertheless, under the premise that the need of physically being present would be less than 3 days in a week, almost all of them would agree to work in a rural landscape.
What is the aim of a Co-Working Space?
Having mentioned that let’s resume quickly the idea of a Co-Working Space
The core values of a co-working space are Community, Collaboration, Sustainability, Openness, and Accessibility. They basically emphasize on intangible factors and social aspects including entrepreneurial networking trough flexible and informal settings which enhance the use of different forms of capital – social, human and financial. In fact, such a place covers almost all of the employees needs to be happy and satisfied!
