The six co-working space business models:

/commented/ (And up for debate.)

The six co-working space business models:

(A) Rent revenue: WW version 1, realestate arbitrage. If you are a small fry, forget it. You're also a sitting duck, with no wiggle-room in the event of a macro-downturn, or if your margins come under systematic attack from regulators or the competition.

(B) Rent revenue: Property developer or owner is subsidising cost of space, design, fit-out, and operator is only spending on op-ex. If you didn't do this, there are two remaining viable rent models (in the strategic sense).

(C) Rent revenue: You have government or corporate angels, who expand your sales channel/funnel inorganically.

(D) Rent revenue: WW version 2, strong key accounts, basically you're eating the lunch of old school corporate office landlords. Well done, you did your homework, without help from daddy, and you're at the top of the game.

(E). Rent revenue: Paine, chocolate optional. Of course you provide value-added services, but you've got no moat, and you're going to thrash out the margin-erosion endgame with every new hot money startup in the space. Congratulations, you're the real thing, magic Mike.

(F) You have a non-rent revenue model [competing for same customers, but modelled on completely different cashflow assumptions].