Freelancers are traditionally seen as lone wolves. Nomads of the creative world. Roaming from job to job, working on trains or fending off the glare of the coffee shop owner when you've overstayed your welcome. Our members are generally on the move or on location so why would a creative freelancer require a place to work?
The misconception is that creative freelancers are constantly providing their services - if only! Freelancers, in their first year, spend around 20% of their time on a job. That means that 80% of their time is taken up looking after the business, searching for work, post production, doing the paperwork, writing a blog or coming up with the next big idea. Freelancers are one-person businesses that require a space to focus as much as the next startup.
What are the options? Well, most freelancers typically run their businesses from home or out of coffee shops. Both of these options have perks. They’re free - sort of - and they’re close. A day in a coffee shop costs around £10 on 2 coffees and a sandwich. It's noisy, not ideal when you have to concentrate and can be distracting. A home office is slightly better. Most of the time it's quiet unless you've got the kids running around but cabin fever can kick in quickly when you don't leave the house for days.
What are the other options? A full-time office is too expensive when you're not using it every day and hot desking still costs around £250 - £500 per month. Luckily, freelancers are becoming so powerful that other businesses are accommodating us. Not ones to shy away from a solution, we sought out a solution and found it in the shape of Work.Life. They spoke about their ambition to create a co-working space for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and startups who wanted all the benefits of a work-life environment without the cost. We loved the idea so much we decided to partner with them to form the ClubHouse concept that provides freelancers with a place to work as well as a social outlet in budget.
So, what are freelancers missing out on by not surrounding themselves in a working environment?
Aside from the obvious benefits such as super fast WiFi, a proper desk and a ready-made network, there are a number of less obvious reasons to co-work that we've found to be invaluable for our freelance community.
One of the less obvious perks is that you're in a better mindset than working from a bed or a coffee shop. When others around you are working hard, you generally do the same. The other big benefit is that you're surrounded by others who think like you, have similar challenges to overcome and can offer great advice. A community is highly underrated in the freelance world and a strong support system means that you're able to add value to each other.
The other major difference is the social side. Let's face it, freelancing is lonely. When you're working, it's fantastic but when you're doing the business stuff, it can be extremely isolating. Having others to chat to during the day, overhearing conversations about the same problems you're facing or even just being amongst others during a working day can make a massive difference. ClubHouse was keen to tap into this as much as we were the work side.
Not only are there events to enhance your business every week but there is an ongoing social schedule from yoga and cinema nights to pizza and cocktail parties. The independence of freelancing with the community of a workplace. But what about the costs? The beauty of ClubHouse is that you only pay for what you use and at £3.50 per hour, you can tap in and tap out when you need to. Throw in free coffee, events, snacks, yoga, breakfast, beers every Thursday, cheap printing, meeting rooms, and a whole lot more, it's a no-brainer.
Locations: Camden: 13 Hawley Cres, London NW1 8NP or London Fields: 14 Sidworth St, London, E8 3SD
