Tag: Self-employment

My 30 day challenges, day 25 – by Philip Dodson

Posted on by philipdodson

Today is day 25, I’m now well and truly on the home straight.

I’ve started reading this morning a great book on serendipity, which is so relevant to the whole concept of co-working.

So today’s picture is from the hub at 18:30 this evening and there have been many examples today of why the ‘friction’ points that occur in a community environment, are so vital for entrepreneurs, free-lancers, self-employed and for the corporate nomads.

pic 25

For a large majority of the people I listed above, isolation is an issue, particularly if you are basing yourself at home. Home is great place to work for the odd day or so, or if you work for a corporate, or if your business is reasonably established. However, if you are in a start-up or pre-start-up, then you run the risk of getting demotivated, isolated and losing focus.

At the very time you need to be testing your ideas, gaining new contacts, and getting out there making it happen, you are at home.

The chance meetings that happen at the hub, will increase massively the opportunities for you to grow yourself and your business. The other thing that starts to happen in co-working spaces is the trading of social capital. They start to become pools of talent, that the community members can tap in to.

The reciprocal nature of humans means that if you adopt an attitude of being a giver of your skills, then you find it comes back to.

Therefore, as a start up, you will give yourself a big edge by immersing your new business in the eco-system of serendipity and sharing.

True collaboration really is the only way forward and way of corporate getting access to a freelance talent and for small start-ups getting access to the skills they need to grow.

Friction points – isolation kills

Posted on by philipdodson

You need friction points – isolation kills business – by Philip Dodson

isolated

Over 50% of us will be self-employed/freelancing/solo-preneurs within the next 10 years or less. The issue for anyone who is working for themselves is the challenge of isolation.

If you work at home all day every day or as a nomad in coffee shops, three things will happen:

1 – You will find that you will not be engaging in human contact – esssential for happiness & well being

2 – You will not be hearing about new ideas or sharing yours

3 – You will not be getting the motivation that being around others, who are working, creates

These will lead to you lacking motivation, getting cut off from the latest views, ideas & thinking. It will lead to your productivity falling and it will ultimately result in you becoming Isolated.

Businesses thrive on opportunity, which often comes from a ‘friction point’ occurring by making a connection with others. This a great phrase, that Bernie Mitchell of Engaging People used when we had a ‘friction’ point, which lead to him doing a podcast on co-working with me. It sums up exactly why you need to connect face-to-face with others.

These friction points lead to opportunities being created, that would have never have happened if you were at home or in a coffee shop. They don’t happen by email or skype, they only happen when two people connect in real life.

These friction points create opportunity to share ideas, to discover new connections, to create a new network and will inevitably lead to more success in your business.

People need to be able to feel and touch your business, as your business more often than not, will be you. You are the brand, the service, the company and in the new world of a connected consumer, they will never be able to share experiences about your business, if you are at home and isolated from others every day.

So for the ever increasing number of self-employed the solution is co-working, where you can collaborate, share and connect with others.

Working for yourself should never be by yourself.