The path from the incubator to your own office
Incubators and accelerators help develop young companies and support founders in realizing their ideas with mentoring and educational opportunities. In these programs, the business idea and business model are usually already set or are even a prerequisite for being accepted into an accelerator program. The future entrepreneurs are often accompanied in the programs by specialists who provide advice and support in concretizing and implementing the business idea.
The programs are structured differently depending on the accelerator and their duration is not always the same. Many of the "startup accelerators" have their own coworking spaces, which they make available to the entrepreneurs for the duration of the program. After the program, the young companies are often supported further in alumni programs, but without the advantages of the in-house training and the workspace provided by the accelerator up to that point.
The challenge for start-ups: The first own office
If the newly formed companies leave the accelerator, they have to quickly stand on their own two feet, usually with limited resources. This makes the search for their first own workspace a real challenge.
The classic office market is characterized by long-term, rigid rental contracts. Landlords ideally want to bind tenants to the premises for many years. The specified rental contracts are usually very extensive, complex and require specialist and legal knowledge. In addition, rental security is required - usually guarantees amounting to several months' rent - which are not easy for startups to provide, if at all. What makes things even more difficult for startups is that they are viewed critically as tenants because they do not yet have a company history that the landlord can use as proof of stability and creditworthiness.
Ergo: In the traditional world of office supply, a startup is confronted with
- high fixed costs,
- legal complexities in an area that is not a startup’s core competency,
- disadvantages for applicants and, particularly critical,
- lack of temporal and spatial flexibility due to a permanent commitment.
Flexibility is crucial for start-ups
A start-up company wants to grow and has to deal with planning uncertainty. Spaces that have been "cemented" for a long time in the truest sense of the word contradict the dynamism inherent in startups.
A startup cannot afford to have space reserves for future growth, which is not guaranteed and difficult to predict. Even worse - with classic office rental contracts, the young company is tied to its office for years to come, even if it has become too small, too big, too expensive, or if its location, layout, and equipment no longer suit the startup's business and organization. The company is stuck, perhaps in a situation that is existential for success or survival.
Urgently needed: a broad, cost-effective range of workspaces that are flexible in terms of time and space
Founding teams and startups are dynamic. What is needed is a wide range of cost-efficient, temporally and spatially flexible workspace, also for sole use. The offers from coworking operators are an option, but not sufficient: few locations, primarily open space, comparatively expensive, standard offer, always with third parties.
The solution? The office stock! Offices, desks, meeting rooms are not occupied 24/7, but unused up to 70% of the time. E.g. due to vacancy, part-time work, out-of-office days, too much space. Hundreds of millions of square meters in Germany, in the city, in the region, in the country.
This is exactly where ShareYourSpace comes in. The digital platform of the same name is the marketplace for offering or booking these temporarily available workspaces. "Airbnb for office", office as a service, pay per use. For everyone with workspace (owners, tenants) + everyone who needs workspace (from startups to multinational corporations).
How do founders and young companies benefit from the ShareYourSpace service?
ShareYourSpace offers startups the flexibility and convenience they need. On the platform, startups can find a large selection of individual spaces throughout Germany - desks, meeting rooms and a wide variety of offices. Ready for Plug & Work. Can be booked online, whether by the hour, day, week or month, for a year or simply for an unlimited period. Without the aforementioned complicated rental agreements. For every occasion, e.g.:
- Meeting room for pitching to an investor
- exclusive address for customer meetings
- home office alternative to escape the confines or distractions at home
- project and team rooms
- office home for the next phase of company development
- inspiring event room for meetings and workshops
- temporary workspace close to customers and partners
- desk on the go
This way, founders and young companies find the workspace and accommodation that best suits their development phase and only commit to it as long as it fits. If the "suit" is too small or too big, or if a different model is offered, a new, better-fitting office is booked.
As a partner of incubators and accelerators, ShareYourSpace particularly supports startups that are leaving them and looking for their own four walls of an office, with preferential conditions from various office providers and free assistance and advice on questions about the office.
Our partners
The Sandbox
Sandbox is Baden-Württemberg's state accelerator for start-ups in the creative industries. Sandbox provides aspiring founders with the necessary entrepreneurial knowledge in seminars, workshops and individual coaching sessions and provides a network of start-ups, industry partners and mentors. The exchange with one of the European partner countries gives an insight into the European start-up scene and helps - keyword internationalization - in opening up new markets and making valuable contacts.
The program, including the specially set up co-working space, the Playpark, is anchored at the Stuttgart Media University. Anyone interested in starting a business from all over Baden-Württemberg can take part; participation is free.
Since its launch in 2017, over 60 start-up projects have been supported - from an app for location-based audio walks to a fashion label for sustainably produced children's fashion and a cooperative puzzle game to a collaboration platform for musicians all over the world.
startport Duisburg
Startport, the innovation platform of Duisburger Hafen AG, connects startups, corporates and investors who are enthusiastic about new logistics technologies. With many industrial companies and a strong medium-sized business sector, the Rhine-Ruhr region offers the best conditions for exciting collaborations.
In order to promote industry and logistics, young entrepreneurs are supported in the one-year accelerator program. The accelerator, founded in autumn 2017, is entering its fifth round this year and welcomes a total of 30 startups to the program.