'start up's & freelancers rejoice an affordable co-working space to accelerate your ideas to the next level'...
Co-woking spaces are for me the future for businesses & freelancers looking to have a creative, social working environment without the need for long terms contracts and high rents. it also gives the possibility of collaboration between diverse people with in the space.
recently i was able to join a super high tech and impressive coworking space called impact hub in brno, czech republic. impact hub is the largest & most advance coworking space in the city that is located less than 2.5 hours from both vienna and prague. brno and impact hub are perfectly placed for businesses to grow and freelancers to have a high-quality space to work.
why co-working & not an my own office?
well, this for me is very simple as a digital nomad, i don't stay in places long enough to be able to rent a permanent office for my work. so what if i am staying long term? well, there are other benefits. the main issue of renting an office is the cost (rent & infrastructure) but also the possibility of missing connections (i will go deeper later in this article). when renting an office you normally need to sign a long-term contract: set up your infrastructure like wifi, utilities and buy furniture. now with a coworking space, you have all of that included in the price. an amazing space normally located close to the city like here in impact hub brno. all utilities and wifi are included in the monthly fee that is on a month to month contract so if you need to take a break it's easy to cancel. for me society is changing as the new generations arrive to the workforce they are increasingly demanding better workspaces and conditions to aid creativity and happiness in the workplace. coworking spaces like impact hub offer amazing environments with minimal pressure compared to traditional office-based environments where employees have constant pressure and anxiety from management that can directly affect performance and creativity.
connections & community
if your a business or freelancer all connections are important to increase awareness of what you do as an individual or a company. coworking spaces are the perfect meeting point for people to network with others to help in there quest to grow the company or product. let me give you an example: i am a full-time nomad focusing on photography and marketing, here at the impact hub i can offer my skills to all the other businesses and individuals that may benefit from my expertise either contacting them directly or being approached as in my case. a mutual acquaintance introduced me to an app developer in need of copyright work making sure the english used in his app was grammatically correct as it is not his first language. now even though i am not a professional copywriter i am a native english speaker so for me it was easy i made a little money from it. these are the kind of connections that can lead to increasing your businesses and may also get you off the ground or lead to a full-time position in a startup.
don't just take my word for it..
while at impact hub i interviewed clarisa from vitriolo
specialising in graphic design. clasrisa is originally from argentina and moved recently to brno after joining her husband here. i wanted to understand more the thoughts of other members in the hub so i asked her...
what benefits has impact hub brought to your workflow?
"impact hub is a great place to focus on my daily tasks, it's also an inspirational place to work because of the surrounds. the people that i have met since arriving are very interesting and this motivates me". if your interested in graphic design services please visit her site here
impact hub space...
brno impact hub is located close to the city in a beautifully restored factory. the space is light and airy with hot desks where you can pick a different seat each day or take a permanent desk or even an office as your company grows with the help of the impact hub team. in the main space of the hub, you'll find high ceilings with lots of natural light. a bar in the centre of the room separated the working desks from the comfy meeting area sofas. the bar is actually what is know as a trust bar as no one is working there and you pay for what you take from coffee to beer even sandwiches and croissants for breakfast can be found here all at reasonable prices.
above the lobby you'll find boardrooms for private meeting with your team, private noise reducing Skype boxes for those long-distance meetings. office spaces downstairs can be rented as your team grows or if your a freelancer then why not rent a permanent desk on the mezzanine level overlooking the lobby so you know you always have a desktop when you arrive. my favourite place for the summer is the outdoor terrace on the second floor when the sun is shining this is the place to get some work done...
events are a big part of the impact hub's calendar and you can find some very interesting events that are happing on a monthly basis. all are included if you have the unlimited membership.
memberships
impact hub works mostly on a model of monthly membership but you also have the option of a day pass. no i'm using the unlimited pass (€100 per month). this pass gives you so much flexibility and benefits: access to all common areas, 50% of your tariff can be used in all czech hubs and 3 days in each of the +100 locations worldwide, private locker and mailbox availability. now if you compare this to the most popular coworking space in london; we work (€500-€700). now if your a company or freelancer the difference is huge and the services here are the same. as an individual or company the decision is clear, come to brno impact hub....
get a tour and a free day pass here
the company
impact hub is a global company with over 100 coworking spaces worldwide, all members can use all these spaces when travelling to facilitate global meetings. the companies core values are trust and collaboration within the community, this translates from the team to the members. businesses have an aim to make money but a new wave of businesses that value social and environmental impact are a big part of the core values here.
there are three hubs in czech republic: prague, brno, ostrava all with there own unique personality. the great thing is that if your travelling for meetings in czech or further you can utilise your membership at all hubs worldwide.
living in brno
now work is only a part of your life so how it is to live in the second city of the czech republic? i came to brno to study for my pilot's licence at the international airport here and while i had heard very little of this city my main aim was to study. but over time this little student city has captivated my imagination from the architecture to the people it's a great place to live and work for a summer or the longer term.
this is a liveable city and unlike prague does not suffer from the ridiculous amounts of tourists that descend on the city every week. this gives brno a friendly more down to earth vibe. as i have come to realise since moving here brno is full of tech jobs mostly for english speakers.
brno is also perfectly located to explore central europe; vienna 1h 50 away, bratislava 1h 40, and prague 2h 30. if you want to go further a field then used the international airport that has daily flights to london and beyond.
brno and czech republic are super easy to live in especially if you hold an eu passport. most people speak english and are always happy to help.
so what's the cost of living? its a relatively cheap country to live in. on average around 50%-70% less than london, 30%-50% less than germany and france. for new companies / freelancers, i could not think of a better place with this amount of infrastructure for the same cost of living.
location
money
- czech koruna. the city is very inexpensive compared with northern europe.
- if your a european citizen and you travel often see my blog post on the curve card its the best travel card around i have saved hundreds of euro's using it. download the app and enter my promo code to get a free card & €/£5. click here to see the post.
- need an international bank account or transfer money at the lowest rates? i use transferwise. i make all my transfers with then and have even opened a remote eur, usa, czk accounts for free. click here to get your first transfer for free.
country travel tips
atm: any is fine most are free in the city. i would recommend equa bank for foreigners.
sim card: vodafone has the best coverage in the area. but can be expensive for data.
transport: a 3 months all access central city transport pass costs around €50
where to live
only one place i would recommend. domeq co-living space close to the centre. it offers a super cool co-living style with month to month contracts.