Review my non-IT business idea
alaskamiller: The most common term for this is coworking space. Major markets have these, such as Hat Factory, Citizen Space in SF, Blankspaces in LA. There's also niche ones, such as a place in NYC that caters specifically to just writers.It's a pretty nifty idea and I thought of getting this going with my business partner in Silicon Valley but dropped the idea after market research and a variety of roadblocks/problems popped up.Things such as:- Real estate costs are prohibitive. Despite the surplus of office buildings costs are still insane and lease terms weren't flexible.- Permit requirements for operation and hours. In our area things have to close at certain times, limiting access to patrons such as the students in off hours.- I believe in Silicon Valley (south bay specifically) the market for something like this is too small to be operational. On a tangent, there's a huge workspace with a bevy of expensive tools called TechShop in Menlo Park that after 3 years of operations have only attracted 400 or so paying monthly members.- Most people don't want to pay the fees. The inconveniences of Starbucks sitting is worth the free wifi. Again, in a similar vein in Silicon Valley a few years ago PC cafes where you can play Counter-strike or World of WarCraft were really popular. I remember 10 shops open in the area one time but they all eventually one by one folded. The only one that's still open charges $3 an hour to use their computer and even though they have a decent sized regulars (about 200 or so every week) they're still struggling.These things might or might not affect you in your market, or they might not even bother you. We had intended to scale this but if you can get a decent sized room for something with a good lease, some good marketing, elbow grease, you might make it work.Alternative revenue can be from renting out desks, lockers, selling drinks and snacks, charging for access per hour, offering long term memberships, rent out the place for special events, conferences, rent computers or equipment such as projectors, scanners, printers.Access to capital or a credit line to last for at least 6 months is definitely necessary.