How to Redesign Your Restaurant as Coworking Space?

If you are reading this, you are either a restaurant owner, or someone who is planning on owning a restaurant and thinking of ways to monetise the investment as much as possible. One of the most appealing ideas is to turn your establishment into a coworking space while also keeping your initial venture of the café/restaurant intact.

What is Coworking Space?

A decade ago, people might not have imagined the coworking space concept. Coworking space, as you might be familiar with, is a shared place where individuals share a common venue to work.

Restaurants and cafes are mostly a unilateral market vertical which focuses on food and hospitality. However, the current corporate ecosystem is transforming towards a more sustainable framework rather than a traditional one.

It now consists of offsite employees, start-ups and freelancers. Hence, a coworking space is one of the most ideal and profitable business ideas for restaurant and cafe owners today. The best part is, today, you will find a number of restaurant management solution which can manage all the essential elements necessary to manage coworking spaces, as well.

It provides an opportunity to monetize on unused spaces especially during slow hours. In addition, it also ensures a steady inflow of profits from two verticals, i.e., workspace occupancy and purchases. So, to be precise, they pay for both; the goods and services. Some of the well-known coworking space in India are Soho, Qahwa, 2tree Coffee, and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters.

However, some restaurants are going a step ahead and creating different atmosphere to utilize their establishment efficiently.

Pay As You Like

Situated near the surreal ruins of the Hauz Khas monument in South Delhi, Kunzum is a unique cafe concept. It is the brainchild of Ajay Jain, former journalist, who found his abode in travelling, Once you get over its initial aesthetics and settle down, you can order coffee or teas, and relax, read, work, listen to music or interact with people in the café.

If you aren’t carrying your art supplies or books, it’s okay. They have art supplies that you can use and book you can read.

The best part is that it has a unique way of bill payment system. The beverages aren’t free, but you can pay whatever you want.

How can the establishment sustain with such a bizarre payment system? The fact of the matter is, after their experience, people are more than willing to pay whatever they find suitable. And considering they pay an amount according to their experience; this approximately comes around the cost of the goods and services provided.

Apart from this, Kunzum also promotes young artists, musicians, poets and other groups by conducting workshops, events and film screenings with a small fee. The money also comes with the artwork, photographs and postcards that are sold in the establishment.

This model is not only sustainable but also creates a buzz in the local art and poetry circles. Therefore, it’s unique selling proposition (USP) make it famous and increases footfall.

The Millennial Ecosystem

Social Offline started as an innovative idea by Riyaaz Amlani, the founder of Impresario Pvt Ltd. Its first establishment was opened in Bengaluru and has never looked back with its 21 outlets open in three cities, i.e., New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The founder defines it as a space for millennials.

Now, it does offer collaborative workspace, but it is one of its many verticals. Apart from being a place to eat and work, it becomes a place to party at night. You can eat the best of food and drinks throughout the day but can also work peacefully and meet people.

But unlike other conventional collaborative workplaces, it is one business that keeps innovating and adapting its ecosystem to suit the requirements of the changing trends. For instance, the brand has also opened its doors to rent spaces to upcoming artists, and performers, in a vertical known as antisocial which is mainly dedicated to the artists. Hence, urban events such as poetry slams and stand-ups are a common sight in the venue.

Hence, it can be aptly called the place for both innovators and artists. But that’s not all. It provides some of the best food and drinks.

However, there is one striking feature of the company, and that is its brand management. It has blended urban trends such as colloquial slangs with modern social trends such as hashtags to create something unique. Its drinks are served in graduated cylinders and flasks, with IV pipes as straws. The menu is designed to look like newspapers and gravy is served in ‘baalti’.

All of this makes Social one of the most dynamic and innovative urban brands, in the country.

Conclusion

There are a number of things common between both these spaces that makes them the talk of the city, such as out-of-box ideas, understanding the present trends and offering something unique that no one has ever done before.

Hence, if you are planning to do something with your restaurant, do something unique and understand the market demands.