1. An affordable option:
   Start-up businesses, sole-traders, and freelancers don’t necessarily have the means or resources to go down the traditional office space route where office space is rented at a high rate per sqm based on location and length of the lease.
   The concept of renting a desk in a collaborative environment was an opportunity previously unavailable. With the coworking model, this allows small businesses to work in an office space which offers a community of like-minded people at an affordable price.
   At Inspire Cowork you have access to your own dedicated desk, a super quick Wi-Fi connection, bottomless tea and barista style coffee, access to private meeting rooms, soundproof phone booths and so much more are. All of this is included in your monthly membership fee – no hidden costs!
2. No strings attached:
   At Inspire Cowork and many other coworking spaces in Sydney and around the world, we offer the flexibility of members not being tied into any lease agreement. Inspire Cowork prides itself on understanding the realism of the position start-ups and small businesses are in. We recognise that business demands can change suddenly and therefore we do not hold our members to a lease agreement or commitment to the space.
3. Networking:
   Those seeking to get inspired and connect with like-minded people should look no further. Inspire Cowork is a professional coworking space in the Sutherland Shire, which prides itself on its awesome community of over 60 local businesses. The coworking space is filled with members who enjoy a quality of life which is represented in their work-life balance, growing their networks, cutting their costs and increasing their productivity.
   With so many businesses working within the space, it gives you the opportunity to connect with people who may be able to help service your business or vice-versa.
4. Grow your team without the stress:
   A coworking space gives you the flexibility of growing your team without the stress of having to rent a large office space. It gives you the opportunity to increase your team by simply allocating a second or third coworking desk. If business slows down, you can then decrease the number of desks based on your employees and remain within the same office space.
5. Location:
   The best thing about working for yourself is the fact that you get to choose where you work from. Working from a coworking space allows you to pick a space which is in close proximity to your home or a location which best suits your lifestyle.
   If you’re located in Alfords Point, Bangor, Barden Ridge, Bonnet Bay, Brighton Le Sands, Bundeena, Burraneer, Caringbah, Cronulla, Dolans Bay, Engadine, Grays Point, Greenhills Beach, Gymea, Gymea Bay, Heathcote, Illawong, Jannali, Kangaroo Point, Kareela, Kirrawee, Kurnell, Sans Souci, Sutherland, Sylvania Waters, Taren Point, Waterfall, Woolooware, Woronora, Woronora Heights, Yarrawarrah or Yowie Bay, we may be the perfect office space solution for you.
   Inspire Cowork is located in Miranda, just minutes’ walk from Westfield Miranda and the train station.

If this sounds of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to contact us to book a tour or a free trial. We look forward to meeting you.
 

http://gcuc.co/2018-global-coworking-forecast-30432-spaces-5-1-million-members-2022/
https://hbr.org/2017/12/coworking-is-not-about-workspace-its-about-feeling-less-lonely

1. Reflect on the years that have passed and determine what you will like to see when December 2018 rolls around. Reflection allows you to be proud of what you have achieved over the years, and also gives you a wakeup call on what you have set out to achieve but have failed to complete in years passed.
2. Create SMART goals
   Specific
   Measurable
   Attainable
   Relevant
   Timely
3. Break down your goals into personal and professional.
4. Set your standards high. You will surprise yourself with how far you can go and what you can achieve if you put your mind to it. Make your goals challenging enough that they test you but not too challenging where you give up before you’ve even started.
5. Go with the flow. There are many obstacles which will present themselves throughout the year. Stay positive. Keep calm. Trust yourself. Keep working hard. The rest will follow.

 
Have you set your new year goals? We’d love to hear from you.

 
Simon Sinek is an inspirational motivational speaker. You may know him for his talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action or his latest book, Find Your Why and the enlightening Ted Talk which followed. I love taking time out to listen to his talks and interviews as I feel whenever I listen to him speak, I always learn a new lesson or am reminded of a thought-provoking subject which really resonates with me.
 
A few days ago I stumbled across a YouTube clip by Evan Carmichael which was a bit of a Simon Sinek mash up. The hour-long clip was a recap of Simon Sinek’s 10 rules for success.
 
If you have the time to watch the clip, I highly recommend it. If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of Simon Sinek’s 10 rules for success:

1. Break the rules.
   “The rule is this – you can go after whatever you want, you just cannot deny anyone else to go after whatever they want.”
2. Train your mind
   It’s important to differentiate the difference between being excited and being nervous. The interpretation or perception of being excited or being nervous is the same stimuli, so instead of saying that you’re nervous, say you’re excited. It’s a very effective change in habit, as it makes you want to rush forward, instead of pulling back, yet it’s the same experience.
3. Be patient
   Too often you come across young millennials who become disengaged in their job, early on in their tenure at the company, because they feel they aren’t making an impact. They treat the sense of fulfillment as if it were a scavenger hunt. We have an entire generation which has an Institutionalised sense of impatience. Do they have the patience to go on the journey to maintain love, to feel fulfilled or do they just give up and go onto the next chapter?
4. Take Accountability
   As much as you may not want to admit it, sometimes it’s you who’s the problem. We’ve seen this happen all too recently with the global financial crisis in 2008. They blamed everything else except themselves. Take accountability for your actions. You can take all the credit in the world for the things you do right as long as you also take responsibility for what you do wrong. It must be a balanced equation.
5. Outdo Yourself
   The infinite player understands that sometimes you’re ahead and sometimes you’re behind. Sometimes your product is better and sometimes it’s worse. The goal isn’t to be the best every day, the goals aren’t to outdo your competition every day. Finite players play to beat the players around them infinite players play to be better themselves. Wake up every day to see how you can create your company to be better today than what it was yesterday. Create your product to be better today than it was yesterday. How do you outdo yourself? It’s about making sure the work your producing today is better than you did before. You are your competition and that is what keeps you in the game longer and ensures that you find joy, because the joy comes from advancement, not your competition.
6. Stack the deck
   Put yourself and your company in a position of strength. Choose to be in an environment where your strengths are recognized. Where you are present in an environment around people who want you to be there.
7. Be the last speaker
   Nelson Mandela across the world is universally regarded as a great leader. He was the son of a tribal chief and when asked how he learned to be a great leader he responded with his memory of going with his father to tribal meetings. He learned 2 things. Always sit in a circle. His father, being the tribal chief, was always the last to speak. The skill of allowing everyone in the room to speak before you provide 2 things. 1. It gives everyone in the room the feeling that they have been heard, offering everyone the ability to feel they have contributed. 2. You can hear what everyone has to say before you give your opinion. It provides you with the opportunity to simply sit there and take it all in. You need to ask questions so you can understand what they mean. Why they have the opinion? Why are they speaking from where they are speaking? It sounds easy, it’s not. It’s important to practice to be the last to speak.
8. Be Authentic
   Say and do the things you actually believe. By doing this, you build trust and it creates symbols of who you are. You attract people who believe what you believe. The more you can give of yourself and give what you believe, great things start to happen.
9. Find your passion
   Where does passion come from? Passion is the feeling you have when you’re engaged with something that you love. The goal is to find something, both at home and work, that you’re truly excited about. Finding the things that you love to do and being able to make a profession out of it, is the goal.
10. Start with why
    When asking yourself what is your why, you’re asking yourself what’s your purpose, what’s your cause? To make a profit is a result, it’s not your why. The goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe. Read our previous blog on What’s your Why for more insights.

1. Listen to understand not respond:
   “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. Most people listen with the intent to reply”. It’s important to ask yourself if you’re truly listening to what others are saying or if you’re being distracted by a pre-conceived answer based on an assumption that you already know what the person is going to say.
2. Listen with curiosity:
   If you’re willing to listen, everyone has a story to tell. There have been many occasions where I think I have heard something before and almost go into auto pilot with a response. I have learnt to let my curiosity take over and see where the conversation is going to go. You’ll be surprised, there are many times where I’ve learnt something new.
3. Don’t listen with just your ears:
   Listening effectively is giving your undivided attention. It means that you listen with more than just your ears. Communicate with your eyes, heart and body language.
4. Listening is like a muscle:
   The more you use it, the more it develops. This doesn’t mean that the more you use it, you will automatically become a better listener, but it’s a great start. By making a conscious effort to be a more effective listener will train your brain to be so.
5. Listening makes you a great leader:
   As an entrepreneur, I pride myself on being a good a leader. It’s essential to listen to your employees, shareholders and most importantly your customers. By listening to what they have to say, you can grow your business and become a great leader.

I challenge you to take notice of your behaviour next time you’re engaging in a conversation. It’s an eye opening experience, very quickly you realise whether you are a good, moderate or a bad listener. You will start to take notice if you are making assumptions or interrupting the person speaking and with that allows you to take the steps to move towards being a more effective listener.

1. Clears your Mind
2. Improves your creativity
3. Resets your priorities
4. Improves your relationships with family, friends and yourself
5. Let’s you slow down and become more focused
6. Improves your productivity
7. You gain self-confidence and become more independent
8. Improves the quality of your decision making
9. Reduces stress and feeling overwhelmed
10. Increases quality of life and feelings of well-being

Taking time out is a critical and valuable part of creating results that you really want in your life and your business. It allows you to inflict positive change in your life and gives you a renewed energy for your work.
 
If you are in the Sutherland Shire and looking to work locally, come and say hello at Inspire Cowork. We are a short stroll from Westfield, Miranda and have great locally sourced White Horse coffee. I look forward to meeting you.

I have many reasons why I believe a coworking space is a place to be for a business starting out or the next step from the home office to an office space, but I will keep it to 10 points.

1. Human connection is good for business
   

   The power of technology never ceases to amaze me. Working in the tech industry, I feel that I am very connected to the tech world and every day there is something new that I am either intrigued or fascinated by. For many businesses and entrepreneurs, it’s becoming the norm to run an entire business remotely. This can be great on many levels, although it can also be a double edge sword. For the benefits you get on one side, you can lose on the other. At a human level, these types of businesses can be very lonely and as a result, can be restricted by lack of creativity and innovation. That human connection allows for business owners to think outside the box, run their ideas past like-minded people or simply have a good laugh along the way.

2. Avoid a lengthy commute

   Is it just me, or has the commute to work almost doubled since 10 years ago? The roads are definitely busier and the public transport system is in complete overdrive. Due to the consistent increase in rental/property prices close to the CBD and the surrounding areas, people are having to live much further away to be able to afford a place to live. This has put a lot of pressure on the already overloaded road and public transport infrastructure.I have to travel into North Sydney 3 times a week, I was able to negotiate in my contract that I’ll work remotely for 2 days out the week. I work out of Inspire Cowork which works perfectly for me. It’s barely a 2-minute commute to work, and I feel much more relaxed when I reach the office. We have over 50 businesses in the space which allows me to collaborate with like-minded people who are in varying industries. The majority of the members live in the Sutherland Shire so their commute to work is also short, this brings a sense of calm and a stress-free environment as most people don’t have the stress of the commute before they reach the office.

3. Take advantage of the sharing economy

   Every morning we wake up and rarely have a second thought on how the sharing economy has transformed our lives. Whether we used an Uber to get home last night, or an Airbnb for a quick weekend getaway, the shared economy has become instrumental in our lives. For entrepreneurs, small business owners and innovative start-ups, it’s a really exciting time. Working in an environment where like-minded entrepreneurs share their knowledge, expertise and insights give so much value to your business.

4. Collaboration is key

   Working in a coworking space gives you the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded people. It allows you to push the boundaries, try new things and challenge yourself and your business into thinking differently. Working in an office space which boasts over 50 businesses allows me to collaborate with people within different industries that I never thought would be possible. It brings two worlds together and allows for the creative juices to prosper.

5. Increase your networks

   Networking is a powerful tool. It leaves you feeling inspired and motivated by the people you meet along the way. It provides incredible business opportunities and can add so much insight and value to your business. Working out of a collaborative coworking space allows you to meet with people who you wouldn’t necessarily be in the same circles with. It can open doors which you never deemed possible. As the old saying goes “it’s who you know, not what you know”.

6. Bottomless coffee

   Let’s face it! Who doesn’t love a good caffeine fix? An average cup of coffee is about $3.00 in Sydney. Imagine how much money you save by having café quality coffee straight from your workplace included in your monthly membership fee. Additionally, at Inspire Cowork, you have access to a number of meeting rooms so instead of taking your clients to the cafe down the road, you can bring them to a professional workspace.

7. Low start-up cost

   Starting your own business isn’t easy or cheap. A coworking space offers people who are looking to leave the home office a chance to work in a fully equipped office space without all the overhead costs of setting up their own office. Finding the right coworking space to suit your business needs is vital. There are many coworking models out there, some more flexible than others. I suggest that before you sign up to any coworking space, you understand what is included in your monthly fee and ensure you understand whether there is a cancellation period or bond which needs to be paid.

8. Space and flexibility to grow your team

   With many businesses, there are always ups and downs. With those tumultuous times comes the increase and decrease of staff. Additionally, depending on the business that you’re running, you may require casual staff over a certain period of time to help with your peak demand. A coworking space gives you the flexibility to increase the number of desks you require. At Inspire Cowork, we understand the stress of business and we like to think we can take some of that stress away by offering no cancellation fees or bonds. If over December you require 3 new people to help with your workload, you can increase by 3 desks for December and bring it back to the 1 desk by January.

9. Work-life balance

   Working out of the home office can have both its positives and negatives. It’s really difficult to turn off from work mode when your office is in the house. By being in a coworking space, it provides you with boundaries between your work and your life. It allows you to get into a working routine where you are able to switch off when you leave the office.

10. Location Location Location

    Being centrally located is a huge benefit to your business. Inspire Cowork is just a few minutes’ walk from Westfield Shopping Centre, Miranda train station, and bus stops and conveniently located to surrounding schools and doctors.

I love working out of the Sutherland Shire’s largest coworking space. There are over 100 businesses in the space and it’s amazing to see how all the different businesses communicate and collaborate with each other. On a daily basis, I find myself intrigued by the level of comfort and confidence which emanates from the members.

Whether the members are working within the coworking space or within a private office, the sense of community is always in the air. I find that working in an environment where you can collaborate and network with like-minded people on a daily basis who are not judging you by the story you are selling, really gives you the experience and confidence to do it when it really counts.

Here what our members have to say.

1. It’s all in your demeanour:
   Your demeanour is the way in which you behave. If your behaviour comes across as a confident person, people will believe that you are confident. It’s in your poise, maintaining eye contact, staying true to yourself, your appearance, your tone and doing what is right.
2. The confidence formula:
   Jeff Thomas has a theory about what it takes to project self-confidence. It’s all in a very simple formula: Confidence = Calm + Certainty. Sounds so easy right? It really is that easy. Stay cool and be certain of yourself, your actions and your words.
3. Practice:
   “Confidence is like a muscle, it gets stronger the more you use it”. If you can practice being the confident version of yourself on a daily basis, you will become that person. It’s all in the saying “fake it till you make it”. A huge benefit of working out of a coworking space allows you to do this on a daily basis without it making you feel uncomfortable are silly. Each time you go to grab a coffee or walk to the balcony for some fresh air, there is a like-minded person present which you can practice on.
4. Know your why:
   People believe and buy into the story you tell not the product or service you are selling. You need to know and understand your purpose. What’s your why? Once you know your purpose and have a powerful story behind your why you will feel and be so much more confident in selling it.
5. It starts with you:
   You need to believe in yourself, your business and the value in which you are creating through your product or service you are selling. You need to harness the self-belief to really take you confidence to the next level.

 
For many people, confidence can take a lifetime to build, with it taking only a few moments to shatter into a million pieces. It’s so important to eliminate the excuses and have the conviction to power through any situation which may arise. I’ll end with a power quote by Thomas A. Edison “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

1. Write a to-do list: 
   A “to-do list” gives you direction for the day. It helps with your time management and typically minimises procrastination. It is important to keep your to-do list achievable. There is nothing more de-motivating than having a list filled with items which you know you won’t have time to achieve. It is about the quality of your actionable items over the quantity of them. Be strategic in what you spend your time on.
2. Do what you dread first thing in the morning:
   Once I have prioritized my to-do list, I complete the most important and toughest task first. The longer you have the hardest task or the task which you don’t want to do on your to-do list the more you will procrastinate throughout the day. It’s important to set achievable goals to complete the tasks which you don’t enjoy doing.
3. Allocate time in the day to get some exercise & eat healthy:
   Healthy life = healthy mind. Food is your brains fuel to work. Although an easy and sometimes cheaper option, carbs and fatty foods are a poor choice as it gives you a spike of energy before providing a massive low leaving you lethargic and lose focus. Eating a healthy lunch, with low GI foods, allows your energy levels to be maintained for the rest of the day, providing you with a clear mind and motivation to do what you need to do.As difficult as it can be, you have to take time away from your desk. This provides clarity and kicks up your energy levels. Go for a 10min walk after lunch. Grab some fresh air and come back to your desk refreshed and ready to work.
4. Make time to have a conversation with someone in the office:
   As a start-up business, this may be difficult if you are working from the home office. This is where a coworking space becomes so valuable. It is important for you to get a different perspective on what it is that you’re working on. Having an easy 10min conversation whilst grabbing a coffee or a bite to eat, can spark something in your mind which takes you in a direction which you battled to achieve.
5. Limit the time you check your phone – particularly your social channels
   For some of you, social media is your job, this doesn’t mean checking your own personal social feeds is a good idea during the work day. This is a procrastination tool of note and can be incredibly distracting for your day. I try to limit checking my phone to once an hour. I have my phone on silent all day, so when a message comes through I do not here it. I have my phone calls set to vibration so if it rings and it’s a business call, I don’t miss the call. Being in such a connect world, it is difficult to switch off and break the habit of checking your phone but you and your business will thank you for it later.

There are many blogs out there which talk to the scientific tactics to stop procrastination. These 5 steps have helped me break the habit of being a procrastinator which procrastinates and my business thanks me for being more focused and productive.
If you are in or near the Sutherland Shire come and say hello at Inspire Cowork, we’d love to meet you. Contact us today.