CASET: OFFICE X VANTAA & ESPOO
In 2021-2022, we tried to start co-working spaces in Vantaa and Espoo with slightly different concepts. We aimed to create a service model instead of just selling square meters.
Through many twists and turns, we realized that the spaces, location, and services in Vantaa and Espoo were not exactly what companies and employees wanted.
We gathered the lessons learned and left the first experiments behind us. Here is an overview of the spaces and the lessons learned in this case.
We put these into practice and implemented co-working spaces in Jyväskylä, which are already full of satisfied customers!
Office X Vantaa Flamingo
Office X’s first location in Vantaa Flamingo opened in June 2021. Operations were built over 1.5 years, and during that time, we learned a lot about the changes in work culture, office spaces, the co-working market, and the changing office space needs of companies.
Office X was initially built in Vantaa with the idea that work would be mobile and, with the increase in remote work, people would want to use co-working spaces more in their daily lives. Instead of working from home, a remote work point could be at Office X, a café, or a cottage. The name also came from this idea, where the office can be in location X = Office X.
However, we soon realized that consumers were not yet quite ready for this idea and to pay for a remote work point themselves as employees. Our customers were largely solo entrepreneurs or employees whose workplace was located more than 50 km from home.
Slightly larger companies were also interested in our service, but at this stage, we noticed the biggest shortcoming of the Vantaa spaces, which was that we could not offer private office spaces for companies in addition to flexible co-working space. We had approached it from a different perspective and built the office spaces with shared use in mind.
The office space needs of companies have changed, and they are starting to look for more flexible solutions, but it is still unknown how many people will work in which spaces in the future, and the new work culture is still in the construction phase. For this reason, a natural solution for companies is a smaller private office space and, in addition, shared space where employees can work. This is also a flexible way to increase or decrease spaces and the costs they bring.
Office X’s Vantaa location had customers from over 50 companies, but despite good customer satisfaction, many memberships were very experimental and were terminated once the most acute space needs were met.
As a location, the Vantaa office in the Flamingo shopping center was excellent with all services nearby. The location along the ring road III allowed easy access by car, public transport, and walking. This was a big plus for remote workers, but companies were clearly looking for office spaces in different areas and locations than in a shopping center.
We decided to look for new locations where companies can have their own office space but also flexible co-working space in addition. We also wanted to genuinely develop the efficiency of properties by utilizing wasted square meters for beneficial use in the future.
In the summer of 2022, we closed the Vantaa office and moved all operations to the Jyväskylä Grafilan office.
Office X Espoo Olari
Office X’s second location in Espoo Olari in Isku’s premises opened in January 2022. We started experimenting with the so-called ”shop in shop” model in cooperation with Isku, where the unused B2B furniture showroom space was utilized as co-working space. So the idea of utilizing wasted square meters in the property was put into practice.
Operations started quickly and at low cost thanks to the ”shop in shop” model. As a location, Olari was easily accessible by car and public transport, but the lack of lunch places nearby was known from the start. In Espoo spaces, we had a great opportunity to offer companies private office space and significantly more co-working workstations than in the Vantaa location. We even had the option of offering a private office space for a company of 15-20 people + co-working space.
Of course, the spaces had very high-quality furniture and meeting rooms thanks to Isku’s furniture. In addition, there was also a gym in the same building in Espoo, which was a big plus for many interested customers. However, we quickly noticed in Espoo spaces that introducing the new ”shop in shop” concept to people was a challenge because now the office was in a commercial space, which was unconventional.
People from about 30 companies visited the spaces for scheduled appointments, but we noticed that the location was a bit off the beaten path, which resulted in lower visibility compared to the visibility received by Vantaa Flamingo.
In the Espoo spaces, we also noticed for the first time a clear need for an employee who would take care of the community and be present daily to showcase the spaces and answer customer questions. Our customers wanted a bit more community in the large space, and independent exploration of the co-working spaces without a presenter did not produce lasting customers.
In the summer of 2022, after a six-month experiment, we decided that it would be more reasonable to concentrate all our efforts on one functional space where we could build a service package where all the pieces fit together. So, we decided to close the Espoo space in the summer of 2022, and all operations moved to Jyväskylä.
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