Why do we still have to go to work? 
I am not meaning in the sense of not working at all, but with the same technology options at home that are available at work, why not? I think we need to get over the stigma of feeling that we need to show face at work while I understand that certain roles need to be physically there but there are so many that don’t. I had a chance to visit Sun Microsystems last year and they talked in depth about the virtual workplace and how they are downsizing physical campuses in favor of virtual remote workers. This was not simply a cost cutting move to save occupancy and utilities cost, they talked about employee retention and reducing their environmental footprint. With all this new technology, there should be no gap between our abilities to perform our jobs in either location. Sun offers this option to almost all employees. It’s all about empowering your employees with responsibility and accountability; we don’t need to big brother the right people.
I recently started working a few days from home and I couldn’t be happier. I actually didn’t mind coming into the office but in all honesty, I am a lot more productive working from home. I noticed how many hours I wasted in meetings and socializing. I may not work as many hours anymore, but per hour, I am able to accomplish so much more work. Personally, I don’t have a great space (or home office) to call my own and is the only thing I miss about having my small cube at work.
These days, its funny to see so many people using coffee shops as “sudo” offices where they operate their small or personal business amongst hundreds of random people everyday. I have seen people write books, design buildings, and write computer code at Starbucks. With free broadband hitting all major stores and cities, why not? Boston has taken some cues from San Francisco and has starting offering free hotspots all over the cities starting with historic Faneuil hall.
The Idea: So how about a business that provides out a rented space in a hip location where remote or independent business individuals can come and do work. This service could also compliment a larger firm who doesn’t want to start up new locations in certain cities and use it as part of a domestic expansion strategy. So I am thinking a trendy space that incorporates innovative designs with desk space, VOIP, technical support, T1 broadband, food, gives you a physical address and phone number. A place you can bring clients if needed, conduct interviews but at the end of the day, a place that helps you focus on your business. You pay one monthly membership and never have to worry about stocking the paper, cleaning up, or paying 20 bills. Provided you have a membership, office staff will file incoming faxes, setup global teleconferences while allowing you to come in and out as you please. I am thinking open spaces with many desks but closed areas if needed, and maybe a locker systems of sorts to store personals. It would be a work hub. With many fixed costs and lease agreements, there would be lots of hurdles getting the necessary cash to fund startup and first few years of operations. Achieving scale and traction could be difficult in non urban areas, but this is something that I think we will be seeing in the near future.
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But can u explain the difference between going into work, and going into one of these local offices in your neighborhood?
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For business onwers: This would be a cheaper alternative to actually renting or owning your own office space. In fact, this already exists in Miami, where these "rentable" office spaces help small business owners look more legit, particularly if they are a one-man/woman owner.
For every other non-executive owner: This option doesn't alleviate the issue of goint to work and it doesn't make sense to pay for this space if you're only going to be using the computer (wouldn't that be an internet cafe???). Instead, I'd suggest talking to your boss about working from home, at least a couple of days a week.
The best book I've read regarding all of this is The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. It's one of the best business reads of late.
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For non-business owners, it would feel different than going to a traditional cube, it would be lively, innovative space while having all the support of IT, etc.
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Have you heard of The Hub? (http://www.the-hub.net/)
They provide workspace mostly for young entrepreneurs. I had the chance to visit them in London last summer - it was so different and special!
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