Today, we will name some of the top reasons that people are using the virtual office membership at Venture X, and why you should too.

1) Upscale business address with a friendly price ($99/month). Location, Location, Location. At Venture X, we provide our members with a Mercato address, which is known to be one of the most desired addresses in Naples. This allows companies to put the address on their website, Google maps and business cards. It gives their clients confidence that the company they hired is professional. We also have many companies from Fort Myers and Miami who need a Naples location because they have Naples cliental. Location is key!

2) Cost efficient. Some companies have a smaller budget and aren’t ready for some of the more expensive and full time office space solutions. They find it easy to work from home, but know they need to appear professional. With a virtual office, you have a very low overhead cost to worry about and it’s all month to month based. You can also have the confidence to know that you’re not stuck in a contract or lease.

3) A place to meet clients when needed. Many companies don’t need to meet clients every day. However, there are some days when you need to meet a client or potential client and the local coffee shop just won’t do.

A) You will spend too much money on a cup of coffee.

B) You won’t impress a POTENTIAL client by bringing them to your “coffee shop office”. Companies need to stand out from the rest. At Venture X, our virtual office members receive 2 days each month to use the space,  2 hours of conference room usage, PLUS unlimited organic coffee for yourself and clients. If you need more days, then we can provide that too. We also pride ourselves on having Fiber optic Wi-Fi, which will blow away any coffee shops speed.

4) Separate work and home. I would be rich if I was given a dollar for every time someone comes into Venture X and says “I can’t get any work done at home, because of the cat…child…dirty dishes…etc”. With a Virtual Office, you have the option to add on as many days as you like. Venture X has 24/7 access, so if you’re trying to work from home and you get distracted, we’re open and ready for some business work to get done.

Are you ready to give your company a virtual office presence in Mercato? Mention this blog and get your second month FREE. Only $99/month with no contracts or leases to worry about.

Give us a call at 239-300-9601 or send us an email at Contact@VentureX.co.

To see our full time office space solutions, please visit our office space page.

Written by Lennon Content Group:

“Ok so I’m a big writer dork.  I think Russian Lit is fun. I’d rather write a poem than go to a club. I’ve never been cool. Or hip. Or techie. And while I never really cared about that stuff I have to say that now that I’ve got a taste of the X factor at Venture X I don’t wanna go back ya’ll!

A couple of weeks ago I visited Venture X at the Mercato to meet with Jason Hartgrave of The Internet Economist and I’m not gonna lie… I fell in love immediately with the clean sleek lines and polished cement floors.

Disclaimer: Maybe here I should mention that I’m aFountainhead groupie. I’ve always secretly wanted to fall in love with a building that looked like Howard Roark built it. But that’s another story.

I know I risk sounding like a weirdo but there’s just something about the geometric sound proof booths that called to me like a siren. There was a karmic energy coming up from the smooth wood desks and the tasty organic coffee…who knows what made me fall…but I fell.

Whatever the case, I knew that once we got a few clients under our belt that Venture X would be our first and most valuable business investment.

Now why do I say investment instead of expense? Because I had a good  sense that Lennon Content Group would See immediate ROI from our rental of a Venture X work space.

1. Let me explain. For $299 a month per person I get a Mercato address. If you’re from Naples you KNOW this is worth a bunch more. It literally almost seems foolhardy not to jump at the chance to work here. It’s called social currency. It has tangible and real value.

2. The collaborative atmosphere is something that just can’t be bought. It’s a spirit, an idea, a cloud of creativity and action. The people who work here are passionate and driven. It rubs off. I want to hang with these people. I want to pick their brains and swap ideas.

3. It actually saves Lennon Content Group cash money to pay rent here! What? What you say? Don’t believe me? Well with no office space we were taking all of our meetings at coffee shops or at lunch. We sat down and tallied up that cost over the past six weeks. Oh…about $150 per person. Now factor in gas to drive to all those meetings which is another $50 weekly. So now we’re literally already in the red with $350 a month in expenditures per person before Venture X. So if you figure we have potential clients meet us here and we’re actually saving about $102 a month by renting a Venture X space. All this at no risk. There is no yearly contract.

4. Finally and way more valuable is the saved TIME. Last week I calculated that by not driving to appointments we’ve added a solid 10  hours drive time between the two of us. Ten hours to work on client work is equal to somewhere between $800-$1,200 per week extra money. Not to mention that it’s a heck of a lot easier to sign a client in a professional work space than it is in the back end of a coffee shop. It just is.

But really while the numbers more than make sense…I just flat out fell head over heels for the X men and women!

I say run…don’t walk to check out Venture X today”.

In my fathers and even grandfathers generation, working a 40 hour week, and clocking in was required by everyone. Working remotely in those days was not an option, due to lack of technology and personal opinions. However, times have changed and the age of the remote worker is sky rocketing and corporations are saving money by not having to house all of their employees on company property. Many corporations send employees home or to a cowork facility.

Not only does this save money, it also allows them to not feel so cramped or worn down by the corporate cubicle. Sending employees to a local coworking space has many benefits. First, its cheaper than hosting them in your office. Second, they get to interact with other people and brainstorm. Third, it allows them to still have a physical office space where they can put their head down and be productive.

Do I feel that Marissa Mayer is making a mistake? Not sure. Do I think she is making a wise decision? I’m not sure about that either. Only time will tell. However, I do know that the employees who were lazy outside of the office will also be lazy inside the office. She will definitely need to clean up shop.

I view it as a recent college graduate. Students who work hard, study and try their best, will normally succeed and graduate on time. Those students didn’t have to go to the library or have a college professor watching them at all times. People who want to succeed, will try their best and work hard (in most cases).

Whatever the outcome is, I am excited to see if this will boost or hender Yahoos rankings along side Google and Microsoft.

Coworking is a new aged version of executive suites. A place where people not only run their companies, but have the ability to collaborate and build long term relationships.

Currently at Venture X, we have many different industries represented including web designers, attorneys, realtors, internet marketers, bookkeepers, non-profits, artists, film producers and more. The best part about coworking is that most of these companies wouldn’t even know of each other unless they were working in the same facility. They now build relationships, use each other services, refer each other and grow.

Within our space, we have seen this referral happen many times. We have bookkeepers who have received business by having their company listed on our website. We have had film producers receive numerous contracts just by sitting here and someone asking for them. We have seen our attorneys and internet marketers work together to help grow business…(we could go on forever).

One of the most popular part about coworking, at least here in Naples, is the affordability. Having a full time office space for only $249/month with no contracts is hard to find anywhere else. You simply pay for what you need and skip on what you don’t.

If you haven’t given coworking a shot, I suggest doing so today. Find the closest one near you and try it out! Get out of your home office, your executive suite and start working where the future is heading.

Coworking office spaces allow small businesses, freelancers and independent professionals of all kinds to have an affordable office space while being surrounded by other inspiring individuals. This is something you can’t find at a home office or an executive suite. Companies that work in a cowork space genuinely care about their surrounding community members.

Now since we all apparently missed out on the doomsday the Mayans scheduled for us, let’s move on and into something new. Venture X gives people the chance to have a professional office space in the heart of Naples at Mercato, at very affordable rates. Whether you want to just stop by for the day to get out of the home office or you need a permanent office space with 24/7 access, Venture X has a plan for you!

Let’s make 2013 the year to grow your business, in a fresh new office. Come work with us!

Coworking is Taking Over.

A recent study was completed by Deskmag, that showed over 2,000 coworking spaces wordwide. Let’s step back for a second and remember that the first coworking space opened around 2005. Only two years ago, 600 coworking spaces were accounted for. New York City alone has 60 coworking spaces. 60 spaces for just over 8 million people. If we do the math, that’s 1 space for every 133,333 people. Not bad right? This is why we see a trend of small cities of less than 1,000,000 building multiple coworking spaces.

Is Coworking a Bubble?

Nope. These trends we are seeing are here to stay. Coworking spaces are being built with a purpose and they have a real wealth to share. There’s a large change in the world of working and these characteristics are due to the economic changes around the globe. That long term security one used to feel from employers is no longer present and people are leaving corporations and starting their own companies.

Coworking allows companies to start at a very low cost with little to no risk. Let’s take a look. If someone want’s to start their own company right now, they most likely can survive with a laptop, cellphone, and a desk. Yes, they can work from home, but if they wanted to appear professional, with a business address, an inspiring environment and an amazing community of like-minded individuals to surround them, they can join a cowork space for a few hundred per month.

The best part of being a small company or entrepreneur…you are less likely to get fired. It’s a great feeling. You should try it!

Want to check out Venture X for the day for free? Contact us and tell us you want a free day pass.

Not to be biased or anything, but we clearly love coworking and stand behind it. Now everything has it downsides, however when Kylie Jane Wakefield was asked, “is coworking worth it?” the answer was definitely “Yes!”.

The Following post was written by Kylie Jane Wakefield. The Source is: http://shareddesks.visibli.com/share/oQDs3h

The freelance life isn’t always glamorous. Working at home can become dull, distracting, or depressing, while coffee shops can prove to be quite frustrating.

A co-working space “is essentially the best of both worlds,” HongKiat’s Jennifer Moline wrote. “This concept consists of you renting a work space for a period of time at an office where other people do the same. You and other co-workers are not employed by the same company, working on different projects yet you work side by side with the others creating an ideal working environment. You still get to punch in and out as you please and you are not under the watchful eye of your boss but in the very same time, you get a change of environment and engage in watercooler talk.”

Michael Benvenga, a freelance graphic designer, has been a member of Brooklyn Creative League, a co-working space in Gowanus, Brooklyn, for eight months. Before that, he worked from home for three years. “Working at home I just got depressed,” he said. “It was claustrophobic after a while. I wouldn’t want to stay at home and eat dinner so I’d eat out and spend extra unnecessary money. When you’re not working at home, you come home and relax. It doesn’t feel weird because you haven’t been there all day. You can enjoy your house.”

Although it may seem like spending money on a co-working space was not necessary it helped Benvenga’s career. “When you leave your apartment to work and go to a dedicated space, you get more work done more easily. You end up working longer hours because everyone around you is working. There’s a good group effort feeling going on.”

Co-working spaces also offer members the chance to network and build their businesses. At Brooklyn Creative League, Benvenga says there is an online bulletin board where people list services they need, and his fellow co-workers will frequently ask around the office for help.

At Bitmap Creative Labs, a co-working space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, community is a huge aspect as to why it functions well. “Everyone can benefit each other and work off each other,” Founder Nick Robalik said. “It’s alienating to be a freelancer and you can get cabin fever working at home…[There we have] a community of freelancers who work off each other. Being around other people is helpful. Being able to go get lunch and chat about work and talk to anybody throughout the day in person and in the same industry is beneficial.”

Robalik, said that setting up shop at Bitmap is more conducive to productivity than working at home. “I get a lot more work done there. If I am at the office I’m working on something. Everyone else surrounding me is working on cool stuff, so I want to work on cool stuff too.”

Although the fee to rent out a co-working space might be scary to freelancers, who often don’t have steady incomes, the added convenience could end up being a money saver, like it was for Benvenga. He points out that in coffee shops and libraries, it’s difficult to do business over the phone and the Internet might be spotty. If time equals money, and time is wasted by stepping outside to take a phone call or waiting for the barista to fix the wifi, then a freelancer is spending less time making money. According to Moline, co-working spaces can even be written off as a tax expense.

There are the initial costs, but the benefits of joining a co-working space are clear: It’s social, it can lead to valuable connections, and it’s a better working environment than the home, library, or coffee shop. After eight months, Benvenga says he has no regrets. “I felt like I’d be saving a lot of money, which is why I held off doing a shared workspace. … I had a month to month agreement. Once I tried it, though, I was so happy so I didn’t want to stop.”

Office Space has radically changed over the past 5 years and will continue to evolve every day. The days of working in an executive center or traditional office space are slowly dying off and people are moving into the new collaborative workspaces called, “coworking”. As the economy adjust’s, more people are finding that corporations are not everything they hoped for. The average person in today’s economy will have over 10 jobs before they retire.

What does this have to do with “The Next Generation of Office Space”?

Good question. The answer is simple. If people don’t keep their jobs long term, and corporate jobs are no longer “awesome”, then people will begin to create their own jobs. Entrepreneurship is on the rise and it’s not slowing down. With the economy in a recession, people are not able to find jobs; so what do they do? They create them! This is exactly why coworking facilities and the new generation of office spaces exist.

Out with the old. In with the new.

Executive Centers traditionally require the tenants first and last month rent, with nothing included. You then pay for furniture, your phone and get charged for every single thing possible. In Naples, Florida, rent on average begins around $1,000/month, making a startup cost nearly $3,000 ($1,000 for first month + $1,000 for last month + furniture). Even companies that can afford it are starting to find it invaluable. In the new generation of office space, like Venture X in Naples, Florida, people pay by the day or month, with little to no risk. Furniture is supplied, no leases, and no isolation. Full time memberships start at $350. If your budget can’t afford it the next month, then you don’t have to sign up for it. Memberships are flexible, so every type of company can customize their own plan, and only pay for what they need.

Working alone sucks.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses are slowly starting to figure this out; working alone sucks. As seen in Office Space, when Milton was placed downstairs, he was isolated an alone. This is how executive centers are built. Introverts or Extroverts, people are social by nature. It has been proven that people who work in a cowork facility improve not only their social life, but their business as well.

Join the movement.

Don’t be left behind. It’s time to join the movement. Whether you work from home, a coffee shop or an Executive Center, it’s time to leave the past where it belongs…in the past. According to the Harvard Business Review, the rise of  coworking facilities are just beginning and they will increase by 40% in 2012.

“Actually, this is quite far from the truth – in fact, you can be incredibly mediocre and still be quite successful. (sounds inspirational, i know, but stick with me for a minute.)

The secret is to find your Niche – that is, the initial customer segmentation / product differentiation combo that enables you to beat your more established, mature competition with a much crappier product.

This strategy is called “Niche to Win”.

Most VCs (especially those with limited operational marketing experience, or in a few cases, those with too much good fortune with big wins) have no understanding of this. They commonly and foolishly advise founders: a) “You’re thinking way too small”, or b) “Your market isn’t big enough for us”, or (sorry Vinod i know you mean well but i don’t agree) c) “We only fund Ambitious Entrepreneurs who want to Change The World”.

While this perspective isn’t completely irrational coming from large-fund VCs (>$250M+) who need big exits & returns to satisfy their LP investors, it’s incredibly unhelpful in the short-term for entrepreneurs just getting started, who may be a year or three from understanding their mature market opportunity.

In fact it’s a bit counter-intuitive, but the crappier you are and can still find minimum viable success, the quicker and better you’ll be at identifying initial customer-problem framework opportunities that will create possibility for your still tiny little startup to grow up and succeed.

Let me give you an example:

Suppose you’re a tiny, new startup working on products for women, and you’re competing against Proctor & Gamble, or Johnson & Johnson, or BabyCenter, or ShoeDazzle, or something huge & profitable & successful.

You feel like you can’t win right?

Like it’s impossible to beat those big incumbents.

But now consider: those companies focus broadly on the huge and largely undifferentiated market for women, perhaps with the only focus being that they are between the ages of 18 and 65.

Now, consider if you NICHE TO WIN, you can focus on products for: … women ages 25-40 … who have 2 or more kids age 3-7 … who live in urban areas … who make $50K-125K US GDP or equivalent … who work for a living … who feel like they don’t have enough time in the day.

Now, it’s actually quite easy to focus on a much more narrow demographic, research & discover their common problems, and build products & solutions that focus more specifically on these customers, rather than the broad market segment of all english-speaking women in north america.

Now, you can compete with a much less mature product but much more focused customers, more specific problems, more targeted marketing (that probably costs less to acquire customers ready to purchase), and thus a more differentiated offering. In fact, your product could be far inferior, far more expensive, and far more profitable than a big competitor’s product that was designed for a much bigger, undifferentiated audience, but with crappy untargeted marketing. Also likely, because they’re a big company, they’ll move and innovate much slower than you, so you’ll always be ahead of them and they’ll never ever catch you.

Ultimately, if you do want to become a bigger company, you will have to grow your market, change product offerings, and compete in multiple customer demographics against those big incumbents – but in the first few months of existence, your job is simply to establish a foothold, to get an initial MVP out the door, and SURVIVE.

If that’s your goal, then focusing on a big, world-changing vision is EXACTLY the wrong thing to do. You need to narrow your field, find a very targeted customer, and work on a simple, crappy, focused solution for your customer.

so just Niche to Win, baby.”

The real article can be found here: http://500hats.com/niche-to-win

1) Keep an open mind. When working in a cowork space, such as Venture X, remember to keep an open mind and collaborate. Cowork spaces are built so local businesses and startups can utilize everything within them. Most spaces are built on an open floor plan and allow their members to sit wherever they like. Take advantage of that! Sit in a new seat every day, or heck, move around throughout the day and meet people. They’re built for collaboration and community…so collaborate! 

2) Balance work and play. Cowork spaces are all about having a good time, but there is a time and place for it. Venture X in particular is built to help the local startups and businesses succeed. Our main focus is to build the community stronger so that companies can begin to grow along side the other members in our space. When working in a cowork space, remember to utilize it as an office space and remember other people are there to work as well. Now before you say, “but, but, but I thought that…” hear us out. Cowork spaces DO promote collaboration and networking. We encourage our members to mingle throughout the day with other members. We believe through collaboration…innovation occurs. What we are stating is you must balance the work and play. Every cowork spaces environment is very organic and is controlled by the members. Here comes the “play” aspect. Venture X, along with a few other places stay open 24/7. We personally will be hosting events after hours for our members to attend along with the occasional events for the public. These are events that you will want to be apart of. The best way to grow your business is by networking, getting feedback and hear about what other people are doing. 

3) Be open minded. Entrepreneurs by nature are optimistic. Now when you put 20…40…100 entrepreneurs all in one area, the feeling of inspiration grows tremendously. When entrepreneurs see others succeed, it pushes them forward and makes them more motivated. When working in the cowork space, be open minded and hear what advice people give you. You WILL be around startups who may have more experience and some who need your advice. So make sure your head isn’t constantly buried in the laptop and mingle.