One of our regular Jelly venues is the Adelaide Business Hub in Todd Street, Port Adelaide. The business hub has several great services for small businesses and startups including meeting rooms, discounted consulting, business support, serviced offices and coworking in the Hub Lounge, which is where our jellies are held.

Our Jelly meetups here are always good fun. Lately we’ve been going to the Greek Restaurant, about 15 mins walk away, for lunch which is fantastic.

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Servcorp were kind enough the host us for the latest Jelly at their location at the top of Westpac House – the tallest building in Adelaide. Traditionally Servcorp have been leaders in serviced offices, virtual offices and meeting rooms but they’ve recently started offering coworking, although certainly with a more “traditional office” feel than some of the other spaces we’ve visited. The facilities are excellent, the staff are very friendly and professional and the views amazing (see photos below).

Our turnout for this meetup was a little low with only 5 people attending but it was still a great day, helped along by our excellent hosts who gave us free jelly! We had a great lunch at the Banana Leaf Indian restaurant on Currie Street.

Servcorp also have regular networking events which you should find in our calendar and weekly events email.

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I’m sure you’ve heard of co-working. Freelancers visit these designated workspaces for the day to curb their “cabin fever” or when their local coffee shop is too distracting.

The good news is co-working isn’t just for freelancers. People don’t want to work in tiny cubicles anymore. Co-working, surrounded by dozens of passionate people, is the future of how business is going to be done. Whether you’re an independent business owner with a small start-up, a contract worker or you’ve got a flexible boss, you could benefit from co-working.

Here are 10 reasons why.

1. Meet new people

Co-working spaces typically have hundreds of members – which means you have access to all of these diverse business people. Being a freelancer, a contract worker or a remote worker doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. If you’re looking for advice, seeking inspiration or wanting to validate your ideas, you can do it at a co-working space. Think of a co-working space more in the relationships you’ll build, rather than just the space itself!

2. Support

While working from home is great, it can get lonely. Co-working is a flexible, social option to help you feel like you’re still “part of a team.” Renting a co-working desk allows you to work independently either in an open or private office surrounded with like minded groups and individuals collaborating with each other.

3. Professional meeting space

If you work from home, it makes it difficult to meet clients. Yes, you could go to their office or meet in a café, but it doesn’t exactly scream “professional.” Becoming a member of a co-working space means you have access to meeting rooms, big and small, to entertain your clients. You’ll also have access to technical support if you have any issues.

4. Ongoing professional development

Most co-working spaces run weekly events for members – and the public – to build upon their knowledge and network. Guest speakers come in and talk about business topics such as marketing, creativity, productivity, building a team etc. These events are a great way to stay connected, especially if you only use the space sparingly.

5. Work-life balance

Having a separate space to work from, aside from your home, can help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. It’s easy to fall into the trap of working non-stop if you’re working from home – blurring the lines between work and your personal time. Using a co-working space will give you a dedicated place to complete your work. Plus, you’ll have fewer distractions so you’re more time efficient.

6. Find clients

You’re probably not going to find clients sitting at home – but in a co-working space you might. Lets say you’re a freelance graphic designer and there’s a web developer in the space too. You could team up with them and cross-promote each other. For example, when their clients need a developer, you recommend him – and vice versa.

7. Access to equipment

Do you need a printer or scanner for your business but you can’t justify buying it because you simply won’t use it enough? Co-working spaces have all the equipment you need to run your business – without the investment. You’ll have access to the latest technology, in return for your membership fee.

8. Save money

Renting a co-working space is much cheaper than a full office. Depending on the space, co-working can cost as little as $10 per day. Compare that to the cost of a 1-2 year office lease and the choice is easy!

9. Give back

Having access to not only shared space but also resources like mentors and peer-to-peer support is invaluable – irrespective of what industry you’re in. Having someone to support you through your journey and to be accountable to one of the biggest benefits of being a member of a co-working space.

Grab a list of all the members and reach out to the ones you think there might be opportunity to collaborate. It could be something as simple as grabbing a coffee and talking about any business challenges, and setting goals.

10. Have fun!

Many people who work in a 9-5 job find friendships in their co-workers – sharing morning coffees and talking about weekend plans. Once you leave this kind of environment, it’s natural that you’ll interact less with people. By joining a co-working space, you can bring that social aspect back into your work life.

Co-working in Adelaide

Adelaide is spoilt for choice for people looking to try co-working. You’ve got Hub Adelaide, Majoran Distillery, That Space, Sass Place and eNVIsion – just to name a few. You can visit all of these spaces and more by joining the Adelaide Jelly Coworking meetup group.

Majoran is one of our favourite coworking spaces to visit and it was great being back there again for the latest Jelly Meetup. Majoran is Adelaide’s coworking community for the tech and creative freelancer communities and startups. One of the best things about this space is the amazing community and events schedule. I’ve been along to many events hosted at Majoran in the past and met some great people and the coworking space is always welcoming and has a fantastic location. They also have a casual and friendly Friday night drinks which a few of us joined in on.

We had some new faces this time around which was also great. If you want to get involved in the coworking scene in Adelaide and try out the different spaces, join us at the next Adelaide Jelly Coworking meetup.

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HUB Adelaide is always a fun venue to visit and we’re glad that they’re a part of the Adelaide Jelly family. This time around we settled ourselves at the other end of the space to where we usually sit and we had a great turnout of around 10 people including some familiar faces and some new faces. HUB had some food left over from an event the night before which they put out on the bench and invited us to share which was great for a free lunch without leaving the space. We also joined in with their weekly wine-down event which was a good opportunity to meet some of the other members and have a chat.

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For the latest Jelly, we were lucky enough to be hosted at one of Adelaide’s newest coworking and creative spaces; St Pauls Creative Centre (corner of Flinders Street & Pultney Street). The turnout was a little less than expected (7 out of 12 RSVPs) but included some new faces which was great. We sat upstairs in the big open part of the building, which was surprisingly warm, but they also have a downstairs area with separated areas for teams/companies as well as areas for coworkers. The building has had an interesting history including use as a church (obviously), restaurant and nightclub. The interior still reflects its days as a nightclub but its in the process of being painted and the white definitely brightens things up (see photos below). The architecture itself is quite cool anyway and makes for an interesting space to work from.

The location is perfect with Hindmarsh Square, Rundle Mall & Rundle Street a short walk away. We had lunch in Hindmarsh Square at the food trucks that were there. Jade Monkey has also recently opened right next door and are apparently going to be offering food soon.

Facilities include;

• Wifi (pretty decent)
• Skype room
• Lockers

More info, including pricing and better quality photos than mine below (:P), here: http://mdo.sa.gov.au/shared-office-space-st-pauls/