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By Bond Collective Staff

Creating a startup is an exciting endeavor, but there’s more to it than opening your doors and hoping for the best. It takes research, planning, and dedication to give your new business the chance it needs to prosper. A business startup checklist can help.

In this article, we discuss the basics of building a startup and give you tips for making it a success.

Business Startup Checklist

1) Know The Difference Between A Startup And A Small Business

Many people use the word “startup” as a blanket term to refer to any new business, be it small or large.

However, there are distinct differences between a startup and a small business that will affect your business model, the length of time you intend to operate, the funding you receive, and the risk you take on.

A startup is a short-term arrangement designed to search for, identify, and adopt a repeatable and scalable business model as quickly as possible so as to have a significant impact on the current market.

A small business, on the other hand, is a self-sustaining operation designed to generate revenue from the very first day, function without a major investment, and work within an existing business model.

Though the distinction between the two may seem slight, the unique nature of each type will influence and define the path you take on this business startup checklist from the very first day.

Pro Tip: Ask yourself these questions to identify whether your goal is a startup or a small business:

• What are my expectations for the business?

• How do I plan on growing my business?

• Will I partner with anyone? If so, whom?

• How do I define success for my business?

For a more in-depth look at the startup versus small business concept, check out these articles from Bond Collective:

What Is The Difference Between A Startup And A Small Business?

Stealth Mode Startups: What Are They And When To Launch One

2) Set Your Priorities

A key part of working your way successfully through this business startup checklist is identifying your priorities.

Paint a picture of how you want your work life and your personal life to look a year, two years, five years, and 10 years down the road.

• Ask yourself vital questions, including:

• What am I passionate about?

• What am I good at?

• How much financial stability do I need?

• Can I handle working long and variable hours?

• If money were no object, what would I do?

• Where do I want to work?

• Do I want to manage the business or “work in the trenches”?

Answering these types of deep, personal questions will help you decide if you want to build a business from the ground up or if you’re better suited to work as a consultant or in an existing business.

Pro Tip: Be honest with yourself when examining your priorities and allow those priorities to change over time.

For more information about striking out on your own, take a few minutes to read these valuable articles from Bond Collective:

Everything You Need To Know Before You Start Working For Yourself

What Is A Lifestyle Entrepreneur And How To Become One

Solopreneur: 11 Tips For When You Are Forging It On Your Own

3) Research Your Target Market

Researching your target market is an essential component of any business startup checklist. Getting to know your customer base provides valuable insight into:

• Demand for your product or service

• Problems inherent in the market

• Appropriate price points

• How your market will react to what you have to offer

• Customer demographics

• Variables that influence your potential customers’ buying decisions

Armed with this information, you can perfect your product, message, image, and every other aspect of your startup to appeal to potential customers in your niche as much as possible.

Pro Tip: Don’t confuse market research with “marketing research.” The former deals with markets (the demand for a particular commodity or service) while the latter deals with marketing (the appearance, presentation, and advertising of your business).

For more tips on researching your target market, take a few minutes to read these helpful articles from Bond Collective:

Market Research For Startups: The Ultimate Guide For Entrepreneurs

Estimating Market Size: The Complete Guide For Startups And Small Business

4) Create A Business Plan

Every business needs a plan. Your startup is no different.

For this step in the business startup checklist, it’s time to build a plan for how you want your startup to look, feel, and operate.

• Be sure to include information about:

• Budget

• Accounting practices

• Target market

• Price structure

• Advertising and marketing

• Equipment needs

• Employee needs

• Mission statement

When complete, your business plan will reveal exactly what you need to do to get your fledgling business up and running. It will also provide a basis through which you can secure funding (if necessary) later on in the process.

Pro Tip: Consider investing in professional help from a lawyer or consulting firm when creating your business plan. This document will act as a roadmap to guide your business to success, so getting it right the first time around will help you avoid a lot of stress in the future.

Need more information on a specific aspect of your startup? Read these articles from Bond Collective for helpful advice:

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Business? 4 Smart Budgeting Tips

3Ps: Properly Managing People, Process, And Product

The Top 14 Ways To Motivate Employees In 2018

Cap Table For Startups | The Complete Guide

5) Build A Business Strategy

Business strategy is the middle tier — with corporate strategy above it and functional strategy below it — in what is an all-encompassing organizational strategy that governs all of your startup’s activities.

The benefits of building a business strategy early on are too numerous to name. At the most basic, though, a complete business strategy will:

• Provide direction

• Reveal priorities

• Facilitate decision making

• Simplify adaptation

When you’re working your way through this business startup checklist, it may seem like you don’t need a business strategy right away.

But because of your startup’s potential for rapid growth, you’ll certainly need it sooner rather than later.

Pro Tip: Build your business strategy in concert with your business plan for a unified and detailed roadmap that will take your company from start to finish.

Need help with your business strategy? Read this article from Bond Collective for helpful advice:

Business Strategy: 7 Straightforward Tips For Building A Winning Business

6) Secure Financing

This is a crucial step in the business startup checklist because, without capital, even the best-laid plans and strategies will go nowhere.

At some point, you’ll need to purchase technology, office supplies, or parts for your initial product. The funding for these essentials will most likely come from a bank or investors.

If that’s not the route you want to take, investigate government programs and grants designed especially for startups like yours.

For more details about securing financing for your startup, read these helpful articles from Bond Collective:

• Startup Funding: Different Funding Options And How To Secure Them

• The 14 Best Ways To Raise Money For Your Startup Or Small Business

• Convertible Debt For Startups: The Complete Guide

• How To Calculate Burn Rate And Why It’s Always Asked On Shark Tank

Start Small And Dream Big

There’s certainly something to be said about going all-in right from the start. But if that makes you nervous — as it should — consider keeping your startup small at first.

Instead of jumping right into a long-term lease, for example, save money, time, and worry by basing your business startup in a coworking space like Bond Collective.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a team of one or a team of 50 or more, Bond Collective has the right workspace for your startup.

Whether you need coworking space, dedicated desks, or private offices, Bond Collective has the best solution for you, your team, and your business.

Bond Collective And Your Startup

At Bond Collective, the benefits don’t stop with office space. In addition to our unique work settings, members also enjoy industry-leading amenities, such as:

• Lightning-fast Wi-Fi

• Guest reception and greeting

• Conference Rooms

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Black-and-white printing

• Private-label mail service

• Concession food market

• Networking and curated events

• 24-hour access

• Bike storage

• And much more…

Starting small can give you valuable experience in your niche without breaking the bank or putting you in debt. Once you’ve got some experience under your belt and profits rolling in, you can always expand into a private office as your needs demand.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business startup.

By Bond Collective Staff

Creating a remote work arrangement, such as a distributed team, is no easy task. But the ability to navigate, coordinate, and conduct this new dynamic is quickly becoming an essential skill for every entrepreneur, executive, and manager who wants to succeed.

In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to manage a distributed team in this rapidly changing business environment.

What Is A Distributed Team?

A distributed team is a group of people who work together as a unit, but who do not necessarily conduct business from the same physical location.

For example, imagine that your business has three locations in the United States: one in New York City; one in Lebanon, Kansas; and one in San Francisco, California. Each of these locations employs about 100 individuals.

You work from San Francisco and manage a team of nine. Three of those team members work with you in California. The remaining six team members are divided equally between the other two locations — three in New York and three in Kansas.

Together, you and the nine others form a distributed team.

The structure of a distributed team is infinitely flexible so that you can assemble larger groups (divisions of 50 or more from each location) or smaller groups (one person from each location) as you see fit.

You can even pull more from one location and fewer from the other two locations and still have a distributed team.

Problems arise, however, when you concentrate the bulk of your team in one location and pull individuals from the other locations.

When this happens, you no longer have a distributed team — you’ve got a core team and group of remote workers.

Distributed Team Vs. Remote Workers

The number of people working in close proximity to one another might not seem like an important distinction, but it often means the difference between a happy, productive team and a burnt-out, fragmented team.

The deciding factor between a distributed team and remote workers is the primary means of communication that the majority of the group uses.

Going back to the examples above, when you have a fairly even distribution of members from each location, the team relies on collaboration and communication software to get the job done.

If, suddenly, you take on 15 more team members at your San Francisco location, the bulk of the team relies on face-to-face communication to solve the majority of problems, while the employees from the other locations communicate now and then via the internet or telephone.

As we touched on above, you now have a core team and a group of remote workers.

To help clarify what’s going on here, let’s look at it from the perspective of a remote worker. By definition, a remote worker is a team member who simply isn’t in the office.

Many new businesses start this way. The owner operates from a coworking space in Manhattan and employs freelancers to do a specific job within the company. If all of the freelancers work from different locations, it’s a distributed team.

If the owner then hires 10 employees from the New York City area to work with her in the Manhattan office, she’s created a traditional team with remote workers floating around the edges.

If not managed correctly, the remote workers can start to feel alienated and isolated because the main method of communication and collaboration changes and leaves them behind.

When you manage a distributed team — regardless of team size or employee location — it’s vital to keep everyone in the loop to avoid marginalizing certain individuals and fracturing the unity of your team.

How To Manage A Distributed Team

1) Choose The Right People

Not everyone is cut out to work remotely or as part of a distributed team, so it’s imperative to find the right people for the job.

Making the change from working side-by-side in the office with other team members to working outside the office can be a difficult transition.

If you’re creating a distributed team with existing employees, talk to them about the prospect before assigning roles. If you’re hiring new members for a distributed team, look for remote work experience.

2) Create The Ideal Mix

The right mix of local — those who meet face-to-face — and remote employees is essential for a successful distributed team.

If too many of your employees report to a central location every day, the balance of communication and collaboration shifts to that group and relegates your remote workers to bystander status.

3) Use Collaboration Software

With modern collaboration software (e.g., Trello, Slack, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Dropbox), your distributed team can work together in real time on everything from text documents to spreadsheets to presentations.

Regardless of what product or service your business provides, the right collaboration software makes everything easier.

4) Prioritize Results

Instead of using the traditional variables to measure employee performance — work ethic, how they get along with their peers, etc. — prioritize results, deliverables, and deadlines.

You can still get a sense of individual behavior and attitude through regular communication and meetings, but it won’t be as obvious for members of a distributed team as it is for someone you interact face-to-face with every day of the workweek.

5) Trust Your Distributed Team

Trust is crucial for the success of your business whether your team members work shoulder to shoulder in the same office or as part of a distributed team.

You can avoid eroding that trust by refraining from micromanaging everything they do. Give them an assignment, turn them loose, and then step back and wait for the finished product.

6) Meet Together As A Group

Meeting with your distributed team (virtually or in person) at least once per week as a group is vital if you want to keep everyone on track and working efficiently.

Group meetings also improve unity and streamline goal setting for the betterment of your business as a whole.

7) Check In With Each Team Member

It’s also crucial to touch base with your distributed team members one-on-one to find out how work is progressing and to provide feedback. Again, these meetings can happen virtually if necessary.

Without that personal attention, employees can start to feel underappreciated and may lose focus and motivation.

8) Emphasize Onboarding

Emphasizing onboarding for new members of your distributed team helps them get familiar with the company culture, the standards and values, and the tools you use on a daily basis.

It also serves as a real-world test to see if they have what it takes to work remotely as part of your team.

Don’t just hire them on and turn them loose. Take the time to guide new employees through each step so they understand how your team works and what their role will be.

The Ideal Home Base For Distributed Teams

The nature of a distributed team means that your workforce can be anywhere at any time. Some of your people might be working on the other side of the world, while others might be working right across the street.

Despite that separation, you can provide a home base for your distributed team by setting up satellite offices that everyone can access no matter where they work most of the time.

Sound impossible or too expensive? Bond Collective makes it simple and affordable.

Bond Collective offers a variety of options for distributed teams (for businesses large and small), including:

• Coworking desks

• Dedicated desks

• Private offices

• Conference rooms

• Production room

• Recording studio

Add to that Bond Collective’s many industry-leading amenities, such as:

• Professional decor

• Lightning-fast internet

• 24-hour access Custom build-outs

• Black-and-white printing

• Private label mail service

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Bike storage

• Concession food market

• Guest reception and greeting

• And much more…

With all of those benefits available at every one of Bond Collective’s locations across the country, you can set up multiple coworking spaces that will draw your distributed team together and give them the ability to succeed at any problem, task, or project that comes their way.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States — including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas — or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

For more resources to help you manage your business or to learn more about the advantages of coworking spaces for distributed teams, digital nomads, remote workers, and businesses of all kinds, visit BondCollective.com today.

By Bond Collective Staff

Every day, increasingly more freelancers, entrepreneurs, startups, digital nomads, and businesses large and small (even enterprises) are discovering the myriad benefits of temporary office space.

And these workspaces are a far cry from an empty back room in a corner of a rundown building. The best temporary office spaces (like those at Bond Collective) are turnkey solutions to all your office needs.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the world of temporary office space in order to help you decide if it’s right for your team and your business.

What Is Temporary Office Space?

At its most basic, temporary office space is a rental for any period shorter than a standard office lease (i.e., one year).

With some temporary office space, you can even rent desks or rooms by the hour or the day. While those are useful options for teams needing access to workspace on a moment’s notice, most temporary office space is rented on a month-to-month basis.

There are many benefits to using temporary office space even if you already have your own permanent workplace.

Is Temporary Office Space Right For Your Business?

At first glance, temporary office space may seem like something you’ll never need. You’ve got your office all set up, and work is moving along nicely. But this concept is so much more than just the sum of those three little words. It’s the solution to your workspace problems (whatever they may be).

How can temporary office space be all that? Below are several examples.

• Your business is in-between leases and has nowhere to work.

• Your business has outgrown its office and needs overflow space.

• You need to hire seasonal or project-based staff and have nowhere for them to work.

• Your permanent space is under construction or being repaired.

• You’re a lone-wolf entrepreneur just getting started.

• You’re a digital nomad who needs to maintain a virtual office while you’re away.

• You run a startup and your team won’t fit around your dining room table anymore.

• You’ve traveled from another state or another country and you need a place to get your business started.

• You need a conference room for a meeting with important clients or investors.

The list literally goes on and on. So is temporary office space right for your business? The unequivocal answer is, “Yes.”

What Are The Benefits Of Temporary Office Space?

1) Low Overhead

The best temporary office spaces, like those at Bond Collective, provide everything your team needs to tackle even the largest, most complex projects. From comfortable furniture to lightning-fast Wi-Fi to daily cleaning and maintenance — everything is taken care of.

All that for less than you would pay if you maintained your own office.

2) Infrastructure

Infrastructure is crucial for the success of your business. Yes, technology plays a big part, but other factors — such as storage, supplies, repairs, and heating and cooling — contribute significantly to how well your team works.

Some temporary office spaces will just rent you a room. But at Bond Collective, we include all the infrastructure you need so you can focus less on your team’s workspace and more on the quality of their work.

3) Professional Image

Working in a poorly lit, windowless room with found furniture and shelves made out of wooden planks and cinder blocks may be great for your bottom line, but it’s detrimental to your image.

Temporary office space at Bond Collective provides a professional image right from the start. You don’t have to spend your valuable time and money decorating your workspace. Beautiful decor and luxurious furniture are available 24/7, so you won’t be nervous about entertaining that big client or angel investor.

4) Flexibility

Flexibility is essential for growing and maintaining a successful business these days. Temporary office space provides that flexibility. You can expand and contract the amount of space you use on almost a moment’s notice. The monthly membership options at Bond Collective make upsizing and downsizing easier than ever.

You can start with space for five in January, expand to space for 10 in February, and then contract to space for seven in March. All without having to deal with furniture issues, decorating, or a negative impact on productivity.

5) Comfort

The comfort of your office space may not seem like a crucial factor, but it’s essential for helping your team stay focused, engaged, and productive while they work. In fact, that same comfort goes a long way toward impressing your customers or clients who might visit during work hours.

At Bond Collective, comfort is built into all of our temporary office spaces. We decorate and appoint our spaces with the finest that luxury has to offer. That way, you and your team will be comfortable, happy, and productive all day long.

6) Networking

Networking is essential regardless of the size of your business. You need to foster and grow your professional connections to help your business prosper.

Running your business, a team, or even just yourself from a temporary office space in a coworking environment makes it possible to network with other professionals while you work. That can have a significant impact on the improvement, evolution, and refinement of your product or service.

7) Exposure To New Ideas

Exposure to new ideas is one of the biggest benefits of temporary office space, but it is also one of the most overlooked. When your team works alongside people from other backgrounds and businesses, they’ll have access to new sources of knowledge and creativity.

That knowledge and creativity make it easier for your team to absorb inspiration and new ideas from those around them and to adapt those ideas to your particular business.

You won’t get that by relying on your industry-specific network or isolating your team in a closed office space.

8) Socialization

Whether you’re a team of one or 100, working at home or in your own dedicated office can quickly become lonely and uninspiring.

When loneliness is high and inspiration is low, productivity decreases dramatically. The simplest solution to this dilemma is to base your team in a temporary office space where coworking is a priority.

If you’re worried about keeping the socialization under control, consider partnering with an office-space provider like Bond Collective to have the best of both worlds.

You and your team can occupy private offices in a larger space while having the coworking environment — and the benefits of socialization — just a few steps away

9) Motivation

You know your team needs motivation. And you know you need to work to keep their motivation levels high. But you might not have any idea how to do that.

To add to the difficulty, motivation can change for better or worse from day to day, and even hour to hour.

A temporary office space provides a positive atmosphere that you can’t always get from a traditional, dedicated work environment.

This positive atmosphere — in combination with the socialization and exposure to new ideas we mentioned above — can energize your team, motivate them to success, and inject new life into the way they work.

10) Inspiring Design

You may not think of design as a crucial factor in the day-to-day activities of your team, but it can actually help your team stay productive while they work.

When they’re not thinking about how much they hate the distracting colors on the wall or how they’d prefer an adjustable-height desk, your team can dedicate more energy and focus to completing tasks quickly with as much creativity and inspiration as possible.

At Bond Collective, we design all of our temporary office spaces with maximum appeal in mind.

We also incorporate other design elements — such as a variety of seat and desk options, natural light, plants, vivid colors, and much more — in order to ensure that your team has the inspiration they need to get the job done right the first time through.

11) Easier Hiring

Finding the right hire can be a difficult and time-consuming job. The temporary office space within a coworking environment, though, is an easily accessible talent pool that can cut the difficulty and time in half.

Through the networking and socialization mentioned earlier in this article, you can get a feel for an individual’s skills and gain insight into how and where they might fit into your team.

Think of it as an extended interview without the formality and time away from work — you converse during downtime and often in a more relaxed atmosphere.

That’s a good recipe for really getting to know a potential hire and how they can benefit your business.

12) Work Opportunities

The same benefit that is true for hiring is also true for getting hired.

Temporary office space within a coworking environment provides plenty of opportunities for you to “advertise” your business and show how it can benefit the businesses around it.

Think of the networking and socializing you and your team do in the kitchen and other common areas as a way to make your business more attractive to others. Exposure like that leads to more work and more opportunities for your company.

You can’t get that kind of exposure without the benefits of a coworking environment, and you certainly can’t get that exposure if your team is isolated in a dedicated workspace every day.

13) Fast And Easy Setup

There are few things more stressful than moving from one office to another. One of the biggest drawbacks of changing offices is the amount of time it takes for your team settle in and work back up to full productivity.

But when you transition your business from its old location to a temporary office space like Bond Collective, the move is easier than ever because you don’t have to worry about the overwhelming details — we’ve done it all for you.

At Bond Collective, we handle the hard work of setting up furniture, installing technology, decorating the space, and making sure the utilities are working.

All you and your team have to do is report for work in the morning and get right down to business.

In addition, we pull from our extensive knowledge of office and interior design to create a working environment that will benefit your business.

Don’t let an office move put your team under pressure. Switch to a temporary office space and keep your workflow at 100%.

14) Community

There are few things as beneficial as working alongside a community of like-minded individuals to invigorate your team. That’s exactly what you get when you work in a temporary office space like Bond Collective.

The coworking environment fosters a very real sense of community — a feeling that you’re all in this together — that can have a profound influence on the way you and your team operate.

15) Amenities

Temporary office spaces are more than just places to work. They also provide amenities that make it easier to keep your team going strong throughout the day.

Services such as streamlined billing and booking online (a Bond Collective exclusive), access to multiple locations, unlimited black-and-white printing, and other industry-leading perks give you and your team the freedom to work whenever and however you deem necessary.

Can Temporary Office Space Become Long-Term Office Space?

Temporary office space can, indeed, become long-term office space. In fact, many businesses are finding that temporary office space isn’t just a short-term, stop-gap solution to an unexpected workspace need.

Many companies large and small are opting to occupy their temporary office space for the long-term rather than locking themselves into an expensive lease that may not suit their needs in a few weeks or months.

They’re doing this because of the low overhead, professional design, built-in infrastructure, and myriad other benefits that temporary office space has to offer.

Consider this comparison between a traditional office lease (for a startup or an existing business, the costs are the same) and temporary office space at Bond Collective. The rent may be the same, but notice the other expenses, such as deposit, security, wiring, construction, and furniture.

With a temporary office space, you save $265K or more right off the top. And you’ll never have to deal with those issues because they’re included with your temporary office space. That’s a significant savings that you can channel into growing your business.

It’s no wonder, then, that companies of all sorts are occupying temporary office space for 12, 24, or 36 months (or more) instead of signing an expensive (and restrictive) traditional lease.

The Best Temporary Office Space Is At Bond Collective

Where you work has a profound impact on you, your team, and the success of your business. If your current office space is less than ideal, your focus, creativity, and morale will take a hit.

That’s why it’s vital to choose a temporary office space where you can take advantage of a professionally designed and maintained environment. Bond Collective does all that and much more.

At Bond Collective, you can choose from a variety of temporary office space options, such as:

• Open-plan coworking spaces

• Dedicated desks

• Private offices

• Conference rooms for 5-20+ guests

And when you partner with Bond Collective, you don’t just get a beautiful space that fits all your needs. Each and every temporary office space option comes with exclusive amenities you can’t find anywhere else.

Whether you rent by the hour, the month, or the year, you’ll get:

• 24-hour access

• Custom build-outs

• Comfortable furnishings

• Access to small and large conference rooms

• Networking events

• Mail service

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Bike storage

• Rooftop lounge area

• Photo & studio (at Gowanus location)

• Complimentary fresh fruit

• Complimentary beer, coffee, and tea

• Private meeting & phone booths

• Office showers

• Bike storage

• Private meeting & phone booths

• Office showers

• Guest reception and greeting

If you’re looking for spacious, well-appointed temporary office space that gives you the professional look you need, take advantage of any one of our many Bond Collective locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas.

To get started or to learn more about the advantages of coworking spaces for digital nomads, remote workers, and businesses of all kinds, visit BondCollective.com today or call to find out more about everything we have to offer.

BC: Describe your WFH situation in three words.

Transformative, Challenging and Thought-Provoking 

 

BC: How do you and your team stay connected? 

Fortunately for us, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with a great opportunity to fully step into being the digital media company we tout ourselves to be. Zoom and Slack have both been amazing tools that allow our team to stay connected as we continue our work. 

 

BC: Was there a specific moment or instance that prompted the creation of C+C?

C+C was originally supposed to be a print magazine but after going through my own professional challenges as a Black Queer man in the media industry, I realized the need for visibility for marginalized people in those spaces. I’ve often witnessed and been subjected to racist work cultures that have actively silenced those same voices and as a result, found my desire to create an organization that rejected such culture. I knew then that C+C was much bigger than a print magazine but a platform for all Black, Brown, and Queer folks to feel seen and heard.

Our goal now is to establish ourselves as the go-to source for News, Culture, and Current Events for the Black, Brown, and Queer communities.

 

BC: Growing up in Texas, could you ever imagine you’ d be running your own magazine one day?

Texas was an interesting place to grow up. As I have grown over the years, I have now come to understand how oppressive that environment often felt to me. I never imagined running my own publication but moving to New York allowed me to evolve into a person with many passions and freedoms. That realization coupled with my professional experiences birthed the idea and passion for Chaos + Comrades.

 BC: Favorite story you’ve published so far? Anything you’re looking forward to?

My favorite story we’ve published so far has been the first issue of our digital magazine which featured Jess Guilbeaux from season 3 of Queer Eye. In the issue, we did an interview with Momma Tammye (also from Queer Eye) where she encouraged parents of Queer children to love their child unconditionally. Publishing that interview with her has been a highlight for us. 

I am looking forward to the first edition of our print magazine, which we hope to launch later this year. I describe it as a snapshot of the revolution surrounding Queer people of color that is currently happening in our country.

 

BC: What is a “Woke Guide” and do you plan on publishing any more?

A “Woke Guide” is an article that breaks down a specific social issue to educate the reader on controversial matters affecting marginalized people. Think of it as a guide meant to enlighten readers on how to be better informed.

Yes, we are currently planning a few more which will focus on Allyship, Colorism, and other topics related to our communities that we hope to launch in the coming weeks. As always we are researching how we can serve to be most impactful and our “Woke Guides” have been a significant part of that effort. 

 

BC: Right now the amplification of black, brown and queer voices is more important than ever.  In your experience, what is the most effective way for non-black allies to help? 

To me, the most significant way for non-black allies to align themselves with the Black community is to acknowledge their own privilege and to actively create space for and with Black people. That looks like sharing resources, sharing spaces, uplifting stories, supporting Black businesses, and acknowledging the oppressive systems in which non-black allies have benefited.

What we are witnessing now with the renewed BLM movement is the unification of non-black allies standing beside our community. If you haven’t personally felt the burden of this fight, you aren’t carrying enough weight. 

 

 BC: How are the BLM movement and Pride intersecting in 2020?  

This year we find ourselves at a unique intersection as we celebrate Pride in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement. Pride was originally a rebellion led by Black and Brown trans women. Those same communities have been erased from mainstream pride and morphed into a segregated celebration void of BIPOC and Trans women. This year as we cover our first pride as an organization, we are focused on uplifting Black Queer voices as we pay homage to ones that created the space we now live in.

 

BC: What is the best way to stay up-to-date on the latest from Chaos & Comrades?

The best way to stay-up-to date on the latest from C+C is to follow us on Instagram and to sign-up for our newsletter on our site.

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By Bond Collective Staff

The office lighting in your workspace has a direct effect on the mood, energy level, and productivity of your team.

Lighting that is too dim will make your employees feel tired and cranky. On the other hand, lighting that is too bright will be hard on their eyes — even triggering migraines — and will disrupt their body’s natural circadian rhythms.

The perfect lighting for the space helps your employees stay alert, creative, energized, and in the right state of mind to give 100 percent. But finding the balance between too dim and too light can be a difficult task.

In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about office lighting and help you choose the right type of illumination for your unique situation.

Variables Of The Best Office Lighting

1) Office Lighting Standards

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) sets the minimum standard office lighting for all businesses in the United States. According to their website, a normal workstation requires 500 lumens per square meter.

That may seem like a lot — or may not make any sense at all if you’re not familiar with lumens — but it actually breaks down to this: every 6’x6’ (or 36 square-foot) space should receive the equivalent light as from a 35-watt incandescent bulb.

To put that in perspective, most desk lamps use a 60-watt bulb that produces 800 lumens.

The GSA also provides other office lighting standards, including the following:

• Fluorescent ceiling fixtures and bulbs are the most basic suggested option

• Lighting layout should provide an even amount of illumination for the entire office space

• Fill in gaps with task lighting options

• Adjust lighting options to minimize shadows

We’ll discuss some of these standards in more detail in other sections of this article.

2) Bulb Type

For large, open spaces like most office environments, fluorescent or light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are the best option, but halogen and incandescent are also available.

Fluorescent bulbs are the most common because they are the older technology, but LED bulbs have several advantages over their elder sibling.

• LED bulbs are cheaper to operate and maintain

• LED bulbs have a longer life span

• LED bulbs don’t use excess energy

• LED bulbs don’t emit infrared radiation

• LED bulbs don’t trigger migraines in people who are predisposed

• LED lights can be dimmed to match the time of day and the season

• LED bulbs don’t inhibit the production of melatonin nor interfere with sleep patterns

Before choosing one type of bulb or the other for your office lighting, be sure to weigh all of the pros and cons.

3) Color And Temperature

The color and temperature of your office lighting also play a vital role in the health and productivity of your team.

In general, warm yellow or warm orange lights are better for relaxing and unwinding, while cool blue or cool white lights are better for waking up, working, and concentrating.

Both fluorescent and LED bulbs emit light in the blue and white spectrum, making them ideal for morning illumination. LEDs also allow you to adjust the color and temperature so you can change the light they emit to mimic the natural light outside.

4) Brightness

Similarly, brightness affects the mood and energy level of the employees working in your office.

Bright light in the morning is best to stimulate alertness, activity, and creativity, while dim light in the afternoon is best for focused, stationary work.

Modern LED office lights come equipped with a feature that allows you to adjust the brightness of the bulbs (sometimes automatically) according to the time of day. They start out bright in the morning and gradually dim as the day goes on.

5) Cost

Cost is a major factor when considering the design of your office lighting because the bulbs will run anywhere from 14 to 18 hours (or more) every day.

Fluorescent and LED are typically the least expensive to operate, but you can reduce the cost of any type of bulb by installing motion sensors, timers, and dimmers to give you more control over the electricity used.

6) Computer Placement

Another variable to keep in mind when setting up your office lighting is computer placement.

The brightness of some lights — and even window location — can overwhelm even the best computer and laptop screens to such an extent that working on them becomes impossible.

Position your office lighting and computer placement accordingly.

How To Choose The Right Office Lighting

1) Examine Your Workspace

The first step in choosing the right office lighting is to examine your workspace.

Make note of where the natural light comes from and if there is sufficient natural light that you can dim (or even turn off) artificial lighting during the brightest part of the day.

Ask such questions as:

• Is there enough existing light to, at least, meet minimum standards?

• Can you improve on the existing arrangement?

• Does glare become a factor at any position in your workspace?

• Do team members complain about eyestrain?

You may even find it beneficial to hire a professional to conduct a detailed light survey to measure illuminance, luminance (they are different variables), reflectance, and contrast.

2) Determine The Type Of Office Lighting You Need

When it comes to office lighting, options include:

• Direct

• Direct-Indirect

• Indirect

• Shielded

Direct lighting — think desk lamp — is best as a supplement for indirect lighting at individual workstations.

Direct-indirect lighting — most often used in manufacturing to reduce glare — projects illumination up and down for even coverage throughout.

Indirect lighting — most often used in office settings — projects illumination up towards the ceiling where it disperses over the entire area in a more natural manner.

Shielded lighting — also used in office settings — filters and distributes illumination through various covers and lenses for complete coverage of a work environment.

In most office settings, a combination of widely dispersed light sources (direct-indirect, indirect, or shielded) and direct task lighting works well.

3) Provide Task Lighting At Every Workstation

As mentioned above, it’s best to supplement any ambient light — be it from windows or overhead bulbs — with direct task lighting at every workstation.

For an office environment, this means giving each team member access to an easy-to-use and easily adjustable desk lamp that provides at last 500 lumens.

4) Expose Your Team To As Much Natural Light As Possible

This step will depend a great deal on the space in which your team works.

Older buildings may have large, floor-to-ceiling windows that provide plenty of natural light throughout the day. Newer buildings may have smaller windows in only select locations that make it impossible to provide light to everyone on your team.

If windows are at a minimum in your workspace, consider installing office lighting that mimics the color and temperature of natural light in your area.

5) Prevent Flicker

Too much flicker in your office lighting — even flicker that’s undetectable to the naked eye — is annoying and, with prolonged exposure, can cause eye strain, headaches, and other health problems.

To prevent flicker from affecting your team:

1. Upgrade to lighting options with electronic ballasts

2. Ensure that all parts of the lights are in good working order

3. Schedule regular bulb replacement

With these measures in place, your team will be happier, healthier, and more productive over the long term.

Improve Productivity With A Well-Lit Workspace

As you can see, choosing the right office lighting is an important component of your business’s success. But it’s not the only way you can get the most out of your home office or team workspace.

Furniture, decor, color scheme, seating options, even traffic flow — all of these variables affect how well you and your team work in the space you choose.

That’s where Bond Collective comes in. We’ve designed our workspaces with your team’s happiness and productivity in mind.

Each of our shared office environments incorporates inspiring design elements, such as office plants, open floor plans, vivid colors, multipurpose workspaces, and the perfect lighting for the situation — plus a whole host of other design factors that will motivate your team to greatness.

In addition to our unique, well-decorated, and well-appointed office settings, businesses of all sizes also enjoy industry-leading amenities, such as:

• Private-label mail service

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Custom build-outs

• Guest reception and greeting

• Insanely fast Wi-Fi

• 24-hour access

• Concession food market

• Bike storage

If you’re looking for a spacious, well-appointed collaborative workspace to boost your productivity and transform your business for the better, experience the best that modern office spaces have to offer.

Tour any one of our gorgeous Bond Collective locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas.

Then become a member of Bond Collective and take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices to suit all your business needs.

To get started or to learn more about the advantages of coworking spaces for digital nomads, remote workers, and businesses of all kinds, visit BondCollective.com today or call to find out more about everything we have to offer.

By Bond Collective Staff

Starting a consulting business may seem like an impossible task. Especially in today’s fast-paced market where high-profile consultants offer advice on supply chain management, information technology (I.T.), human resources (H.R.), and upper-level management.

However, as we’ll discuss in the next section, starting a consulting business is less about the hyper-complex aspects of big business and more about helping people reach their goals.

Those “people” may be in the c-suite of a Fortune 500 company, but they may also be solopreneurs striving to start a small business, or even just your average Joe or Jane Public trying to improve some aspect of their life.

So how do you go about starting a consulting business?

In this article, we’ll discuss the basics of consulting and outline some specific steps you should take to ensure that your fledgling consulting business starts strong and stays that way.

What Is A Consulting Business?

Before you travel any distance down the road toward starting a consulting business, it’s vital to understand what it is you’ll be doing in said business.

The dictionary definition of consulting is:

The business of giving expert advice to other people working in a specific field.

From that definition, then, we can conclude that a consultant is someone with a high level of expertise in a subject that others — typically business professionals — find valuable.

But when we really examine the definition of consulting, we start to see that the true purpose of a consultant is to help their clients solve problems and reach their goals.

So, even if you’re not the preeminent expert in your field — or you’re still learning the ins-and-outs of your niche — if you can help people improve themselves or their businesses with the knowledge you do have, becoming a consultant may be right up your alley.

With that in mind, let’s look at some essential steps for starting a consulting business in the field of your choice.

Steps To Starting A Consulting Business

1) Examine Your Priorities

The first step in starting a consulting business is to examine your priorities and create a strategy for how you want your work life and your personal life to look.

Ask yourself such vital questions as:

• How much financial stability do I need?

• Can I handle working long and variable hours?

• If money were no object, what would I do?

• What am I good at?

• What am I passionate about?

Asking these types of deep, personal questions will help you decide if you want to become a consultant or if you’re better suited to work in a specialty field within an existing business.

If the former is true for you, these questions will help you identify what type of consultancy to start, what your priorities are, and what type of schedule you want to work.

Resources:

Everything You Need To Know Before You Start Working For Yourself

2) Work In The Field First

If you haven’t — or aren’t currently — working in a field where you can practice your “expert” knowledge, it’s best to do so before starting a consulting business that will rely solely on the application of your skill and proficiency.

In the process of working in a similar niche, you’ll discover if it is, indeed, the right fit for you.

Resources:

What Is A Lifestyle Entrepreneur And How To Become One

3) Research Laws Before Starting A Consulting Business

It’s imperative to research federal, state, and local laws before starting a consulting business.

When you understand the laws that apply to your consultancy in the early stages of development, you can avoid the difficulties and problems that come from trying to go back and correct things later.

While most laws apply to all businesses — regardless of what they sell — some regulations affect certain industries more acutely.

For example, is your consulting business classified as a product or a service? Do you have to charge and report sales tax? Are there advantages to establishing a C-corp, an S-corp, or a sole-proprietorship?

Many regulations differ from state to state and city to city, so be sure to research based on where your business will be located. If it all seems like too much to handle, you might be better off working for an established small business.

4) Determine If You’ll Need Licensing Or Certification

In the course of researching the laws that apply to your consulting business, you should also determine if you’ll need licensing or certification.

For consultants within certain niches, certification is all but mandatory. For consultants within other niches, certification may be less important than experience and track record.

For example, it’s a good idea for consultants in the I.T. field to maintain some type of certification to prove they have professional training.

On the other hand, fund-raising consultants don’t necessarily need a professional license — although they are available. What’s more important in this instance is showing successful results for past clients.

5) Get To Know Your Customer Base

Getting to know your customer base provides valuable insight into:

• Demand for your product or service

• Problems inherent in the market

• Appropriate price points

• How your market will react to what you have to offer

• Customer demographics

• Variables that influence your potential customers’ buying decisions

Armed with this information, you can perfect your product, your message, your image, and every other aspect of your consulting business to appeal to potential customers in your niche as much as possible.

Resources:

Market Research For Startups: The Ultimate Guide For Entrepreneurs Estimating Market Size: The Complete Guide For Startups And Small Business

6) Create A Compelling Value Proposition

Creating a compelling value proposition when you’re starting a consulting business helps you identify exactly what it is you have to sell.

Most businesses find themselves stuck at a certain point in their development because they can’t figure out a way to get from where they are currently (point A) to where they want to be (point B).

Within your value proposition, find a way to communicate that you can bridge the gap and show your client the path from A to B. A guided solution to the problems they face is a service that anyone would be willing to pay for.

7) Build A System To Attract Clients

Don’t leave your client acquisition up to chance. Build a system — sometimes called a sales funnel — that converts potential customers into repeat business.

Here’s an example of a simple sales funnel that any consulting business can use to transform casual internet surfers into paying customers.

1. Facebook ads

2. Website landing page

3. Value video

4. Availability access (allow potential clients to schedule a consultation)

5. Needs survey

6. Direct consultant/client call

Keep in mind, though, that creating a successful sales funnel is not a one-size-fits-all process. What works for one business may not work for another.

Experiment with different components — Twitter ads instead of Facebook, revamped landing page, updated value video — and find the ones that provide the most benefit for your consulting business.

Establish A Professional Image For Your Consultancy

One of the best things you can do in the early days of starting a consulting business is to establish a professional image.

Working from your dining room table or the noisy coffee shop down the street does nothing to convey just how serious or knowledgeable you are about consulting within your chosen niche.

But, when you’re first starting a consulting business, will you be able to afford the type of work environment — and the image it creates — that is crucial for your success?

You will if you partner with Bond Collective.

The luxurious coworking spaces at Bond Collective give you and your team everything you need so you can focus on the work rather than whose turn it is to change the toner in the copy machine.

Whether you’re on your own or part of a team, you’ll enjoy amenities such as:

• Conference rooms for 2 or 20+

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Guest reception and greeting

• Professional image

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Fast, reliable WiFi

• Mail and package handling

• Porter service

• Nightly office cleaning

• Fresh fruit, snacks, and weekly breakfast

• Complimentary spa water, craft beer, and coffee

So don’t hold back when starting a consulting business — partner with Bond Collective from day one and let them help you reach your goals.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

Everyone has their own list of the best office plants for their workspace. And for good reason. If you’re looking for a way to transform the aesthetic of your workspace and bring a softer, more natural touch to the room, there’s no better option than adding plants to your decor.

Bringing the outdoors into your work environment does more than just spruce up the space; it also boosts morale and productivity — two variables that you might find difficult to maintain for long periods of time. Who knew some dirt and a bit of green in a pot could do all that?

But maybe you don’t have a green thumb or any idea how to start adding plants to your office. Bond Collective is here to help.

For this article, we talked to a master gardener to get their thoughts on some of the best office plants and how to keep them happy and healthy in any workspace. Here’s what we learned.

The Best Office Plants For Your Workspace

1) Chinese Evergreen

Source: Cornellfarms.com

Scientific name: Aglaonema

Chinese evergreens are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and New Guinea and will grow best with low to moderate light exposure.

Here are some other points to keep in mind:

• Keep these plants away from direct sun

• Water once every few weeks for best results

• Chinese evergreens can grow to a height of approximately 3 feet

• These plants can spread their leaves laterally one to two feet, so give them plenty of room

The Chinese evergreen is easy to care for and makes a nice addition to any work environment.

2) Anthurium

Source: Crocus.co.uk

Scientific name: Anthurium

Because they’re native to Central and South America, Anthurium plants will tolerate bright light near windows, but direct exposure to the sun will cause the leaves to burn. Too little light, on the other hand, will result in slower growth and fewer flowers.

For best results, position these plants in areas of your office that receive moderate sunlight.

Care and feeding:

• Water once a week during the winter months

• Water twice a week during the spring and summer months

• Anthurium plants like to be warm (68 degrees to 72 degrees Fahrenheit)

• Anthurium can grow to a height of approximately 12 – 18 inches

• Leaves may spread 6 – 12 inches laterally

• Anthurium will flower year-round given the right conditions

A flowering variety like the Anthurium gives your office an extra splash of color — along with the green of the plant itself — and really livens up a dull, uninspiring corner of your desk or the office.

3) Spider Plant

Scientific name: Chlorophytum comosum

If you want an adaptable and easy-to-grow member of the best office plants list, the spider plant is an excellent choice.

Spider plants prefer moderate to bright light but do poorly in direct sun. For a happy, healthy spider plant, keep the following points in mind:

• Provide the spider plant with well-drained soil

• Water them well, but don’t allow the soil to become too soggy

• Let the soil dry out between watering

• Spider plants prefer cooler temperatures (55 degrees to 65 degrees Fahrenheit)

• Prune leaves occasionally

Spider plants tolerate a lot of abuse, making them an excellent addition to an office environment where your team is more focused on the next big project than on taking care of the greenery.

4) Hibiscus

Source: Michlers.com

Scientific name: Hibiscus

Placing a hibiscus plant on your desk or in the corner of the room is an easy way to add a dash of tropical flair to any workspace.

Hibiscus plants prefer bright but not direct sunlight and like to be in the shade during the afternoon. Position your hibiscus so that it receives six hours of morning sun followed by low to moderate sun in the afternoon.

Tips for best growth:

• Hibiscus plants like to be slightly rootbound

• Provide excellent drainage

• For optimal flowering, keep temperatures between 60 degrees and 90 degrees Fahrenheit

• When your hibiscus blooms, water it daily

• All other times, water only when the soil is dry to the touch

A hibiscus plant is another beautiful flowering addition to any office space.

5) Pothos

Source: Smartgardenguide.com

Scientific name: Epipremnum aureum

Pothos is one of the best office plants on this list because it’s so easy to take care of.

Pothos is a tropical forest plant but adapts well to life indoors thanks to its ability to thrive in low light. Pothos will even withstand long periods of neglect (like when you’re busy with a looming deadline) and flourish in a wide range of office environments.

With enough space to grow and climb, pothos will literally take over a room.

Tips for care and feeding:

• Pothos can grow six to 10 feet over time

• This plant prefers bright light but not direct sun, so position accordingly

• Pothos likes to live in dry soil, so don’t overwater

• Provide plenty of drainage

For busy offices, there are few better plants than the pothos to add a touch of green to your workday.

6) Snake Plant

Source: Greenandvibrant.com

Scientific name: Sansevieria

Like the pothos, the snake plant is one of the best office plants for a lusher, greener workspace. They are very tolerant of their environment — meaning they don’t demand a lot of special attention — and they don’t take up a lot of room.

For best results, follow these guidelines:

• Place your snake plant in moderate, indirect sunlight

• Water only when the soil is thoroughly dry

• Avoid getting the leaves wet when you water

• Don’t overwater

The leaves of the snake plant grow vertically and can reach a height of 12 feet if given the proper room. If cut back, you can maintain the snake plant at anywhere from eight inches to a foot or two, making it a great desk plant for even the most cluttered workspaces.

7) Elephant Ear

Source: Home-Designing.com

Scientific name: Colocasia

If you’re looking for a plant that takes up a lot of room and offers a bold statement, the elephant ear is the best office plant for the job.

Under the right conditions, an elephant ear plant will grow from two to six feet high, produce leaves from one to three feet long, and easily occupy a six-foot-by-six-foot area (36 square feet).

Needless to say, the elephant ear plant makes a great centerpiece in a lobby or as a striking addition to an unused corner of the room. It’s certainly NOT a desk plant.

To get the most out of your elephant ear plant, follow these simple instructions:

• Elephant ear plants prefer partial shade

• They can tolerate full sun for a few hours a day

• Provide well-drained soil

• Don’t overwater

• Keep soil damp, not dry or soggy

While you can train many of the other options on this list of best office plants to be desk plants, the elephant ear needs its own floor space and plenty of room to spread out.

The Best Office Plants Make For A Happy Office

While it’s true that the best office plants can transform a work environment from boring to inspiring, they’re not the only way you can get the most out of your home office or team workspace.

Furniture, decor, color scheme, seating options, even traffic flow — all of these variables affect how well you and your team work in the space you choose.

That’s where Bond Collective comes in. We’ve designed our workspaces with your team’s happiness and productivity in mind.

Each of our shared office environments incorporates inspiring design elements like natural light, open floor plans, vivid colors, multipurpose workspaces, and, yes, many of the best office plants on this list — plus a whole host of other design factors that will motivate your team to greatness.

In addition to our unique, well-decorated, and well-appointed office settings, businesses of all sizes also enjoy convenient amenities, such as:

• Private-label mail service

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Custom build-outs

• Guest reception and greeting

• Insanely fast Wi-Fi

• 24-hour access

• Concession food market

• Bike storage

If you’re looking for a spacious, well-appointed collaborative workspace to boost your productivity and transform your business for the better, experience the best that modern office spaces have to offer.

Tour any one of our gorgeous Bond Collective locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Then become a member of Bond Collective and take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices to suit all your business needs.

To get started or to learn more about the advantages of coworking spaces for digital nomads, remote workers, and businesses of all kinds, visit BondCollective.com today or call to find out more about everything we have to offer.

By Bond Collective Staff

If working where you live has become your new norm, there are few things better for your inspiration, focus, and productivity than setting up a home office.

For those who have spent their entire working lives in a traditional office environment where someone else chooses the layout, color scheme, and decor, setting up a home office of their own may feel like an extremely daunting proposition.

In this article, we give you tips and ideas for setting up an office space in your home that is both functional and attractive.

Inspired Home Office Ideas

Invest In An Adjustable-Height Desk

Furnishing your home office with an adjustable sit/stand desk is an ideal way to ensure that you stay healthy while you work. Alternating between a sitting and standing position throughout the workday offers many benefits, including:

• Lowering your risk of heart disease

• Preventing weight gain, obesity, and type 2 diabetes

• Reducing back, shoulder, and neck pain

• Improving your mood and energy

• Increasing your productivity

For maximum benefits, try this simple routine:

• Stand for 30 minutes

• Sit for 20 minutes

• Walk, stretch, or exercise for 10 minutes

You can switch the standing and sitting in this routine, but try not to sit longer than 30 minutes at a time. At the 30-minute mark, your metabolism slows by as much as 90 percent and the muscles in your lower body turn off.

Hide The Power Cords

Most modern work that you can do from home involves an electronic device of one sort or another.

The cords that power and charge those tablets, printers, copiers, laptops, monitors, and phones can seriously clutter your workspace and even hinder productivity.

Going wireless is one excellent solution. But for those devices that haven’t cut the cord yet, find ways to keep that snarl organized, hidden, and out of the way. If at all possible, conceal the cords in the wall, in the floor, or along the backs of furniture.

Place Your Desk In The Center Of The Room

If you have enough space in your home office, try placing your desk in the center of the room rather than up against a wall.

The further you push your desk into the center of the room (called “floating”), the more prominent, important, and inspired you’ll feel while working there.

If possible, position your desk so that it faces a window or door that opens to the outside. This provides an inspiring view while still keeping you focused on your work.

In a big enough room, floating your desk also frees up wall space for more shelving and storage.

Choose Natural Light

Your body responds better to natural light than it does to fluorescent light. Natural light improves your mood and helps you stay focused and productive for longer.

If you have a window in your home office that provides enough light during the day, turn off other lights and work in the natural illumination from the sun. If that’s not possible, furnish your workspace with lights that give off softer wavelengths.

New technologies even allow for office lighting to change automatically from the cooler greens and blues that occur in the morning to the warmer yellows and reds that occur in the afternoon.

This makes it possible for you to vary the color temperature of your office lights to mimic what happens outdoors.

Consider A Mechanical Keyboard

Your computer is a crucial part of your home office. Without it, you won’t get much done. And unless you’re using speech-to-text, the best way to code, write, or generally input information is via the keyboard.

Modern laptop keyboards are designed to be lightweight and compact but are less than ideal for long bouts of typing. A better alternative is the mechanical keyboard.

Mechanical keyboards are built around small, spring-mounted switches that offer a more tactile feel than the ubiquitous membrane keyboards that come with most laptops. These switches are more heavy-duty, will last longer, and can actually improve your typing speed.

As an added benefit, mechanical keyboards are somewhat larger than laptop keyboards and, therefore, allow your hands and arms to remain in a more ergonomic position.

This is better for your posture, overall health, and work productivity.

Most mechanical keyboards will plug into any computer via a regular USB port, so you can integrate one into your system even if your laptop already has a keyboard.

Bring The Outside Into Your Home Office

Natural accents like plants, exposed concrete and wood floors, reclaimed wood desktops, and painted steel are simple ways to bring the outside into your home office.

These touches have the added benefit of making you feel more comfortable. And when you’re more comfortable, you’re more focused, more creative, and more engaged.

Inspire Yourself With Color

Drab colors do nothing to encourage creativity and hard work. Consider incorporating vivid colors into the walls, floors, ceilings, and furnishings of your home office design.

Whether you’re organizing your entire office according to a certain color scheme or simply scattering pops of color here and there, studies show that varied bright hues can boost your productivity, inspiration, and overall happiness.

Decorate With A Variety Of Materials And Textures

Material and texture have a significant influence on the quality of your work. Just think about how you’d feel staring at smooth, bland plastics all day.

That’s why we suggest using a variety of materials — from rough wood to soft fabrics to textured plaster and more — throughout your office.

These materials and textures can stimulate your sense of productivity and wellness and make your home office a place you look forward to going each day.

Stimulate Your Senses With A Favorite Smell

Want inspiration in your home office? Activate your sense of smell.

Certain scents can boost your mood, stimulate your creativity, and generally improve your workspace. A bouquet of fresh-cut flowers makes a nice olfactory addition to your workspace, as does a simple air freshener.

Whatever scent you choose, be sure it isn’t too powerful. While you may enjoy the smell of patchouli and lime at first, over time, strong smells can cause headaches and irritate your allergies.

One way to prevent being overwhelmed is to create a portable scent kit. Simply place a small amount of your favorite scented material in a sealable jar (diluted essential oils work well in this case).

When you need an energy boost or a quick bit of inspiration, remove the lid from the container, take a deep breath in through your nose, and then replace the lid.

Repeat this activity several times during the day or as needed to stay focused.

Control The Clutter

Clutter is distracting. The sense of disorganization that permeates a cluttered workspace seriously affects your happiness and productivity.

Before you attempt to improve your office by adding things, try removing things first. Here are a few suggestions for decluttering your workspace:

• Hire a commercial cleaner

• Go wireless if possible

• Invest in storage solutions

• Go paperless

• Minimize items on your desk

Give this issue some serious thought and we’re sure you’ll come up with plenty of unique ways to keep your new workspace clutter-free.

A Happy And Productive Home Office

By Bond Collective Staff

Incorporating the tips on this list into your workspace is a great way to create a home office that is both functional and attractive.

When it’s time to “get out of the house” for a while, skip the noisy and distracting corner coffee shop and opt instead for the professional work environments at Bond Collective. We’ve designed our workspaces with your happiness and productivity in mind.

Each of our shared office environments incorporates inspiring design elements like natural light, open floor plans, vivid colors, and multipurpose workspaces — plus a whole host of other design factors that will motivate you to greatness.

We also provide industry-leading amenities, such as:

Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Mail and package handling

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Guest reception and greeting

• Custom build-outs

• Daily porter service

• Nightly office cleaning

If you’re looking for a workspace away from your home office, consider becoming a member of Bond Collective and take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices to suit all your business needs.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

By Bond Collective Staff

For some, learning how to work from home without losing productivity is as easy as 1-2-3. For others, it’s a struggle they may feel as if they will never win.

Whether you find yourself working from home these days or managing a team that does, one of the key factors to your continued success is maintaining focus in a novel environment.

That doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes time, effort, and maybe even moving the furniture to create an environment that doesn’t distract you from the task at hand.

In this article, we provide tips to help you and your team get the most out of working from home.

How To Work From Home Productively

1) Establish “Do Not Disturb” Hours

Productivity depends, in large part, on concentration and focus. But those circumstances can be hard to come by when you’re learning how to work from home with family or roommates present.

To help you maintain your attention on the work in front of you, establish “Do Not Disturb” hours throughout the day.

For those who are more productive first thing in the morning, set your “Do Not Disturb” hours from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. For those who find their stride in the afternoon, set your “Do Not Disturb” hours from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Then, during the time you chose, focus on the most important tasks you need to accomplish.

If you work in a separate room, tell those around you that they’re not to disturb you for the next two hours and then close the door. An open door is an invitation to come in and talk, even if you’ve already established that you don’t want to be interrupted.

If you’re working in a shared space, like the living room or the kitchen, devise a “Do Not Disturb” sign so family or roommates know that you need to concentrate.

2) Gather The Right Tools

In a professional office environment, you and your team have everything necessary to get the job done right without having to stop what you’re doing.

Need six copies of the presentation? The Xerox machine is warmed up and ready to go. Need a quick word with your teammate? A few steps across the hall and you’re there.

Working from home, though, is a different situation entirely. You may only have a printer on hand (with no copy capabilities), and your teammate may be working in their home all the way across town.

That’s why it’s essential when you’re learning how to work from home that you gather the right tools. To be successful, you’ll need a few basics, including:

• A fast internet connection

• A reliable computer

• File-sharing software

• Video or audio conferencing for team meetings

• Collaboration software (e.g., Trello)

• Messaging software (e.g., Slack)

• A comfortable chair

Depending on your industry and your responsibilities, your list of necessities may be longer or shorter. Regardless, having the right tools allows you to keep your productivity high even when working from home.

3) Wear Headphones

Unless you’re fortunate enough to be alone when learning how to work from home, your environment will be rife with distractions.

People moving around, conversations, unfamiliar noises, pets, even traffic outside your window — all of these things (and more) can pull your attention away from the work in front of you and lower your productivity.

A high-quality, comfortable pair of headphones makes all those distractions disappear.

We recommend investing in a pair of over-ear headphones instead of the in-ear or on-ear types. Over-ear headphones block out more ambient noise than other headphones and help you stay focused longer.

One of the many nice things about over-ear headphones is that you have more control over the noise around you. If you prefer as much silence as possible while you work, you might choose noise-canceling over-ear headphones.

Or, if you can handle a bit of low-level “noise” in the background while you work, you might choose to play some classical music or ambient sounds to keep you motivated and engaged.

4) Create A Dedicated Workspace

One of the best ways to transition from working in an office to working at home is to create a dedicated space for the tools and supplies you use every day.

Carving out a special place for work-related activities helps you get in the right frame of mind — and stay that way — when it’s time to get down to business.

If space is limited, try storing your supplies in a plastic tote or two so you can pack them up and out of the way at the end of the day. Similarly, try setting up a small folding table in a little-used corner somewhere.

That, in combination with your portable supply totes, makes it easy to vacate a common area like a living room or kitchen when you’re finished working.

And when positioning your work surface, arrange things so that you’re facing a wall instead of an open room. Restricting your view helps to minimize movement in front of you and in your peripheral vision, which can be a major distraction and lower your productivity.

5) Set Daily Goals

Whether this is your first time learning how to work from home or you’ve been doing it for years, it’s essential to set daily goals.

Doing so helps you maintain your concentration, drives productivity, and prevents you from getting sidetracked by the dirty clothes in the hamper, the breakfast dishes in the sink, and your favorite Netflix show that drops at 10:30.

We suggest taking a few minutes before you “leave work” to jot down the goals you want to accomplish the next day.

With these goals in mind first thing in the morning, you can jump right in when you have the most energy and are the most productive.

6) Stay Organized

Your desk at work contains everything you need for business-related activities. But when you transition to working from home, your gear and supplies may be spread out in multiple locations.

Leaving your workstation to go dig through a closet in search of paper for your printer is a huge waste of time that you can avoid by staying organized.

Before you start work for the day, look at your goals and the tasks ahead of you and assemble all of the supplies that might even remotely come into play.

Store the lesser-used ones in a tote or bag out of the way in order to keep your work surface as uncluttered as possible.

Even if you don’t wind up using the cellphone charger and the thumb drive, you’ll be ready for when you do need them.

7) Balance Work And Play

Working remotely from home mixes business and pleasure — two activities that are usually kept separate — into one overlapping space.

Because of this novel arrangement, it’s extremely easy to sit down on your couch to work for several hours only to find yourself taking a nap 20 minutes later.

To combat this problem, we suggest establishing office hours (such as we touched on earlier) and play hours.

During office hours (e.g., 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.), make yourself focus exclusively on work. During play hours (e.g., Noon to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to bedtime.), reward yourself for working by doing something you enjoy.

Keeping your work and personal life separate makes learning how to work from home easier than you might expect.

Productivity Starts With Environment

Working from home or the local coffee shop can be a nice change of pace once in a while. But for maximum productivity, you — or you and your team — need to conduct business in a professional environment.

But with businesses everywhere transitioning their employees to remote work (be it temporary or permanent), that may not seem possible. With Bond Collective, it is.

Bond Collective offers a variety of work environments, such as:

• Open-plan coworking spaces

• Dedicated desks

• Private offices

• Conference rooms for 5-20+ guests

Rent by the hour, the month, or the year and receive industry-leading amenities you can’t find anywhere else, including:

• Lightning-fast WiFi

• Photo and sound studio (Gowanus only)

• Guest reception and greeting

• Regular on-site cleaning

• Mail service

• Complimentary beer, coffee, tea, water, and fresh fruit

• Other food and beverages for sale

• Office showers

• Bike storage

• Rooftop lounge area

• Mothers’ rooms

• Pet-friendly environments

• Curated and networking events

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a digital nomad, a startup, or a large corporation, Bond Collective can help you and your team maximize productivity and stay on the road to success…even during difficult times.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

Team collaboration is a buzzword that every manager in the know talks about when discussing productivity, innovation, and business success.

But what is team collaboration? And how can you improve said collaboration for a more focused, streamlined, and efficient workflow?

In this article, we’ll answer those questions and give you pro tips for creating a more collaborative atmosphere whether your team works together in the same physical space or remotely over the internet.

What Is Team Collaboration?

The dictionary definition of collaboration is:

The action of working with someone to produce or create something.

While that’s a good general definition, it doesn’t really speak to the variables that are more common to team collaboration in a business environment.

For that, we look to a more focused definition of collaboration:

A communication and project management philosophy — and boots-on-the-ground approach — that emphasizes teamwork, equal participation, and innovative thinking as a way to further the interests of the business.

In decades past, team collaboration demanded that employees be in the same office, if not the same room, in order to get things done.

But with the evolution of the internet and the introduction of unique collaboration software platforms, the act of working together is now accessible even if team members are in different offices, different cities, different states, or different countries.

The foundation of effective team collaboration, though, isn’t the technology — collaboration existed long before telephones, webcams, and videoconferencing apps — it’s the company culture in which your employees work.

When you define the values, norms, ethics, beliefs, and habits of your business, you set the tone and mood your team members will experience with their teammates, managers, and clients.

This, then, provides a framework for effective behavior and paves the way for strong collaboration.

Goals Of Successful Team Collaboration

The goals of successful team collaboration differ from business to business, but a handful of fundamental elements influence collaboration regardless of size, industry, or niche.

These basic elements include:

• Communication

• Transparency

• Employee engagement

• Compromise

• Reliability

• Diversity

• Conflict management

When your company culture includes high levels of these seven elements, collaboration becomes much easier and your team members will be more willing to engage in this essential activity.

You’ll also be able to identify unique ways to improve collaboration within your business. In the next section, we offer tips to help your team work better together.

How To Improve Team Collaboration In Your Business

1) Provide A Flexible Office Space

Great ideas are made up of equal parts collaboration and individual work. For best results, provide a flexible office space that accommodates both activities.

As much as possible, use these tips to create an office space that is conducive to both group and solo work:

• Offer a variety of seat and desk options

• Incorporate the open-concept office

• Decorate with mobile furniture

• Set up multipurpose workspaces

• Provide private and quiet spaces for individual work

A flexible office space allows your team members to collaborate or work by themselves in a more organic manner without feeling forced into one option or the other.

2) Give Team Members The Freedom They Need

Few things sabotage team collaboration like self-doubt.

When your employees worry constantly about whether their choices are wrong, their efficiency and effectiveness slow dramatically and their productivity suffers.

To avoid this issue entirely, give your team the freedom to work without restrictions and empower each member to make their own decisions for the good of the team, the project, and the business.

To do this, consider implementing the following suggestions:

• Train your team members for personal and professional growth

• Communicate frequently and honestly

• Promote that same communication from your team members

• Trust their instinct

• Respect individual differences

• Encourage new and unique ideas

Giving your team the freedom to work in this way allows each member to feel safe, secure, and motivated to do what’s right — and best — for the success of your business.

3) Incorporate The Right Tools

The right tools are essential for team collaboration whether members work at their desks in the offices or on the couches in their living rooms.

Collaboration technology includes:

• Google Drive

• Slack

• Trello

• Skype

• Google Hangouts

• Zoom

• Dropbox

• And many more

Armed with these tools, collaboration between team members transforms from a slow and confusing exchange of emails or texts into a quick, easy, logical, and structured activity.

4) Lead Team-Building Activities

Promoting a strong sense of teamwork in your business is essential if you want collaboration to flourish.

To improve the sense of team that underlies all collaborative efforts, conduct team-building exercises that stress the “we” instead of the “I” in your business.

Try activities such as:

• Dining together

• Brainstorming sessions

• Office Olympics

• Job swaps

• Murder mystery

• Office happy hour

These team-building exercises disguised as fun don’t have to be long and involved. Even 15 minutes once or twice per week can improve collaboration dramatically.

Use your imagination and create activities that fit the way your team works.

5) Make It A Point To Motivate Your Team

Motivation is a driving force behind your team’s ability to collaborate efficiently and effectively. Make it a point to motivate your employees every day.

Motivation doesn’t have to be a grand, elaborate gesture. Sometimes, small, personal interactions are more successful at fostering the motivation and collaboration you seek.

We suggest using the following activities to improve motivation amongst your team members:

• Leading by example

• Finding ways to have fun

• Defining your expectations

• Maintaining a positive attitude

• Giving your employees growth opportunities

• Celebrating achievements

• Allowing your employees autonomy

When you make it a point to motivate your team — and do it often — every aspect of their work, and their willingness to collaborate, will improve.

6) Emphasize Your Organizational Strategy

Your business’s organizational strategy informs everything your team members do, from their priorities and decision-making all the way down to their ability to adapt when faced with adversity.

If you’re working without a corporate, business, and functional strategy, your team won’t have any overarching goals to look toward. They’ll focus on the project at hand, but they won’t have a sense of direction beyond the immediate task.

That can negatively affect not only their collaboration but also their work productivity.

Communicate your organizational strategy to every member of your team so they have a framework on which to base their decisions, actions, and the way they work together as a cohesive unit.

7) Allow For Delays In Instant Communication

One of the benefits of modern collaboration software is the instantaneous nature of communication between team members.

Unfortunately, that instant communication is also a drawback because it forces individual employees to operate in a state of “always on.”

When your team members feel like they have to be available at all times, it distracts from their individual time and prevents them from focusing on a specific task when they need to.

That can lead to communication burnout and reduce the effectiveness of your team collaboration.

To combat this effect of modern technology, allow for delays in instant communication — whether it’s between you and an employee or between two team members.

Doing so means that employees won’t have to interrupt their current task and focus to address issues on some other task.

Team Collaboration And Your Workspace

At Bond Collective, we’ve designed our workspaces with team collaboration in mind. We provide all the tools your team needs so they can focus on working together, such as:

• Lightning-fast WiFi

• Free black-and-white printing and copying

• Access to conference rooms, private booths, and social areas

• Photo and sound studio (Gowanus only)

• Guest reception and greeting

• Regular on-site cleaning

We even go the extra mile to provide industry-leading amenities you can’t find anywhere else, like:

• Mail service

• Complimentary beer, coffee, tea, water, and fresh fruit

• Other food and beverages for sale

• Office showers

• Bike storage

• Rooftop lounge area

• Mothers’ rooms

• Pet-friendly environments

• Curated and networking events

So, if you’re looking for a work environment that will increase your team’s collaboration, consider becoming a member of Bond Collective.

You can take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices to suit all your business needs.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer. And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

Managing a team of remote workers is fast becoming the new norm for businesses around the world. This change in the way we work makes the virtual meeting a key component of your organization’s success.

Whether you’re a manager coordinating a team of individuals working from home or you’re working from home yourself, the ability to run a productive remote meeting is an essential skill in the 21st century.

In this article, we’ll give you tips for making your next virtual meeting the best it can be.

What Is A Virtual Meeting?

A virtual meeting (a.k.a. a teleconference, teleseminar, or webinar) is a meeting run through telecommunication technology with the purpose of allowing participants in different locations to both see and hear the other attendees.

The origins of the virtual meeting lie in the conference phone call that grew in popularity as a business tool in the 1990s.

With the spread of the internet, improvements in data-transmission infrastructure, and advances in camera and computer technology, it soon became possible to include video and screen sharing in the teleconference as well.

In the early 2000s, further progress in these areas led to a boom in popular products — including Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts Meet, Zoom, and others — that make holding a virtual meeting as simple as tapping your screen or clicking the mouse.

But as easy and prevalent as virtual meeting software is these days, it doesn’t mean you can just open an app for the first time and expect to hold a productive conference.

In the next section, we provide a step-by-step guide for holding an efficient and successful virtual meeting.

How To Run A Productive Virtual Meeting

1) Select The Right App For Your Business

The first step in running a productive virtual meeting is selecting the right app for your business.

Not all teleconferencing software offers the same features. Some only allow a few participants to join and don’t provide screen sharing.

Others allow hundreds to connect to the same meeting and view your desktop, image and video apps, and even select parts of your screen.

Before you buy, try a free version if possible, and then choose the program that best suits the needs of your business.

2) Create A Meeting Agenda

To avoid rambling and straying off-topic, create a meeting agenda beforehand that outlines information about:

• Topics to discuss

• Notes on those topics

• Time dedicated to each topic

• Discussion time versus presentation time

• When you will take questions Goals and objectives (see next section)

When you provide structure for your meeting in advance — and stick to that structure as much as possible — you improve the likelihood that your virtual meeting will run smoothly and be productive for you and your attendees.

3) Establish Clear Objectives

It’s extremely easy to deviate from your initial purpose and find yourself discussing irrelevant material, especially during a virtual meeting.

To prevent this problem in your video conference, set clear goals and objectives within your meeting agenda — things you must get done — and then make it a point to stick to those objectives come what may.

If you find the discussion deviating from your goals, guide participants back to the main point.

Doing so will keep the meeting on track and leave attendees feeling like they were a part of something meaningful.

4) Prepare Virtual Meeting Attendees

Well before the virtual meeting, it’s crucial to prepare all attendees to participate. This involves three activities on your part:

1. Ensure all relevant parties have access to the virtual meeting software

2. Train attendees to use the app

3. Distribute information they’ll need to participate during the meeting

The first two activities are the most labor-intensive because some participants may need significant time and instruction to be able to operate the software effectively.

The third stage is easier — sending your agenda and objectives — but is no less important because you want everyone on the same page during your video conference.

5) Work Up Your Presentation

Virtual meetings delivered via webcam are very different from meetings delivered with everyone in the same room.

The restrictions of this new medium mean that you’re going to need to spend some time working up new presentations or adjusting old presentations for the videoconferencing technology.

All of this takes time, effort, and careful planning.

6) Test The Software

Before you conduct a large-group virtual meeting, run a smaller version with one or two participants to test the software.

As you explore, note settings you want to change, how to get to features and commands quickly and efficiently (keyboard shortcuts are ideal), and the framing of your camera.

An easy way to do this is to start a meeting on your laptop and then join that meeting on your tablet or smartphone.

With access to the host’s and participant’s sides of the virtual meeting, you can see how everything acts and what it looks like from both perspectives.

7) Appoint A Co-Host

As the organizer of the meeting, it’s your job to focus on the presentation. To help you in this regard, we suggest appointing a co-host.

The co-host’s responsibilities include:

• Muting and unmuting attendees

• Displaying images and videos

• Monitoring video thumbnails

• Troubleshooting

• Keeping track of who’s online

• Maintaining security at all times

With the co-host handling those tasks, you can devote all of your energy to running a successful and effective meeting.

8) Practice Conducting The Meeting

Once you’ve got all the details set and you’ve appointed a co-host, practice conducting the video conference from beginning to end.

As you practice, write down sentences or phrases to act as cues for your co-host so they know when to display images and videos and when to take them down.

It’s also important to note your timing and make adjustments to keep the meeting within its allotted runtime.

9) Start And End The Virtual Meeting On Time

One of the keys to an effective virtual meeting is starting and ending on time. That means the meeting should take precedence over everything else.

Then, once you’ve started the meeting, do your best to adhere to the agenda you created in order to end the meeting on time.

10) Keep The Chitchat To A Minimum

As with meetings of any kind, it’s easy to allow idle talk to cut into your presentation time — especially at the beginning. When it’s time to start, apologize for interrupting and then dive right into your first point.

If attendees really need to talk amongst themselves, they can organize their own calls when the meeting is over.

Remember, five or ten minutes of chitchat at the beginning is five or ten fewer minutes at the end to get things done.

11) Review And Improve

A successful virtual meeting owes a large portion of its success to the one before it.

If possible, record the conference so you can review it later. Ask for feedback from one or two attendees and then look for ways to improve.

When you take this final step after every remote meeting, you’ll find small changes that will increase your efficiency and help you accomplish more in a short span of time.

Choose The Best Space For Virtual Meetings

Another fundamental piece of a productive remote meeting is the space from which you run said meeting.

If you’re running the teleconference from your home or apartment, position the camera so that it captures as little of your living space as possible. Doing so minimizes background distractions and keeps attendees’ attention on you.

The best option is to run your meeting from a conference room or professional workspace. The coworking spaces at Bond Collective are the perfect solution for all of your remote conferencing needs.

Bond Collective provides everything you need to host your next virtual meeting:

• Conference rooms

• Private offices

• Private meeting rooms

• Private phone booths

• Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black and white printing

• Access to other portfolio locations

• And other industry-leading amenities

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

Meet BC member, Althea Simons, fashion designer and founder of @grammarnyc. Working from our Bushwick location, Althea can focus on developing the elegant, minimalist philosophy that makes up her collection. Made in NYC with 100% organic cotton, she really does make the perfect white shirt.

Photography: Ben Lamberty

BC: You make the “perfect button-down”, what led you to develop this?

At its most basic, Grammar is about creating the most essential pieces in your wardrobe. The white shirt is the epitome of the Grammar concept. It is versatile, smart, iconic, powerful and feminine, and it looks good on everyone. From a design perspective, it is something with an established kit of parts: the collar, the cuff, the yoke, etc., that I could play with, utilize or disregard, yielding infinite possibilities. 

When my apartment building burned down in 2016, I lost all of my stuff and I couldn’t replace my collection of white shirts. Finding a really good white shirt – one that is interesting and special and fits well – was incredibly difficult! They are difficult to make, so many brands simply avoid them and others will make them one season but not the next. I knew that I was not the only white shirt fiend out there, so making perfect white shirts on a consistent basis seemed like a good business opportunity.

BC: Grammar was built with sustainability in mind, has “sustainable fashion” influenced your design approach?

It has always been my intention and purpose to create a sustainable fashion brand; sustainability and quality are fundamentally a part of my value system. Grammar isn’t simply about a trend toward sustainability, just as it isn’t about fashion trends. The requirements I’ve placed on the brand and myself make my job more difficult, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Despite the growing consumer demand for sustainable clothing, there are still very few options offered to designers on the supply side. It took me 8 months to find an organic cotton poplin that suited my need for sustainability and my design requirements. I was persistent: I went to every fabric trade show; I contacted factories and sales representatives around the world; I ordered dozens of samples until I found a mill that could make what I wanted. The mill I work with in India produces our fabric especially for Grammar; it is not something they offer to the general public.

One of the main problems with the fashion industry is the endless churn of new trends and discarded clothes; the average American throws away 80 pounds of clothing per year, all of which ends up in landfill. I design pieces that are timeless, and we produce them to last a lifetime. Grammar is about essentials – our shirts remain relevant, stylish, and wearable season after season, year after year. 

BC:  Tell us about where you shirts are made.

The shirts are made in the Garment District in Manhattan. I love working directly with the people who make the clothes. I have personal relationships with the artisans and business owners we work with. There is nothing better than the community and shared sense of accomplishment I feel with our manufacturing partners. The people I work with are experts in their field and they have so much to teach us about their craft. I love to ask questions and get into the weeds of the work, and I’m truly humbled by their knowledge and experience. 

In 1960, 95% of the clothing sold in the U.S. was made in New York’s Garment District; now only 3% of our clothing is produced here. Most clothing production has been outsourced to third-world countries, accounting for almost one hundred thousand lost manufacturing jobs in the United States over the same period. Manufacturing jobs are a key to the American Dream. Many of the men and women who work at our factory are immigrants with poor English speaking skills; these are some of the few skilled, well-paying jobs that exist for them in New York that allow them to create a better life for themselves and their families. One of the things that makes our city so magical is that it is truly a melting pot; people from all walks of life in the same city working together to make the world a better place. We need a middle class to maintain that magic.

BC: What would you tell someone who is on the fence about investing in an expensive white button down shirt?

I can’t speak for every white shirt, but a Grammar white shirt makes your life better.

I design shirts for women to feel comfortable because when we are comfortable we are confident, and when we are confident we approach our day and our life as the best version of ourselves. To be comfortable, your clothing has to fit properly. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are used to wearing clothes that don’t fit, but when you wear something that really fits it makes your life so much better. Because of fast fashion and the resulting general decline in quality, we as humans have become used to a lower quality of life. I always tell people to try on the shirts – you can really feel the difference when the shirt is on your body. We all deserve to have things that fit well. 

 To me good design means you don’t notice the shirt, it becomes a part of you in a very natural way. It becomes an intimate object that you turn to again and again when you want to feel confident. There is a concept in the sustainable fashion world called “cost per wear.” If you wear your shirt 100 times, which is how I design them to be worn, the cost per wear goes down to $2-3 per wear. Compare that to fast fashion – your $5 tee-shirt that falls apart after one wear doesn’t sound so good!

Fashion and clothing touch upon every level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from physiological to self-actualization and transcendence. In that sense what we wear is one of the most important and intimate decisions we each make as individuals, and implies every relationship and encounter we have with each other. What we wear and what we buy is important; these decisions should be treated with reverence.

BC: What’s the best way to get red wine out of a white shirt?

The best way to remove any stain is to rinse it immediately so it doesn’t set. I have been known to take my shirt off completely (in the restroom) to rinse a stain. You don’t have to get it out completely – it will come out in the wash as long as you rinse it. Contrary to popular belief, white cotton is one of the easiest things to clean because it can handle pretty much any cleaning method and it doesn’t bleed!

BC   Your office at our Bushwick location is so cute- do you have any advice for someone trying to elevate their office space?

Thank you! I was lucky to get one of the offices with a beautiful raw wall; it helps to have a great space to start with. I try to surround myself with things that inspire me and keep me grounded in what the brand represents. This might be controversial, but I don’t mind a little clutter!

BC  What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Listen to yourself.

BC   Can you describe yourself in three words?

Conscientious Designer Entrepreneur

BC  Bushwick lunch spot rec?

I like to cook and so I usually bring my lunch from home, but I love Leaf and will occasionally succumb to the charms of Chipotle.

BC  Do you have a favorite nook or area to work at Bond Collective Bushwick?

It changes! When I’m working alone I love to be in the smaller office surrounded by my mood boards and samples, but when I’m working with my team we like to post up at the tall tables on the second floor. I also love the booths on the third floor, and when it’s nice out we always go up to the roof!

Shop Grammar from their Instagram or website and receive 20% all orders. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, they’ll be donating $50 from every order to NYC Fund for Public Health’s Epidemic Fund, which provides support for the Health Department’s life-saving work to combat the ongoing epidemic. Their critical response to emergency needs includes the following:

• Expanding mental health resources for New Yorkers struggling with stress and anxiety

• Supporting capacity and infrastructure for response efforts and immediate needs as they evolve

• Maintaining effective communications , including combating the spread of misinformation and stigma

• Supporting a buddy program to call isolated older adults and people with disabilities to check in

• Ensuring that vulnerable New Yorkers have access to the care and programs they need

By Bond Collective Staff

Unlimited PTO is quickly becoming the most sought-after benefit in many industries. Businesses are using this perk to attract top talent and get an edge on their competitors.

But is unlimited PTO the right choice for your business?

In this article, we provide the pros and cons of this leave program so you can make the best decision for your team and your company.

What Is Unlimited PTO?

Unlimited PTO is a leave system that allows team members to take off as many days as they need for events such as:

• Illness

• Vacation

• Jury duty

• Maternity/paternity

• Caring for a sick family member

Most businesses stipulate that an employee must maintain their normal work hours and meet performance expectations over a specific period of time in order to qualify for this type of paid-time-off program, but your company can set whatever expectations it feels are best.

Unlimited PTO: Pros For Employers

1) Decreased Capital Liability

With a “regular” paid-time-off system, accrued vacation time becomes a very real capital liability. It can sit on your bottom line for years and complicate your bookkeeping like nothing else.

In addition, your business may be obligated to remunerate employees for the time off they didn’t use when they retire or leave for another job.

Unlimited PTO allows you to reduce that capital liability to essentially zero because you don’t have to accrue time-off hours and transfer them to the new year nor assign them a dollar value should the employee choose to take another position outside your business.

2) Improved Administrative Efficiency

In some businesses, keeping track of the accumulated time-off hours available for each employee in a typical PTO system is a full-time job. It may even take a team of specialists to manage and coordinate your leave program.

With an unlimited PTO benefit in place, you eliminate the need to track, record, and manage the hundreds — if not thousands — of hours of leave allotted to your team each year.

That frees up any number of human resource employees to focus on other issues and improves administrative efficiency in every corner of your business.

3) Heightened Employee Satisfaction

The standard PTO program — finite sick days, personal days, and vacation days — often leads to employees giving less than 100 percent during slow times, and maybe even burning out during busy times, because they want to save their time off for something really important or worthwhile.

In essence, they report to work and appear busy in order to preserve their PTO for later instead of taking a day off, recovering, and coming back the next day ready to work.

In an unlimited PTO system, an employee is more likely to take time off between the end of one project and the beginning of the next because they don’t have to worry about running out of hours.

When your employees don’t have to consider how much PTO they have left, their happiness improves. That, in combination with an improved attitude and energy level after a day off, results in a productivity boost you can’t get any other way.

4) Enhanced Recruiting

Businesses that have an unlimited PTO system in place stand out from the crowd because this type of leave program isn’t something that every company offers.

Most businesses do offer some form of PTO, but an unlimited plan is very enticing to those looking for a job in your industry.

The fact that you offer infinite time off is an asset you can use to enhance your recruiting and improve your talent acquisition.

5) Increased Retention

Employee retention is a very real problem in today’s competitive business market.

Many employees will stay at a company with unlimited PTO rather than looking for a new job because a generous leave like this policy allows them to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

That combination of perks — plenty of paid-time-off and a healthy work/life balance — can increase retention and help you maintain a productive team for years to come.

Unlimited PTO: Cons For Employers

1) Complicated Scheduling

Unlimited PTO can create a nightmare of scheduling issues that lead to overlapping vacations, lack of employees with specific skills, and missed deadlines.

Not only does this put an undue burden on your HR department, but it also affects the team members who are working because they have to pick up the slack for those who are taking time off.

2) Potential Abuse

With unlimited PTO, there exists a very real possibility that an employee will abuse the system and take weeks or even months off without fear of losing their job.

You can prevent this type of activity by reviewing the program frequently and by talking with employees about the importance of using only what they need.

3) Difficult Implementation

Switching from a traditional leave program to unlimited PTO can be difficult for your team and your business.

As mentioned above, there’s always the fear that employees will abuse the system and take time off at the same time, but other difficulties include:

• Loss of accrued PTO that employees had been saving

• Employees feeling uncomfortable taking extended time off

• Stigma attached to taking time off under the new program

These, and many more variables, make implementing a system like this daunting and difficult for many businesses.

4) Leadership Concerns

Many businesses that have an unlimited PTO program in place discovered that employees aren’t taking advantage of the time off because of how they think management and their coworkers will react.

In these situations, it has become obvious that leadership plays a critical role in setting an example for how to use the PTO system.

For example, if a manager takes few or no days off during the year, members of that person’s team may develop the idea that the manager doesn’t approve of time off.

This idea develops further into the misconception that, should they take a vacation day or two, they will be in the manager’s bad graces.

The way your leadership treats the PTO program has a lot to do with how your team members treat the program.

5) Employee Confusion

Even though the concept of the unlimited PTO program is fairly straightforward, employees can be confused as to the finer points of the system.

They may wonder how much PTO they can use at any given time or when they should schedule that time so as not to hurt the business.

Confusion of this sort often leads employees not to take time off — even when they need it — because they don’t understand what the business expects of them.

Is Unlimited PTO Right For Your Team?

Unlimited PTO isn’t for every business. Yes, there are some significant pros — and some significant cons — but it all comes down to whether or not this type of benefit is right for your team.

Your company may do better granting four sick days, four personal days (e.g., mental health days), four holidays (e.g., Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc.), and five vacation days.

It all depends on your company culture, the diversity of your team, the personalities of your employees, and even the location of your business.

The nice thing about an unlimited PTO policy — or any paid-time-off policy, for that matter — is that you can always tweak and refine the guidelines if it’s not working.

Put a system in place, keep track of the results, and revisit the issue in a year’s time.

Other Equally Important Benefits

During the time that you’re testing and perfecting your time-off policies, it’s also crucial to focus on a resource that will increase happiness, productivity, and engagement more than few other benefits your business offers: your team’s workspace.

While your employees may only avail themselves of your unlimited PTO a few times a year, they engage with their workspace every day.

The coworking spaces at Bond Collective are the perfect solution for all your workspace needs.

They provide community spaces, hot desks (available on a first-come, first-served basis), dedicated desks (i.e., reserved), private offices, conference and meeting rooms, private phone booths, unrivaled amenities, and much more — everything your team needs to perform at their best.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

Now, more than ever, allowing your team to take a mental health day is vital for keeping your business successful.

With all the stress and strife spreading around the world, it’s very easy for your employees to feel overwhelmed and anxious. Feelings like these lead to a decrease in productivity, disengagement from the work at hand, and even conflict that didn’t exist before.

All of that affects the efficient operation of your business — usually for the worse.

But you can prevent mental and physical burnout from becoming an issue in your company by giving your team time off to decompress and relax.

In this article, we’ll discuss the signs to look for and give you tips for helping your employees recover during a mental health day.

What Is A Mental Health Day?

As the name suggests, a mental health day is time off from work that an employee uses to relieve stress and recover from burnout.

Mental health days lie at the opposite end of the spectrum from sick days that an employee uses to recuperate from a physical illness.

As we’ll see below, sometimes the need for a mental health day manifests itself as chronic physical symptoms, indicating that a team member is worn out and needs some time off.

Signs Your Team Needs A Mental Health Day

Burnout is an all-too-common occurrence these days — especially in light of recent world events that have changed the way teams of all sizes do business.

Whether you’re managing a handful of employees all working from home or a team of 20 or more, you need to be on the lookout for indications that one or more individuals need a mental health day.

If you see these signs developing amongst your team, discuss with them the option of taking some time off.

1) Chronic Daytime Fatigue

It’s natural for your employees to feel tired sometimes.

But if they’re exhausted day after day and week after week — even after a good night’s sleep — there could be some mental and emotional issues manifesting themselves as physical symptoms.

Talk with them about taking a day off to recover.

2) Decreased Productivity

Productivity is a very fluid quality of your team; it will fluctuate up and down depending on a variety of factors.

But when an employee’s productivity is significantly down from their norm — and stays that way for days or weeks — it could be a sign that burnout is imminent and they need to take a mental health day.

3) Increased Reliance On Caffeine Or Other Stimulants

We all rely on our morning and mid-afternoon coffee to get us through the workday.

But when an employee is consuming four, five, six, or more cups of coffee in a day — or they escalate to multiple energy drinks while at the office — it may be time to meet with the team member to find out how they’re doing.

4) Difficulty Focusing

Again, difficulty focusing may happen now and then, but when it’s all day, every day, it’s time to be concerned.

There may be something going on in their personal life that’s distracting them from their work. Or they could be on the verge of burnout and in need of a mental health day.

5) Personalization Of Work-Related Frustrations

When they’re working at 100 percent, your employees can handle most of the work-related frustrations that occur during the day.

But when they’re mentally exhausted, they may take those frustrations personally and react in ways that are out of character from their normal behavior.

Tips For A Rejuvenating Mental Health Day

Don’t just give your employees a mental health day; help them make the most of it so they can return to work refreshed, recharged, and revitalized.

Below, we provide tips for a rejuvenating mental health day that can help your team get back to 100 percent.

1) Set Goals For The Mental Health Day

It’s all too easy to let a mental health day slip away without accomplishing anything. Instead of just “winging it,” encourage your employees to set goals for their time.

Even if those goals are just to sleep in, eat a healthy breakfast, and read until dinner, this gives them a sense of accomplishment that goes a long way toward recharging their batteries.

2) Get At Least 8-10 Hours Of Sleep

A very real danger of the mental health day is trying to pack in too much activity, starting with getting up before dawn to fit everything in.

Suggest that the employee turn off their alarm and sleep at least 8-10 hours — or until they’re naturally awake. A good night’s sleep is one of the best remedies for burnout and should be an integral part of their time off.

3) Eat A Healthy Breakfast

Eating a healthy breakfast first thing in the morning provides the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body and brain need to keep things running efficiently.

And when we say a “healthy” breakfast, we don’t mean a doughnut and coffee. Instead, we’re talking about something like a spinach-based smoothie with carrots, frozen fruit, and protein powder.

If your team member isn’t in the habit of eating breakfast, supply them with a gift certificate to a local cafe so they’ll have more motivation to go.

4) Do Something Enjoyable

Urge your employees to take the time to do something they enjoy during their mental health day.

This may be something they don’t get to do on a regular basis or something they do every day but always with work in the back of their mind.

Excellent ideas include:

• Get a massage

• Read a book

• Paint

• Draw

• Meditate

• Bake

• Catch up with friends

Working in one or two things they really enjoy — while resisting the temptation to do too much — is a great way for them to recover from stress.

5) Eat Lunch & Dinner

Keeping their body fueled is one of the best ways employees can make the most of their time off, so help them see the need to avoid skipping meals during their mental health day.

When their body is healthy, their brain functions more efficiently, which allows them to focus and maintain their energy longer. That will help them recover both mentally and physically.

Consider providing your team members with gift cards to their favorite restaurant so they don’t have to worry about preparation, cooking, or clean up.

6) Take A Nap

We’ve all wanted to lie down and take a nap during the workday. Now’s their chance to do just that without feeling guilty.

Instruct your employees to pay attention to how they’re feeling during their mental health day. Stress the importance of stretching out on the couch for 20 minutes to rest their eyes if they’re groggy in the afternoon.

A nap is a great way to give their body the time it needs to return to 100 percent.

7) Exercise

Fitting in a round of their favorite exercise is an ideal way for your employees to spend a few hours during their mental health day.

Present the team member with a spot in a yoga class at a nearby studio or a day-pass to the local gym to motivate them to exercise.

If that’s not their thing, encourage them to just go for a walk, hike, or run. Even a low impact activity like stretching can help them feel revived and ready to return to work at full capacity.

Promote Mental Health With The Right Workspace

Instead of always reacting to employee burnout with more mental health days, prevent that burnout from happening in the first place.

An attractive, efficient, and worry-free workspace — like those at Bond Collective — is one of the best ways to keep energy, engagement, and productivity high while maintaining the mental health of your team.

Each of Bond Collective’s shared working environments incorporates inspiring design elements like natural light, open floor plans, tasteful and professional decor, and multipurpose workspaces.

Bond Collective also provides benefits you won’t find anywhere else, such as:

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Guest reception and greeting

• Private-label mail service

• Lightning-fast

• Wi-Fi

• Concession food market

• Conference Rooms

• Black-and-white printing

• 24-hour access

• Bike storage

These amenities — and others too numerous to mention — eliminate the stress of maintaining your own office and allow you and your team to focus on the work at hand rather than whose turn it is to clean the copier or the kitchen.

To learn more about how Bond Collective’s boutique coworking spaces can help reduce the need for a mental health day, visit any one of our many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas.

Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer. And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the sophisticated and professional work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

BC:  You make sausages, other than being a fourth-generation butcher, what led you to this?

Growing up, the concept of not wasting food was constantly drilled into our heads. Butchers’ margins are incredibly slim, which means we make our money on literal scraps, and we have to be very careful to not waste a thing. My grandpa used to inspect the scrap buckets in the cutting room at the end of the day and if there was anything useable in there, people were in trouble.

I’ve worked in restaurants and butcher shops since I moved to NYC 16 years ago, in pretty much every position imaginable—waitress, busser, barista, line cook, prep cook, baker. Every position showed me, in different ways, how careless people are with their food waste. Sausages are essentially the oldest sustainability-minded food product—they make whole animal butchery possible. I gravitated to sausage-making a little over a decade ago for this reason, and have been pushing the boundaries on how to make them even more sustainable ever since.

BC: What does being a modern butcher mean?

I think being a modern butcher means recognizing the environmental impact that meat-eating has and doing our best to educate ourselves and our customers on how to do it better. That means never getting complacent—I am constantly reading about sustainable agriculture, visiting farms, talking to people with different ideas and testing new processes to make sure I’m on.

BC:  What is a carbon neutral sausage?

 We’re working with a company called Carbon Credit Capital to quantify the carbon emissions created by our production process. Then we offset those quantified emissions through various environmental projects like planting treats, building wind turbines, etc. to neutralize our impact!

BC:  Seemore Meats & Veggies is about to launch, what can we expect to see?

All of Team Seemore stress-crying.

Just kidding! Expect to see all 4 of our launch products in 200 Whole Foods on both coasts (they’ll be here in NYC), starting Feb 10th.   We’ll also be in Park Slope Food Coop, Murray’s Cheese, and available for order online.

BC:  What would you tell someone who is intimidated by colorful sausages?

This used to happen sometimes with my customers and I do get it! We’ve gotten very used to brown and beige sausage and to see anything else can be shocking. I think the most important thing to know is that making rainbow sausages wasn’t the goal, it was just a happy byproduct of the goal (which is to stuff as many vegetables into a sausage as I can).There are no dyes or weird things inside, just meat and spices and vegetables, which happen to be beautifully colorful.

BC:  Your partners Erin Patinkin and Ariel Hauptman come from vastly different backgrounds…could you tell us more about how you chose your team?

 I had known Erin peripherally through the food world for years, but was formally connected with her through a friend about two years ago. I was looking for advice on how to scale up my sausage-making venture, as the demand was getting two high to keep doing it with just my two hands. What started as an informal conversation quickly turned into a much larger conversation, which eventually turned into a business partnership. Erin knew Ariel through the baking world and when we started looking for a third partner who had operational experience, Erin immediately thought of her. We all met and fell in love and the rest was sausage history. 

BC:  Your office at our Bushwick location is so cute– do you have any advice for someone trying to elevate their office space?

Don’t buy art just to fill a space, buy it because you genuinely love it/the artist and it means something to you—that makes your space happier. Also, plants make everything better, but you guys already know that.

BC:  Do you have favorite nook or area to work at Bond Collective Bushwick?

I hate calling people on the phone more than anything, but there is something about the phone booths at Bond that make me a super human calling machine. I get into that booth and become a whole new person, I’ll get on the horn with just about anyone.  

 

BC:  What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

It sounds very simple, but “if you don’t know something, ask a question.” I think in the age of social media, faking-it-til-you-make it and pretending you’re an expert is really tempting. But you’ll learn a lot more and save everyone a lot of time if you ask for help.

BC:  Can you describe yourself in three words?

Intuitive, sensitive, ambitious

 

BC:  Bushwick lunch spot rec?

Win Son Bakery!

Learn more about Seemore Meats & Veggies at @eatseemore and eatseemore.com

By Bond Collective Staff

Employee burnout is a very real problem for millions of people around the world. This type of stress affects their work, their relationships, their health, and, ultimately, the productivity of your team and your business.

But with some vigilance and a few preventative measures, you can keep burnout at bay. In this article, we’ll help you identify the signs that your employees are stressed and give you tips to help them avoid exhaustion.

Employee Burnout Defined

Managers and employees alike often think that burnout is simply exhaustion from working long hours. But there’s more to it than time spent in the office.

Burnout is an employee’s mental, physical, and emotional response to harmful stressors in their workplace.

Yes, physical exhaustion is a key variable that leads to employee burnout, but the mental and emotional components — perceived inefficiency and cynicism, respectively — are equally as influential.

With those factors in mind, here are signs that your employees are stressed and possibly on their way to burnout.

Signs Your Employees Are Stressed

1) Working Longer

An employee who starts staying later and working longer hours on a regular basis — not in response to a new project — could be overwhelmed and stressed. 

When this behavior is out of character for the individual, it’s cause for concern on your part that they may be struggling with their workload.

For example, if an employee normally works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but suddenly starts working 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., they may be increasing their hours because they can’t get everything done during a regular workday.

2) Consistent Fatigue

If, day after day, a team member looks fatigued even first thing in the morning, it is well worth having a conversation with that individual to see how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their life — both personal and professional.

This is especially true if their fatigue affects the productivity, cohesion, and efficiency of the team as a whole.

3) Irritability

An increase in irritability that leads to extreme reactions to things like printer problems or other team members’ regular behavior could indicate that employee burnout is becoming an issue.

Some people are naturally more emotional but, like the other signs on this list, when a behavior deviates from the norm, that is an indication that a team member is feeling inordinately stressed.

4) Change In Appearance

An employee who is stressed will often pay less attention to their general appearance because they are devoting more time and energy to their workload.

This is often a delicate topic — the change could simply be the result of personal preference — but it’s important to keep an eye out for sudden changes that are out of the ordinary when compared to how an employee usually presents themselves.

5) Confusion And Indecisiveness

If a team member who is normally confident in their convictions and firm in their opinions suddenly becomes confused and indecisive, they may be under undue stress and on the road to burnout.

Other closely related anomalous behaviors to be on the lookout for include lapses in memory and an inability to concentrate.

Now that you’re familiar with the signs that your employees might be stressed, let’s turn our attention to how you can help prevent employee burnout.

Tips To Help Prevent Employee Burnout

1) Spread The Workload

You want your employees to be challenged in their work, but not so challenged that they can’t realistically complete the task — that’s a recipe for disaster and burnout.

To avoid giving one team member too much to do:

• Be realistic when you assign responsibilities

• Delegate an amount of work that is challenging but not overwhelming

• Spread the workload over several capable employees

Doing so can prevent the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that leads to employee burnout.

2) Work Reasonable Hours

Most employees are accustomed to working 40 hours per week, but if you ask — or demand — more from them day in and day out, their stress level may rise and their efficiency may decrease.

It’s not outside the realm of reason to ask team members to work a 10- or 12-hour day now and then when necessary. But if you continue to do so week after week, your whole team may quickly burn out.

3) Provide The Proper Tools

Writing a report for work is difficult enough. But doing so without a word processor, typewriter, or even pencil and paper only compounds the stress.

This may seem like a far-fetched situation, but you can extend the concept into any situation in which your team doesn’t have the tools necessary to get the job done right.

Give your employees the proper tools to succeed and you’ll alleviate much of the pressure that leads to employee burnout.

4) Encourage Employees To Follow Their Passions

When your employees are following their passions and working in positions that excite them, they’re better able to cope with the daily difficulties they may face.

This may require effort on your part — creating new positions or moving skilled team members to different departments — but the rewards are well worth the effort.

5) Allow For A Paid Mental Health Day

A mental health day is a period of time during which an employee can choose to do something that makes them happy — taking a class, learning a new skill, trying a new hobby, or just relaxing at home.

Allowing for a paid mental health day once a month or even once a quarter gives your team members permission to take some time off to recharge their batteries.

Prevent Employee Burnout With The Right Work Environment

Employee burnout can happen anywhere, any time. But you can take steps to prevent it from happening by providing the right work environment for your team.

Work environments have evolved significantly in recent years as more and more entrepreneurs and startups move online and into digital offerings. Despite this change in how and where we work, one thing remains the same: people.

Your employees are the one true constant in your business, so you should give them what they need to do their best work, including:

• Inspiration

• The right tools

• Comfort

• Flexibility

• Community

Without these variables, their performance suffers, they feel stressed, and employee burnout becomes a very real possibility.

How can you provide all of these essentials without locking yourself into a long-term lease — that won’t grow and evolve with your business — and without burning through all of your hard-earned capital? 

By basing your team in a coworking space like Bond Collective.

Bond Collective offers thoughtfully curated boutique work environments that provide an unmatched experience for you and your employees.

Inspiration doesn’t come easy. When it does finally arrive, you want to prolong its presence as much as possible. Bond Collective decorates, arranges, and operates each one of its many locations with inspiration in mind. 

Bright colors, natural light, stimulating textures, and plenty of space for your body and your mind to move around — these are the unique ways in which Bond Collective brings inspiration into the work environment.

Inspiration, though, is only one piece of the equation. The right tools are another. That’s why we offer:

• Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Mail and package handling

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Guest reception and greeting

• Custom build-outs

• Daily porter service

• Nightly office cleaning

When you don’t have to think about these features — they’re just there whenever you need them — you and your team can focus all of your efforts on getting the job done right the first time through.

What about comfort and flexibility? Bond Collective offers those as well.

All our office spaces are furnished with the highest quality in comfort and design. Many areas within Bond Collective allow for easy reconfiguration to accommodate an impromptu brainstorming session or emergency meeting — that’s flexibility in a nutshell. 

Or, if privacy is paramount, take advantage of reserved conference rooms for two to 20 or more.

And let’s not forget about community. Working side by side with other like-minded professionals provides connections, stimulation, innovation, and a whole host of other intangibles that you can’t get from working in isolation.

Take advantage of all that Bond Collective has to offer to help you work smart and prevent employee burnout.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer. 

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

Want to improve the way your business runs and how your team interacts with each other and your customers? Build a strong, positive, and productive company culture.

In this article, we define business culture, tell you why it’s important, and give you a number of tried-and-true ways to create the culture you want in your organization.

Company Culture Defined

Company culture, or organizational culture, is the behavior within your business and the meaning that people — employees and customers alike — attach to that behavior.

Within that broad definition lie a number of smaller components that make up the foundation on which your business operates. These fundamental components include various intangibles, such as:

• Values

• Norms

• Ethics

• Systems

• Beliefs

• Habits

• Symbols

• Language

• Assumptions

• Company vision

• Mission statement

• Business strategy

The nice thing about these building-block components is that you can make small changes — to your team’s habits, beliefs, and language, for example — that can send waves of improvement to every corner of your business.

Why Company Culture Contributes To Success

Aside from the fact that, as we mentioned above, company culture can have a profound effect on the way your business operates, it also matters because it’s the lens through which your employees view — and interact with — your organization.

More to the point, the culture in which your employees work every day is the tone and mood they experience with their teammates, managers, and customers.

When your employees feel comfortable within your company culture, they are more likely to enjoy their time at work, develop stronger bonds with coworkers, exhibit better customer service, and be more productive.

This translates directly into higher job satisfaction from within and higher customer satisfaction from without. Both of those variables affect the bottom line and the success of your business.

How To Improve Company Culture

1) Establish A Business Strategy

Your business strategy is a plan that describes how your organization will allocate resources like money, technology, and labor in order to support the everyday activities of your team.

Ideally, business strategy is part of a larger system that includes functional strategy, corporate strategy, and the overarching organizational strategy.

But, when your business is new, you may only have a very basic strategy for moving forward. That’s OK. You can build on it as your business grows.

When it comes to company culture, your business strategy is like the background against which your employees work. It affects their priorities, decision-making, ability to adapt, and many other variables your business needs to be successful.

Establish a business strategy first in order to give your company direction and purpose. This direction and purpose, then, will nurture your company culture.

2) Define Your Company Culture

You don’t want to leave your company culture up to someone else. Nor do you want it to be some nebulous quality that no one in your organization understands.

To avoid those pitfalls, take the time to define your company culture the way you want it to be. Then post that definition — on your website, in your employee handbook, wherever — for everyone to see.

3) Hire The Right People

Once you have a clear definition of what you want your company culture to be, you can start hiring people who will work well within and contribute to that culture.

Don’t just focus on hiring according to skills. A significant part of building a successful business is making sure that your employees can be productive within the culture you envision.

Are they extroverted or introverted? Do they work well with others, or do they prefer to be on their own? Do they demonstrate the same beliefs and morals that you want in your business?

When you hire the right people, you’re building a strong, successful culture one brick at a time.

4) Strive For Diversity

Striving for diversity means hiring people from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, viewpoints, personalities, and values.

When you hire with an eye toward diversity, you promote equality and inclusivity amongst your team members. That feeling will make the individuals on your team happier and more comfortable in their working environment.

And when your employees feel that way, they’ll be more engaged, more motivated, and more productive.

5) Perfect Your Vision And Mission Statements

There’s much confusion surrounding the vision statement and the mission statement, mostly because they seem very similar.

But the vision statement and the mission statement are two very different things. And when you understand that difference, you can perfect them both to improve your company culture and the way your business runs.

A vision statement is:

A declaration of an organization’s objectives intended to guide internal decision-making.

A mission statement is:

A short description of what your company does for its customers, its employees, and its owners.

As you can see from the definitions, a mission statement and a vision statement are closely related but describe different aspects of your business.

Your vision statement is where you want your company to be and where you want your customers, your community, and your world to be as a result of your product or service.

Your mission statement, on the other hand, is the practical plan for making the vision statement a reality. It’s how you’re going to run your business in order to reach your goals.

Perfecting both statements informs your customers and employees what your business is all about. You can also harness that information to guide your team in how they should act toward you, toward each other, and toward the customer.

Work Environment And Company Culture

Company culture is, first and foremost, about people.

People need inspiration to do their best work. They need the best tools at hand. They need comfort, flexibility, and community.

Without these variables, employee performance suffers, business success decreases, and your company culture falls apart.

How can you provide all of these essentials without burning through your hard-earned capital or locking yourself into a restrictive and expensive long-term lease? By basing your team in a coworking space, like Bond Collective.

Bond Collective offers thoughtfully curated boutique work environments that provide an unmatched experience for startups, small businesses, and large corporations alike.

We know inspiration doesn’t come easy. When your team does experience a moment of creativity, you want to prolong it as much as possible.

Bond Collective decorates, arranges, and operates each one of its many locations with inspiration, creativity, and innovation in mind.

Bright colors, natural light, stimulating textures, and plenty of space for your body and your mind to move around — these are the unique ways in which Bond Collective brings inspiration into the work environment.

Another crucial aspect of strong company culture is having the right tools. That’s why Bond Collective offers:

• Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Mail and package handling

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Guest reception and greeting

• Custom build-outs

• Daily porter service

• Nightly office cleaning

When you and your team don’t have to think about these features — because they’re just there whenever you need them — you can focus all of your efforts on getting the job done, pleasing the customer, and improving the way your business operates.

And don’t forget about comfort and flexibility. Bond Collective offers those as well.

All our office spaces are furnished with the highest quality of comfort and design. Many areas within Bond Collective allow for easy reconfiguration to accommodate an impromptu brainstorming session or emergency meeting — that’s flexibility in a nutshell.

Or, if privacy is paramount, take advantage of private phone booths, exclusive workspaces, and reserved conference rooms for two to 20 or more.

At Bond Collective, you’ll work side by side with other like-minded professionals and experience the connections, stimulation, innovation, and a whole host of other intangibles that your team can’t get from working in isolation.

That in itself is a huge boost to your company culture.

Take advantage of all that Bond Collective has to offer to help you improve your company culture, your team, and your business as a whole.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

At Bond Collective, we’re improving the way companies of all sizes do business in New York City — and across the country — thanks to our revolutionary shared work environments, which include coworking space in Brooklyn.

What is coworking? It’s the use of an office space or other work environment by people who are self-employed or working for different employers, typically so as to share equipment, ideas, knowledge, and inspiration.

Within each coworking space, you’ll find community spaces, hot desks (available on a first-come, first-served basis), dedicated desks (i.e., reserved), private offices, conference and meeting rooms, private phone booths, and much more.

Whatever your workspace needs, you’ll find it in one of Bond Collective’s coworking environments.

In this article, we introduce you to the epitome of luxury coworking space in Brooklyn: Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Gowanus.

Coworking Space In Brooklyn

Bushwick: A Modern Work Oasis

Location

Conveniently located a short walk from the Flushing and Myrtle Avenue M, J, and Z subway stops, Bond Collective Bushwick bridges two vibrant and thriving neighborhoods.

Inside this unique Brooklyn coworking space, exposed brick and bleached wood create a distinctive and stimulating environment for quiet work, brainstorming, group meetings, and networking with like-minded individuals.

Glass atriums flood all three floors with sunlight and enclose a central terrazzo stairway that gives access to several expansive roof decks.

Bond Bushwick is a thoughtfully curated boutique work environment that provides an unmatched experience to entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes.

Work Options

Comprising three spacious floors, Bond Bushwick offers a vast array of work options for teams of two to 200+.

Hot desks provide first-come, first-served access to everything that Bond Collective has to offer, while dedicated desks ensure that you have the comfort and convenience of your own personal workspace.

If you’re looking for something more exclusive for a one-person enterprise or a team of 50+, our private offices are the perfect space to call your own and maximize your team’s productivity.

Other work options include expansive classroom space for large meetings and gatherings, conference rooms on every floor, recording studios, event space, and two distinct rooftop common areas.

And when you need a break — or any time, really — take advantage of three comfortable lounge areas with kitchens or head out to explore the vibrant social and commercial offerings next door.

Amenities & Benefits

At Bond Collective coworking space Brooklyn Bushwick, you’ll enjoy industry-leading amenities, including:

• Mother’s room

• Showers 24-hour access

• I.T. support

• Daily on-site cleaning

• Bring your pet to work (anytime)

• Networking events

• Bike storage

• And much more…

Another significant benefit of this coworking space in Brooklyn — for business large and small — is the flexibility we offer.

Our Bushwick coworking spaces give you the agility to expand or contract the amount of space you use (and what you pay for that space) on a month-by-month basis.

So, you can start with a hot desk for one in September, upsize to a private office for five in November, and downsize to dedicated desks for three in January. You can’t do that with a conventional lease.

Scalable Enterprise Solutions: Remote Expansion

With the increasing relevance and priority of the shared-office economy, more and more Fortune 500 companies are turning to the remote workforce as a solution for their staffing needs.

At Bond Collective Bushwick, we offer remote employee memberships that are custom-tailored for each organization we work with. These enterprise solutions are designed to keep overhead costs low and expand and improve employee accessibility.

Come experience the inspiration, community, and networking that happens naturally when people from varied and diverse industries work together. Find it all at Bond Collective Bushwick.

Greenpoint: Sophistication And Style

Location

Spanning a floor-through (full floor) of the Leviton factory building, Bond Collective’s Greenpoint coworking space in Brooklyn is spacious, sun-filled, and conveniently situated one block from the G train and NYC Ferry.

Factory-size windows and concrete floors complement the plush interiors and built-in furniture, drawing inspiration from the building’s industrial past.

Offices of all sizes make this the perfect space to grow your company with the help of our dedicated staff and business-class amenities.

Work Options

Because our Greenpoint coworking space occupies a full floor of the remodeled Leviton factory building, it offers an extensive variety of work options for all your business needs.

Whether it’s a private perimeter office along Greenpoint Avenue or Jewel Street for two, three, four, six, or even nine, Bond Collective has what you’re looking for.

And with over 100 different options — including hot desks, dedicated desks, private offices, numerous conference rooms, spacious lounge areas, kitchen and dining area, and even large private offices with their own dedicated conference rooms — there’s something for everyone, and every business, at Bond Collective Greenpoint.

Amenities & Benefits

In addition to a wide variety of work options and gorgeous surroundings, Bond Collective Greenpoint offers amenities and benefits, such as:

• Guest reception and greeting

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Mail service Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Streamlined billing and booking portal

When you’re focused on getting the job done right, comfort may not seem like an essential consideration for an office space. But comfort can mean the difference between a focused, engaged employee and a distracted, unproductive employee.

In our Greenpoint coworking space, comfort is built in. We decorate and appoint all of our environments with the finest that luxury and technology have to offer.

That allows you and your team to focus on work rather than finding somewhere comfortable to sit.

Scalable Enterprise Solutions: Satellite Team

Bond Collective’s en-suite options for teams of 15 to 50+ are our most popular scalable enterprise solution. They’re perfect for companies looking to optimize their workspace for satellite teams that need to be distinct from the corporate headquarters.

Custom configurations and furnishings make this a far more attractive option than locking more resources into a conventional space. Satellite-team suites and other enterprise solutions are available for intervals as short as several weeks or up to several years.

If you’re searching for spacious, well-appointed coworking space in Brooklyn that gives you the professional look you need with the flexibility and comfort that your team needs to be successful, take advantage of Bond Collective’s Greenpoint location today.

Gowanus: A Vibrant Hub For Brooklyn’s Creative Community

Location

At the core of Bond Collective’s Gowanus location lies an iconic modern staircase that divides this industrial Brooklyn coworking space into distinct areas for a variety of different uses.

Sun-filled offices, podcast booths, production studio, and rooftop access make Gowanus (Bond Collective’s very first Brooklyn location) a creative campus like none other.

Dog-friendly and community-oriented, this location is often considered Bond Collective members’ home away from home. Centrally located near two major subways and the BQE, Gowanus is easily accessed from all directions.

Work Options

At Bond Collective Gowanus, you can choose from a variety of temporary and permanent office space options, such as:

• Open-plan coworking spaces

• Dedicated desks

• Private offices

• Conference rooms for 5-20+ guests

And when you partner with Bond Collective, you don’t just get a beautiful space that fits all your needs and boosts your team’s engagement and productivity. Each collaborative workspace also comes with exclusive amenities and benefits you can’t find anywhere else.

Amenities & Benefits

As with all of Bond Collective’s many locations across the country, Gowanus offers unsurpassed amenities, including:

• Fresh fruit and snacks

• Weekly breakfast

• Complimentary spa water, craft beer, and coffee

• Curated networking events

• Daily porter service

• Handymen

In addition to all those extras, you also get a professional image from day one without having to suffer through the stress, strain, and expense of doing it yourself. That even applies to the infrastructure necessary for your team to perform at their best.

Infrastructure is all those disparate elements that make work easier but aren’t obvious at first glance. Things like the internet, technical support, heating and cooling, cleaning, storage, and supplies.

Without those bits and pieces, work comes to a screeching halt.

But in a coworking space, like those at Bond Collective Gowanus, infrastructure details are handled for you. That allows you to focus on the work at hand, not the day-to-day operation of your office.

Scalable Enterprise Solutions: Custom Build-Outs

Carrying a footprint of over 250,000 square feet in the NYC metro area alone, our locations — including Gowanus — are becoming flagship priorities for teams ranging from 50 to 500+.

In fact, over half of our inventory is now spoken for by enterprise suites, personal floors, and teams that are looking for a managed HQ.

We’ve achieved this distinction thanks to our custom build-outs. Startups, small businesses, and large corporations alike can benefit from a custom-designed and built area all their own with our unique enterprise solutions.

We’ve run the gamut of possibilities and setups and are open to discussing how we can be a solution for your team moving forward.

Coworking Space In Brooklyn And Across The Country

Tour our workspace options at Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Gowanus — or any of our gorgeous locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas — then become a member of Bond Collective to take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices.

To learn more about how coworking space benefits startups, small businesses, remote workers, and companies of all sizes, visit BondCollective.com today.

By Bond Collective Staff

Small business grants for women are an effective way to obtain the money you need to make your dreams of being your own boss a reality.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the grant process, show you where to find small business grants for women, and provide tips to help you secure funding for your organization.

What Is A Grant?

Put simply, a grant is money. Money you can use to nurture and grow your business.

A small business grant is similar to a small business loan. But, unlike the loan, you don’t have to repay the grant.

You do, however, first have to prove that you have a clear plan and that you can achieve your goals. This usually involves a lengthy application and interview process, but it’s a small price to pay to secure capital for your entrepreneurial efforts.

There are many different types of grants. From the extremely specific (i.e., providing broadband in rural areas) to the extremely general (i.e., better the lifestyle of a certain area).

Common grant categories include:

• Agriculture

• Arts

• Business and Commerce

• Community Development

• Education

• Energy

• Environment

• Health

• Housing

• Regional Development

• Science and Technology

• Transportation

Some grant organizations divide their offerings even further into categories for specific populations, including:

• Immigrants

• Veterans

• Minorities

• Nonprofit businesses

• For-profit businesses

The remainder of this article will focus on one very specific category: small business grants for women.

Where To Find Small Business Grants For Women

1) Grants.gov

Grants.gov is a federally sponsored database of funding opportunities for all types of businesses. There are literally hundreds of grants available to all, so this is an easy way to see what’s out there and what applies to your business in particular.

2) Eileen Fisher Women-Owned Business Grant Program

As the name indicates, this is a small business grant for women-owned businesses that are striving to make a positive social and environmental impact on the niche they occupy.

One recent grant went to a local beekeeping business to help them install and maintain hives on downtown rooftops with the goal of increasing pollination in the area and contributing to a healthy ecosystem.

If your business has been operational for at least three years, you’re eligible for one of ten $10,000 grants.

To apply, complete the application online.

3) #GIRLBOSS Foundation Grant

This semi-annual grant for female entrepreneurs in creative industries (e.g., music, fashion, design, and art) awards $15,000 in project funding along with exposure via the GIRLBOSS Foundation website and other digital channels.

According to their website, Girlboss founder Sophia Amoruso and other company staffers judge each application based on the following criteria:

• Creativity and innovation in the specific field

• Business acumen and forward planning

• Financial need

• Proposed timing, work plan, and budget are clear, detailed, and achievable within the next 12 months

Visit the Girlboss website for more details.

4) Cartier Women’s Initiative Award

The Cartier Women’s Initiative awards 21 small business grants for women every year to female entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development (between one and three years).

The Cartier award stipulates that the winning businesses should be generating revenue, but need not be profitable yet.

Seven top awards include a $100,000 grant and one-on-one mentoring by an expert in the industry. The remaining 14 grants include $30,000 in working capital.

For more details and to apply online, visit the Cartier Women’s Initiative website.

5) GrantsForWomen.org

Like Grants.gov, GrantsForWomen.org is a database of funding opportunities. But unlike Grants.gov., GrantsForWomen.org is for female entrepreneurs only.

It doesn’t matter what industry or niche your business occupies, GrantsForWomen.org can help you find the capital you need to keep your operation on the road to success.

Tips To Secure Small Business Grants For Women

Regardless of where your grant comes from, there are a number of general steps you can take to improve your chances of securing funding for your business.

1) Research Grants For Women

Before you start applying, research the process so you know what you’re getting into. It’s also helpful to research specific grants to find out whether they are a good fit for your business or not.

2) Talk To Other Business Owners

Networking with other owners is an easy way to discover small business grants for women that you may have missed.

It’s also a great way to gain insight into the application process and how others put the grant money to work

3) Ensure That You’re Eligible

Most grants include specific eligibility requirements that you have to satisfy just to be considered.

Examples of these eligibility requirements include:

• Education

• Experience

• Business type

• Business age

Pay attention to these details so you don’t apply for a grant only to be disqualified right out of the gate.

4) Create A Business Plan First

A complete business plan goes a long way toward showing the grant administrators that you are well-prepared to put any funding to good use.

Some grants don’t require a business plan for you to apply, but including that information with your application helps you stand out from the crowd.

5) Diversify

You can increase your chances of winning a small business grant for women by applying for more than one at a time.

Diversifying in this way helps you avoid basing your business’s success on one — and only one — source of funding.

6) Meet Deadlines

The grant application process often contains numerous different deadlines, such as:

• Initial application

• Business plan

• Essay Online or phone interview

• Face-to-face interview

• And others…

It’s vital to submit all of your information on time and fulfill all of your appointments. Failing to do so can cause the judging committee to disqualify your proposal completely.

7) Track Your Progress

After submitting your third or fourth application, it can be difficult to remember all the details, deadlines, and requirements for each grant.

We recommend monitoring your progress with a spreadsheet or online project tracking software.

• Include such information as:

• Grant name

• Grant details

• Submission deadlines

• Information required

• Contact information

• Checklist for what you’ve done and what you haven’t done

• Award dates

• Notification methods

With this data all in one place, it’s easy to keep track of your applications and ensure you have the best chance to win a small business grant for women.

8) Investigate Other Funding Options

When searching for funding options, don’t focus your efforts exclusively on large, national grants. There are many smaller state and local grants that provide help to fledgling female-owned businesses.

The amount of funding given by these smaller grants may not be on par with the larger awards, but even small amounts of capital can help your business succeed.

You can also investigate alternative funding from banks that offer small business loans for women, women-owned business accelerators, and venture capital firms.

It may take a bit of extra work, but the benefits to your business can be well worth the effort.

Maximize Your Grant With A Professional Workplace

A significant expense for any burgeoning business endeavor is workspace.

And if you’re fortunate enough to win a grant, you may be wondering how you can provide a well-appointed, professional-looking workplace without locking yourself into a long-term lease and without burning through all of your hard-earned capital.

The answer is simple: base your fledgling operation in a coworking space like those at Bond Collective.

Bond Collective offers thoughtfully curated boutique work environments that provide an unmatched experience for you and your team.

In addition to beautiful and inspiring workspaces, Bond Collective also offers a long list of amenities, including:

• Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections

• Unlimited black-and-white printing

• Conference rooms for 2 or 20+

• Mail and package handling

• Private meeting and phone booths

• Guest reception and greeting

• 24-hour access

• Daily porter service

• Nightly office cleaning

• Mother’s room

• Secure bike storage

When you don’t have to think about these features — they’re simply available whenever you need them — you and your team can focus all of your efforts on growing your business toward success.

Maximize your small business grant for women by taking advantage of all that Bond Collective has to offer.

Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.

And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.

By Bond Collective Staff

One of the first things any entrepreneur should think about when striking out on their own is, “How much does it cost to start a business?” This is important because most small businesses fail early on as a result of running out of the working capital necessary to cover costs.

In this article, the experts at Bond Collective provide insight into the costs associated with starting a business and give you tips for staying under budget.

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Business?

Every business is different, but most fall into one of three categories when they’re first beginning:

• Solopreneur

• Startup

• Small Business

In this section, we’ll examine those categories in more detail to help you answer the question, “How much does it cost to start a small business?”

Solopreneur

Whether you consider yourself a solopreneur, a freelancer, or a digital nomad, starting a business of this size and scope may require very little — if any — starting capital.

Most professionals in this group work from home and use what they have on hand to get the business going, reinvesting their profits later in order to expand.

If your nascent business falls into this category, it may cost you anywhere from zero to $1,000 for equipment, supplies, and workspace.

Regardless of where you work in the beginning — your living room, a library, the local cafe — one of the best ways to grow your business at this level is to transition into a dedicated work environment, like those offered by Bond Collective.

There, you won’t have to worry about infrastructure, your image, or outgrowing your existing space.

Bond Collective provides all the benefits of a professional coworking environment with the flexibility to expand and contract your workspace footprint according to the needs of your business.

Get a head start for your fledgling business with these informative articles:

• Everything You Need To Know Before You Start Working For Yourself

• What Is A Lifestyle Entrepreneur And How To Become One

• How to Sell Your Idea | The Complete Guide

Startup

A startup is a larger endeavor than a solopreneur-driven business and usually involves at least a partner and maybe even a few employees. At this level, it’s more of a micro-business than anything else.

Of course, over time, your startup will grow. But, for now, you can keep costs low — anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 on average — by exercising the budgeting tips in the next section.

For insight into creating a successful startup, check out these articles:

• What Is The Difference Between A Startup And A Small Business?

• Market Research For Startups: The Ultimate Guide For Entrepreneurs

• Finding Startup Office Space In NYC | The Complete Guide

Small Business

A small business is the largest of the three categories.

Granted, every business may only start with one or two founders, but a small business grows quickly — if not immediately — into something that requires a fairly large team to run.

Costs to start a small business range anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 or more depending on the niche it occupies.

Because of the up-front capital expenditures necessary to get a small business off the ground, it’s crucial to do everything you can to keep costs as low as possible while still providing for your customers.

Here is more information for those considering starting a small business:

• How To Start A Small Business: A Step-By-Step Guide

• Business Strategy: 7 Straightforward Tips For Building A Winning Business

• What Is Business Development And How Is It Different Than Sales?

Now that you have a much better idea of how to answer the question, “How much does it cost to start a business?”, we’ll provide some tips to help you keep your endeavor on the road to success.

Tips For Reducing How Much It Costs To Start A Business

1) Start Small

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a partnership, or a large team, it’s vital to start small. And when we say “start small,” we aren’t referring to the number of people you employ.

Starting small is all about researching and testing your product or service in an inexpensive way with an eye toward whether your target market needs your offering and how much they’re willing to pay for it.

2) Count Costs First

Regardless of the size, it’s never a good idea to jump into a business endeavor blindly without first counting the costs.

When it comes to estimating expenses, there are a number of critical variables to consider, including market size and burn rate. The costs associated with these variables can rise and fall as your business grows, so be sure to take that into account when planning your budget.

3) Divide Your Expenses Into Categories

When first examining what it costs to start your business, divide your expenses into one of six categories:

• One-time

• Ongoing

• Essential

• Optional

• Fixed

• Variable

Keep in mind that some costs will fall into several categories.

Rent, for example, is an essential, fixed, ongoing expense that you cannot afford to skip. A new laptop, on the other hand, is an optional, one-time expense that you may be able to delay if you can get by with your existing equipment.

Once you’ve divided your expenses into categories, you’ll know what you need right away and what you can wait and save for.

4) Pay Your Essentials Before Anything Else

In the early stages of your business, it’s imperative that you pay your essentials before all other expenses.

Costs such as rent, employee payroll, technology, and anything else that keeps the lights on, the doors open, and your customers coming back for more are necessary for the success of your business.

If you reach the point where you have to decide between paying the rent and buying new computers for your team, rent always comes first — unless every single laptop died at the same time.

Does Your Business Need Financing?

Boot-strapping — using existing resources without going into debt — is one of the best ways for any business to start strong. But even the most resourceful entrepreneurs need a capital injection sometimes.

Does your business need financing? If not right away, will your business need funding down the road?

Financing comes in many shapes and sizes — from family and friends to bank loans to angel investors — but the key is to start looking early.

Don’t wait until your business has been open for six years, six months, or even six weeks. Be on the lookout for investment opportunities from day one.

And even if you’re not quite ready to bring in outside financing, you should always entertain investment interest. Keep a list of potential investors to contact when your business needs capital to reach the next level.

For more information on finding funding for your fledgling business, take a few minutes to read these helpful articles:

• How To Find Investors For Startups And Small Businesses

• The 14 Best Ways To Raise Money For Your Startup Or Small Business

• Startup Funding: Different Funding Options And How To Secure Them

Keep Overhead Costs Low When Starting A Business

Overhead — expenses like utilities, technology, and rent — is one of the largest costs that most startups and small businesses have to contend with. If you can restrict your overhead to the absolute minimum, you can free up cash for use elsewhere.

That’s why basing your operation in a virtual office or other shared workspace, like Bond Collective, is a wise choice for businesses at all stages of development.

Everything you need to do your job — and do it well — is included in one low monthly fee that is orders of magnitude less than what you would pay to maintain your own space. That just makes good cents.

At Bond Collective, we offer everything you need to take your startup or small business to the next level. It doesn’t matter if you’re a lone-wolf entrepreneur or a team of 50 or more. You’ll find just the right work environment with us.

You can choose from open-concept spaces, dedicated desks, or private offices. You can also access conference rooms, meeting spaces, and reception areas. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

At Bond Collective, you also get:

• Incredibly fast Wi-Fi

• Private label mail service

• Daily on-site cleaning

• 24-hour access

• Furnished workspaces

• Concession food market

That makes Bond Collective the wise choice for entrepreneurs, startups, digital nomads, and businesses of all sizes who want to keep their overhead low, maximize space, and raise money.

Tour any one of our gorgeous Bond Collective locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Then become a member of Bond Collective to take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices.

To learn more about how coworking space benefits startups, small businesses, remote workers, and companies of all sizes, visit BondCollective.com today.