The Rise of the Freelance Community

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How freelancers are changing the business landscape.


As the job market has become more competitive, more and more people are choosing to start their own businesses rather than continuing to look for a job. Some of these people have created a business plan and are working hard on turning their passions into a full-time career. Others have entered the world of freelancing and consulting.


A few years ago, freelancers and home-based business owners had to find creative ways to meet with clients and adapt their work space to fit their ever-changing needs. For example, a freelancer might do the majority of their work at home or in a neighborhood cafe, but what happens when they need to meet with clients or have business mail sent to their home address? As you can imagine, inviting a prospective new client to their homes doesn't really project a professional image.


These days, however, there are more options. A new trend on the business landscape is called "Coworking Spaces". These spaces provide all the amenities you would expect from a traditional office space. Typically, they provide internet access, copiers, fax machines, meeting space and even administrative services. The spaces can be rented by the hour, by the day or longer. This means that a home-based business owner can now easily have a professional meeting space when they need it. With this simple change, a small business with less than 10 employees can compete with larger companies without having to invest in building a dedicated office.


Because many of these coworking spaces have branches in most major cites, they allow their members to use space at any of their locations. This makes networking easy and helps mobile workers connect with other freelancers. In fact, these collective offices have become gold mines for recruiters. As the economy improves and companies begin to hire in greater numbers, they will start looking for their new talent in these flexible offices to find highly motivated employees who can think outside of the box.


In my opinion, these flexible coworking spaces are almost prototypes of the offices of the future. Even larger companies could hire mobile employees and use these spaces as branch locations. These spaces help companies of all sizes compete in the global marketplace.


What do you think about these coworking spaces? Do you think they would make starting your own business easier? Please share your thoughts in the comments.


By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for FinancialJobBank and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.