A calculated and counter-intuitive risk
About 2 years ago, I was practicing my professional activities from an office that was offered to me for free by an acquaintance. I was relatively comfortable there and the Christmas holidays were approaching. Every December, I take time to do an introspection on my business and think about ways to move forward: improve my offer, increase income, decrease expenses, gain more freedom, take better care of myself, maintain balance, etc.
What if…
What if I change my environment? Would that have a positive impact on my business? The office I had was free, so why would I switch from a free to a paid solution? Isn’t that a bit counter-intuitive? And yet, I tend to evaluate every idea as an investment opportunity. Often, I notice that people don’t consider all factors and make judgment errors; “Office A is free, office B costs $500/month so office A is better“. We sometimes forget to look at “Yes, but the B office gives me what A doesn’t? ». Although my office was fine and not an expense, I also noticed that it was purely functional. Can an office become more than functional? Could it bring in new energy, for example? I asked myself: “And if I went into a coworking space, would this change in environment be beneficial? Would my productivity be improved? Would it bring me new clients? Would I learn new things? Would new partnerships emerge? ” I had a feeling that: “Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t.” I felt like: “Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t.” I was like: “Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t.” I felt like: “Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t.” And the only way to find out was to try it. So I made the “leap”, feeling that it might be beneficial, but not knowing for sure. I decided on Buroloft and signed a one-year lease.
My free office colleagues were a bit surprised to see me make this somewhat counter-intuitive choice. I asked, like, Jerry Meguire, “Who’s coming with me?” (with a little less drama though) … and just like in the movie: total silence.
I settled in and effortlessly, I gradually met the other Buroloft entrepreneurs. They asked me what I was doing and I returned the question. My objective was not to look for business opportunities, but above all to observe, get to know and find out.
And yet…
Right away, I have to tell you that I was surprised by the energy that reigned in this beautiful place. The people are dedicated professionals and it’s inspiring. Already, I felt that I had new energy and wanted to spend more time here. The first few days had just passed and I had already made friends with accountants, engineers, lawyers, designers, web geeks, and other personalities, each more interesting than the other. People came to see me pretty quickly to ask me for advice on real estate and I went to them for questions about accounting, law, design and other geek issues. Then, without looking for it, some of them trusted me and gave me mandates: sell a condo, find a house, evaluate a penthouse, find a financing solution to a particular problem, help solve an estate situation, rent space, etc. Basically, after 6 months, I added up the new revenues resulting from my change of environment and I found that my rent was paid for the next 5 years by the new business opportunities that came naturally to me.
Ask me if it was a good idea to make the counter-intuitive leap to Buroloft now that I’ve been there for 2 years…