What is coworking, anyway?

Being the boss doesn’t mean you have to work on your own, secluded from other people as you build your business.

Even as far back as 2015, Harvard Business Review was studying how people are affected by coworking space. They found from their surveys that people in coworking spaces reported an average of 6 on a 7-point scale when asked if they were thriving. That was a full point higher, HBR said, than those in traditional offices.

Among the other psychological effects of coworking spaces, workers in these spaces reported a feeling that their work was meaningful and they didn’t have to put on a “work persona” for the office.

Coworking space also provided them an environment where it was standard practice to help others in a shared space with people with different skill sets. They said it helped them foster collaboration.

SpringBoard in Bellefonte hits all of these major points for those starting out in their small business. A desk at the incubator in Bellefonte comes equipped with all the infrastructure a modern business needs without the investment. Small businesses who chose to rent a desk at SpringBoard will have access to a conference room, WiFi, private phone call booth and a copier/scanner.

Beyond that, there is also the interaction between inhabitants of a coworking space who are all on the same mission: to grow their business and engage in the local and wider economies.

Small Business Labs, which provides tracking and forecasts of small businesses, said there will be an expected 26,000 spaces and 3.8 million people working in them by 2020 in the U.S.

Running your own business also doesn’t mean paying huge costs for overhead. Some businesses just aren’t there financially. Others may never even need their own space.

Beyond the tangible necessities of office life, SpringBoard is connected to the up-and-coming entrepreneurial network in Centre County. Included in monthly membership are invaluable resources provided by the local business community.

Maybe Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wouldn’t have had to start Apple in Jobs’ parents’ garage like so many other Americans. If you want to set up shop in Bellefonte, you won’t have to, either.