Therefore, it is offering to combine the hospitality industry with the shared work space industry or the shared work space and give its business a lateral hustle. It is giving people a very cheap and affordable option to work remotely, but also very convenient.
What inspired you to start the business?
There were a couple of personal. I was going to have my first child and I really wanted to spend more time with him. Starting a business has meant losing a lot of that time too, but I just wanted people to have more flexibility in what they do.
If I wanted to work, I didn’t want to have to come to the city center. All these beautiful French suburbs are on the beach or something and is a great place to work. In fact, he wants to do a job instead of being in an office with blue lighting.
One of the most important things is that I do some consulting for small businesses and work very closely with hospitality companies. I used to work with them and talk about how the industry is in decline and you look at the reports, you see how the industry is in decline. So, it was always a concept of how did we change this?
Again, returning to the first to create these beautiful environments so that people come to relax and enjoy, why can’t they work here?
How big is the freelance/digital economy nomad?
The shared work industry or the shared work space is one that is growing madly, and had a massive growth through blockade, as imagined, and has continued to grow. One of the fun events that led me to move on was that Australasia is one of the largest markets for it and one of the fastest growing markets for it.
The plan is to take global perchspace, that’s where we want to finish. I wanted to try it in New Zealand first because New Zealand is large in coffee culture, how many coffees do we have for such a small space?
One thing that is great for me is that you look at companies and have the ability to offer flexible work. Our market is not them, it is 90% of small businesses that are in New Zealand. Those are the people we really point out, not the greats who have ordered that you have had to enter the position now.
What has been the response of those who use the service?
Initially, I do not think I had my tone to a science or that language that you need to speak, but now it is much easier, so we have places that bring us closer. Something we do is help them configure the space.
To join Perchspace, there is no subscription, there are no starting fees. It is open to use for anyone. At this time we have spaces, we take pictures for them, we create reels for their social and collaborate with them. Then we market them a lot.
We want to be a place that encourages small businesses to talk about it and not only the owners of spaces such as coffees, but also our consumers. Explaining all that to hospitality owners has become much easier and the reaction has been really positive.
What has been the biggest challenge to start the business?
I think the most difficult thing has been social networks because I am not a person who is too interested. I look online and there are all these beautiful people doing all these lovely videos, that has been difficult to get there and do that side of things.
The other thing is time, right? Time is finite, you know, and my first job is to be a good father and a good husband, so I must concentrate on that first. The 3 am has passed and working that then breaking the 9 to 5 and then doing the consulting. So, a lot of juggling, but as they say, it is better to feel satisfied at the end of the day instead of having a boring day.
What would be your advice for other budding entrepreneurs?
I would say that he acquires the greatest possible knowledge, but first I would say he works for a company.
Work for another person because in all these large companies you have people with much more knowledge. There is so much that you can learn, be it how to lead a team or what to do when things get difficult.
Once you know how to continue, you will know how to lead.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for The Herald, which covers small and retail companies.