3 things I learned about opening a coworking space: Thaddeus Squire, founder of new artist-focused coworking space Cultureworks Greater Philadelphia

Thaddeus Squire founded CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia.

The artist-focused CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia is the most recent addition to the region’s quickly-growing coworking scene.

We caught up with founder Thaddeus Squire to find out what he learned in the nearly two-year process of creating a coworking space in the city. Check out our photos of the new spot here, plus more details on the business itself.

• Build a community before you open up shop. CultureWorks launched with nearly 70 members (almost half of which were full members), about a third of its capacity. Squire said he spent almost two years recruiting members before the space actually launched because you can’t attract new members to a community that doesn’t exist yet.
• Shop for a landlord, not a building. Squire said he got lucky with his landlord, Tony Goldman of Goldman Properties, because Goldman was willing to take a risk on the coworking space since it fit the brand he’s trying to create along the 13th Street corridor. Goldman has a vision of building up an arts-focused corridor in Center City, Squire said.
• Let your members program the space. CultureWorks offers one multipurpose room that can be used for conferences, events and screenings, and it encourages its members to program the space: to organize seminars, meetups and the like. Squire said he wanted to keep CultureWorks “member-focused” by making sure its public space was available for its members and not booked with events run by people outside the community.