The alarm goes off at 6:50 AM. Venkatesh, a manager in a startup company, has trained his mind to wake up a little before the alarm goes off. Around 6:47 AM. It’s a small victory in a morning that’s otherwise as hostile as a winter night. But today, something feels different. Venkatesh does not know what it is, but there’s a feeling of unease as he goes about his morning routine.
He works as an office manager in a small startup company in Bangalore. It’s a job description that sounds easy until you know exactly what it entails. Venkatesh is the man responsible for ensuring the coffee machine works, the internet is on, the bills are paid, the interns know where to sit, and the CEO has his reports ready on his desk when called for. He’s the man nobody notices when everything’s going smoothly and everyone hates when things aren’t.
The job wasn’t glamorous, Venkatesh knew that before taking it. What he didn’t know was the number of small fires he would have to put out in a single day just to keep the bigger wildfire at bay.
When Everything Goes Wrong at Once
Venkatesh just makes it inside the door when the first issue arises. The coffee machine in the pantry has run out of coffee. A small group has already formed around the coffee machine and he can sense the complaints escalating. Venkatesh avoids eye contact and drops his bag on his desk before immediately dialling the coffee machine supplier. The hold music seems to go on forever before someone answers the phone and promises to restock the coffee machine by noon.
One problem was fixed. Forty more were waiting in line.
His email inbox was already overflowing. Urgent emails from three different departments, an email from the accounting department about the missing invoice, and the usual reminder about the day being the new interns’ orientation day. Venkatesh had forgotten about the interns. The next two hours were spent walking the interns through the basics and answering their questions, which varied from the reasonable to the ridiculous. When he returned to his desk, the post-it notes on the wall of his cubicle had doubled in number.
He sits down at his desk and boots up the computer to sort through the emails when the dinosaur game suddenly appears. Guess what this means. The office WiFi was out.
This would be an annoyance to the average person. But to the office manager of the tech startup, this was a crisis. His phone was lit up in no time with messages from all over the office. Venkatesh went over to the WiFi router and reset it. Still not
He went through the motions of the usual troubleshooting routine, which he had memorized because this happened too often. Finally, the WiFi was back online twenty minutes later.
The emails were still waiting. So was the payroll. So were the vendor invoices that needed to be reviewed by the end of the day.
Office chaos slowing your startup down? Move into a workspace
where the WiFi, coffee, vendors, and maintenance
are already handled.
The Small Catastrophes Add Up
By midday, Venkatesh’s headache had escalated from faint to almost migraines. Venkatesh leaves his desk to retrieve something from the pantry. As he is there, he mentally checks what he needs to replenish. Coffee, sugar, bottled water, snacks. Venkatesh pulls out his phone and makes three phone calls to replenish what is running low. A happy pantry is key to happy workers, and happy workers are half his job.
He checks on his interns. They are making progress, which is great. Venkatesh returns to his desk with hopes of getting through his mountain of paperwork without any more interruptions.
His hopes are dashed within fifteen minutes.
A crowd has formed around the copy machine. Of course. The machine has been malfunctioning since Venkatesh’s first week at work. No matter how many maintenance calls he makes, it never seems to work right. Venkatesh pushes through the crowd, opens up the machine, and jiggles the paper tray back to its proper place. The error message disappears. Venkatesh makes his phone call to the maintenance company even before he sits back down.
The hours blend together after that. Emails, spreadsheets, phone calls, vendor calls, decisions big and small that somehow feel pressing in the moment but won't matter at all the next day. Before he looks up at the clock again, the day is almost over. He begins closing things out, preparing for the next day, adding tasks to the list, closing the open windows on his screen.
But another email pops into his inbox. The CEO wants him to have a meeting with the senior team in thirty minutes.
He sighs. The interns are packing up their things, going home for the day with an ease he can hardly remember. He does not begrudge them. He has worked hard for his place on the senior team. He just wishes it didn't come with so many migraines.
The Meeting That Changed the Job
The CEO enters the room and begins his routine. Updates from the marketing team, operations team, finance team. His turn comes up, and the CEO stops him before he even begins. A moment of praise is involved; he says something about diligence and hard work, and he can feel his face heat up slightly because he was not expecting this.
And then the announcement.
The company is going to be moving operations to a coworking space.
He knows about coworking spaces in Bangalore. The idea of them is not new; it is one that has been gaining traction in the city of Bangalore in the form of startups and small businesses. Shared workspace, office space where someone else handles the logistics. He knows what they are; he knows it is going to be a huge weight off his shoulders. He just did not think about what it would mean for his position.
The CEO is very clear about this. This work space will take over all the office-related work that the CEO is currently handling. All the vendors, maintenance, and other logistics will be managed by this work space. This will allow the CEO and his team to concentrate on the aspects that are actually growing the business.
And then comes the part that the CEO was not expecting. This is where the CEO is offering him a choice. This CEO is offering him the chance to concentrate on any department that he wants. Marketing, branding, finance, customer service. His pick. All the operational costs and logistics will be managed by this work space. This is a big relief to our friendly neighborhood Venkatesh, the manager.
What Actually Changes When You Move to a Coworking Space
As he sits in traffic on his way home, he thinks through the conversation he had. The switch to a coworking space is not just about the physical change. It is about how he does business.
All of what he has been spending his day managing, from the coffee machine to the Wi-Fi to the copy machine to the vendor calls to restocking to maintenance requests, is now someone else's problem. The managed office space solution means all of those things are taken care of by someone whose entire business is solving those problems, with backup systems and service agreements in place.
For his business, it means reduced operational costs and increased ability to focus on actual business operations. For him, it means an opportunity to work on things that actually create something, as opposed to things that simply exist.
The feeling is genuine, but so is his shift in point of view. He has been so focused on his role as someone who manages chaos that he has forgotten to ask if chaos is even necessary.
Why Startups Are Making This Move
The pattern is clear once you start looking for it. Small startups and growing teams are abandoning traditional office spaces and turning to coworking spaces for reasons beyond just saving money.
When you're your own office, someone on your team is spending their time running the office. That means someone is in charge of office management. The Wi-Fi goes out? Productivity comes to a standstill. The coffee machine breaks? Productivity takes a hit. The lease is up for renewal? Someone has to renegotiate terms.
A coworking space eliminates all of those issues. The infrastructure is already built out. The amenities are taken care of. The internet is redundant. The space scales as you grow without requiring you to sign new leases or build out new spaces.
For a startup where everyone's time is valuable, these are big changes.
Your team should build the business, not manage the building.
What We Built at Beginest
Beginest was created for managers like Venkatesh in the first place. Our coworking space in Indiranagar and across Bangalore operates on the premise that your team should focus on growing your business, not managing your building.
The managed office space model has proven itself because it eliminates the need for your team to worry about the building, allowing you to focus on what you are actually trying to build.
Are you an office manager tired of vendor calls and maintenance issues? Are you a founder realising the amount of time your team is spending on managing the office? It’s time for a conversation.
Call us at 91080 29762 or visit us at any of our coworking spaces in Bangalore. Let’s show you what it looks like when the workspace works for you, instead of the other way around.