Building Cococo – #6 – Move Fast

Ahead of schedule

Regardless of what people told me about building on the island, the construction moves fast. Last week we poured the Mezzanine floor (in the photo), and my contractor believes we will pour the roof deck in a few weeks. Damn.

The only downside to this fast pace is that I'm not ready yet with the exact locations of outlets, Internet access points spots, water locations, and lights. Yes, you can always add stuff later, but to save money and make it look nice, you should make the proper provisions inside the concrete.

So I had to rush things and basically add outlets in every possible spot, following the advice I got from my friends: "You can never have too many outlets in a Coworking space".

Two Steps Ahead

As I keep learning, in this "Physical business" world, you want to be well-planned. Everything is connected, and if you don't know what you want, you will pay for it with money, time, reduced efficiency, or aesthetic damage.

I started working with two new service providers to make sure I'm prepared on time with all my requirements: An interior designer and a food consultant.

Interior design

My interior designer is also a good friend of mine, and he is doing the job voluntarily as he would like to start designing spaces professionally at some point. He owns a few resorts and hostels in the Philippines (that he designed), including in Siargao.  It's great to have someone with experience with the local materials and market + get hi s servicefree. Sometimes I'm lucky.

We are really in the beginning, and we start with a Pinterest mood board to get the vibe. The idea is to create a feeling of "Industrial tropical" to the space, whatever that means.

Cafe and Kitchen

Since we need to know the kitchen layout, we should already have an idea of what it will be serving! Besides coffee and beverages, we need to decide what food or snacks and how to be very smart with the ingredients, as the space is not too big.

I hired for the job a food consultant who is also a good friend from the island (And a great surfer), and we will do some very exciting food tasting and experiments soon.

Starlink

After losing hope for a while, I finally got my Starlink satellite antenna that I ordered a year ago. This is a total game-changer.

I can now offer Coworking days for the digital nomads' community with proper stable internet, and also enjoy it myself for my work.

The Best Coworking Space in the World

As things move forward and I get great feedback, I actually find it hard not to think already about growth opportunities. Things like opening more branches of Cococo in different islands in the Philippines or even worldwide, and offering more services, etc.

I believe this is a mix of my habits as an Indie Hacker who make apps, trying all the possible ways to grow them, and being a typical Israeli who always thinks business. Even though I might be correct and the opportunities are there, I keep reminding myself this is a passion project and not another only-money-making business.

This reminded me of when I used to work as a cook in a Cafe in Sydney, Australia. The Cafe was always packed, and as a good friend of the owner, Sam, I kept trying to convince him to open another branch and double the profits, and he would reply with: "And also double the headache".
Coming from where I grew up, that was mind-blowing for me that Sam knew for a fact that he could double his profits but didn't feel like it was worth the hassle.

Saying that I decided that for now, I will focus on building the best Coworking Space in the world. This is the only thing that matters now, and that's my focus. Growth opportunities will always be there, and I'll use them later if I like.

This week I'm going for a few weeks to Israel to celebrate the holidays with my family and friends. This is also a good time to visit before I come back to the island and the real grind starts. I probably will need to stay around Siargao for a while when we are close to opening and starting to operate.

Going to use the time to visit a few Coworking spaces in Manila and Israel and speak with interesting people. More on that in next month's issue.