Comunal Coworking Founder talks on importance of choosing a good coworking space

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Ernesto de Olazával, creator of the Peruvian collaborative work space that will host the Entrepreneur 2020 Camp, unveils the key point that entrepreneurs should pay attention to when they look for a place to establish their offices.

What actions and thoughts define an entrepreneur? It could be in the constant search for the new, for solving problems, for the hunger to cover many items, among many other things. Ernesto De Olazával, CEO and Co-Founder of Comunal Coworking, moved from the corporate world to the entrepreneur through the latent spark of “creating things from scratch”.

“My past has been 100% corporate, the first and only job interview I have had was in the place where I stayed 12 years, I worked at Procter and Gamble (P&G) in recent years with regional roles, but I always had these I want to create things or just use my energy on something different at night on weekends."

— De Olazával

Comunal started six years ago in a space of 200 square meters in Lima, Peru, with a clientele of 25 people. In its first steps, this collaborative workspace focused on helping entrepreneurs and startups but today it is also ready for large corporations.

It currently has the capacity to serve more than 5,000 people and has clients of various sizes and sectors such as KPMG (Large corporations), Endeavor and Insitum (Entrepreneurship and Innovation), Uber (Startups) and Laboratories (NGOs). It will also host the Entrepreneur Camp that will take place on January 17, 18 and 19, 2020.

This concept does not focus solely on a new way of working, for them coworking is more than that, it is a community made up of startups, entrepreneurs and large corporations that form an ecosystem that contributes to innovation.

“Do few great things”

Ernesto explains that every time he was presented with an activity to develop a venture he got involved in it, however, there came a time in his life when his wife gave him an ultimatum and suggested that he stay with only one project.

De Olazaval was actively participating in four societies, among which he highlighted a fast casual cafeteria in Lima, the importation of organic and communal beauty and personal care products.

“All these were different societies, some partners agreed and others did not, totally different and opposite businesses. In a stage of my life that I did those four things in addition to that I was leaving the corporate world and that is when that great cut in my life comes that was to make that decision to stay in one,” he says.

According to the entrepreneur, everyone falls into the error of doing or wanting to do many things at once, and explains that many times it ends in successes but when they do not, these mistakes cost us dearly, so he recommends having "a cool head and choose those few great things" that will really lead to success.

From one entrepreneur to another

Ernesto offered two great tips for entrepreneurs when they decide to change or choose a shared office space:

The first is to "find something that will take away the headache" for example: having clean bathrooms and cafeteria, or paying taxes.

“You should not focus on this and even more if you know that your venture is going to grow a lot today, entrepreneurships make big leaps, today they can be 25, tomorrow 50 and past 60, find someone to give you the service to accommodate that."

And the second is "to look for a space that is human: That there really is an authentic interest in building a relationship and I think it is even more authentic when the one on the other side is an entrepreneur, we know what you are going through".

Comunal has expansion plans for Latin America and the first country that it chose for this was Mexico. Currently, it already has its first office in the capital of the country, located in Insurgentes Sur in an area of ​​2,500 square meters distributed on two floors.

Likewise, it wants to position itself in places like Polanco, Santa Fe, in Mexico City, and in Guadalajara and Monterrey to later look for more spaces on the Latin American map.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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