Is Co-Working Office Space For You?

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With more than 10 million Americans self-employed, low-cost shared office space is becomming a big market.  Luckily, New York City has a number of options if you are part of this Tribe.

You get many benefits from this setup.  We all love how much the internet and social media has made communication easier and faster, but there is much to be said for face to face communication.  Often, the most important meetings and deals are made and done in person.  Co-working office space is an ideal environment for that.  You meet business minded people and still keep the costs low.  The best part, if you don't like it, you can leave.

Equipment and facilities may differ, but most include things like unlimited high-speed internet access, fax machines, printers, a receptionist, a phone, a desk and conference rooms.

Here are some NYC based Co-working Office space providers:

1. New Work City (part of Coworking Visa program)
2. Sun Shine Suites
3. Brooklyn Creative League
4. In Good Company (for Women, are men welcome?)
5. Jelly (something a little different)

Temporary Office Space

1. NYC Office Suites

Does anyone know if there are trial periods with any of the above spaces?

We'll keep this post updated and tweet updates.  Do you use co-working office spaces?  We would love to hear your experience.  Please leave us comments on what you think about co-working office spaces.

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8 Sites To Help You Network

Facebook and Myspace are fine for networking with your friends, consumers and peers. If you want a more focused approach to networking for your business, the below list from Entrepreneur Magazine's March 2009 issue may be more of what you need.

1. APSense.com - Tap into an affiliate marketing revenue stream by promoting products and sites on your business profile, and get paid for the friends you refer. Sounds like you can network and get paid for it too!
2. Biznik.com - Join your local business community to connect and collaborate with nearby entrepreneurs, and find out about local seminars and events. Sounds like a good place to start your business networking.
3. Entrepreneur Connect - Share ideas, join groups, publish content and promote your business on Entrepreneur's own network. A bit of self promoting from the magazine, but I think the magazine and site are great resources on their own for small businesses.
4. FastPitchNetworking.com - Create a profile, product listing and blog, and take advantage of email marketing and virtual trade shows. Not sure what to make of this description. If you have experience with this one, please let me know.
5. GoBigNetwork.com - Get serious about fast growth in this startup communityh focused on finding funding, talent and expert trade. Sounds like a good place to be for those more experienced in their entrepreneurship skills.
6. Konnects.com - Build a network among other startup entrepreneurs and launch your own branded network when you're ready. This sounds like a generic NETWORKING description, what do you think?
7. Marzar.com - Connect with other business owners while promoting products and services in the marketplace. Another generic sounding description. I'll have to just take a look at this site.
8. Xing.com - Search this global site for business partners, contacts and professional opportunities. I've heard of this one and it's one of the bigger networking sites. Not sure if a startup one person business can take advantage of this right from the start.

Are you a member of any of the above networking sites? If so what are your thoughts and experiences with these sites?

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5 Must Read Business Books For Entrepreneurs

Below is a list of books suggested by the March 2009 copy of Entrepreneur Magazine. I'm thinking of reading this list of books so I thought I would share the list with you all. If you are an entrepreneur or thinking of becomming one, perhaps these books should be on your list as well.

1. Will It Fly? How to Know if your New Business Idea Has Wings...Before You Take the Leap, by Thomas K. McKnight

Heart of this book is its 44-item checklist for evaluating business ideas by a hugely experienced veteran of business launches. By the time you've evaluated everything from your personal attitudes to exit strategies, you'll know as well as possible your chances for success.

2. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About it. by Michael E. Gerber

This revisiti of the 1995 classic on general small-business management famously shows entrepreneurs why and how to stop working in their business and start working ON their businesses.

3. Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits From Your Small Businesses, by Jay Conrad Levinson

Now in its fourth Edition, the original guide to small-business marketing packs the same high-impact, low-cost, punch that made it a standard when it first came out in 1983. Now, however, it's updated iwth tips on websites, blogs, podcasting and other up-to-the minute techniques.

4. The Business Planning Guide. by David H. Bangs Jr.

This books'jargon-free writing and inside tips from a former banker and entrepreneur have made it the first and only choice for countless entrepreneurs getting started.

5. Start Run & Grow a Successful Small Business, by Toolkit Media Group editors

If anyone ever publishes the perfect all-in-one small-business reference, it will look a lot like the sixth edition of this 720-pager. It touches on everything, from accounting to staffing, with checklists and forms.


Have you read any of these books? If so I would like your opinion on them. Please leave a comment or send me an email at frugalnyc at gmail dot com.

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Frugal Is Back

In the March issue of Entrepreneur Magazine I saw an article called Frugal is back. It is geared towards businesses and the article essentially boils down to six points

Systematic Savings - Don't skimp on the wrong things. Make sure you know how your business and employees function and do their work before cutting costs. Make sure costs cut will not decrease productivity, it should increase it.

Bartering - You've probably heard this a million times before, so I just make it simple. If you don't have the cash, exchange services with your business partners. It's a win-win.

Save by incentives - Giving your employees part of the cost savings can help encourage them to save your company money.

Don't get cheap on Coffee - If you don't give your people the right tools, in this case the right coffee, they will get it somewhere else. So know where to skimp, but don't skimp on the wrong things. Pay for good beans, use ceramic mugs (if paper is a must, visit freepapercups.com), and check out online deals.

• coffeecow.com
• coffeeforless.com
• coffeegiant.com
• coffeewhiz.com
• discountcoffee.com

Don't buy - Business is about Cash flow. So Lease, rent or borrow equipment. Less cash out means more cash to put to better income generating business activities.

Negotiate purchases - Buy cheaper goods by negotiating better deals. Negotiate yearly, if not more often. Establish upfront terms to negotiate regularly.

I think these tips are very helpful for a small business looking to grow and save cash. What about you? You can find the original article here.

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Should You Pursue An MBA In 2009?

Photo courtesy of lumaxart

Pursuing an MBA may be what most people do not want to do right now.  If you are a contrarian, then you know it's the best time to do so!  When everyone is running from something, a contrarian will take the opportunity and use it to their advantage.   It's pretty tough for the average MBA graduate these days.  Those who are still pursuing an MBA degree must feel a good degree of pressure.  With the number of jobs shrinking and debt rising, anyone in the situation could feel like atlas, with the burden of the world on their shoulders.

Why am I writing about this today?  It's the end of 2008 and many people are making long term decisions and resolutions for the New Year!  I think many people may be heading back to school due to the employment climate.  If you can afford to head back to school, it's probably a great opportunity to do so.  Once you receive your degree, the employment opportunity should be better than it is today.  This decision, in my opinion, is both frugal and wise - for long term planning.  Am I thinking about pursuing this?  What do you think?

Before you do pursue an MBA or any other post graduate degree, you may want to ask youself some questions and figure out why you want to do this.  Knowing why you are doing something is the most important step in any long term decision that will affect you and your family.

Asking yourself why you want to pursue an MBA degree before you begin, and finding "Your Right Answer" should be the first step before you start.  Whatever the reason is, whether you want to earn more money, you want to become an entrepreneur, to meet like minded people or any other personal reasons; knowing the answer to why you want to do something is the most important step you need to take.

There are no guarantees in life, that just makes life that much more exciting.  I want to wish everyone good luck and great success in 2009!  Thanks for your continued readership!  I would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially those pursuing an MBA and those who already do.  Follow me on Twitter for additional links to Frugal tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.

Frugal Fridays

I'd like to start Frugal Fridays and dedicate each Friday post on ways for you to save your hard earned cash. That was my original intention for this blog, to help you save. However, as I've written posts, I've found many of my other interests springing into my posts and thus was born FrugalTech. Perhaps there will be other blogs in the future. If you have any particular subjects you would like to see addressed, please let me know in the comments and I will work to include them. If anyone would like to contribute to any of my blogs found on my Profile, let me know by sending an email to frugalnyc (at) gmail (dot) com and we can work on our collaboration.

I hope you will find my blogs to be a good resource for your personal and business life.