Office Space for the Self-Employed: Working Away from Home Helps Freelancers, Entrepreneurs Succeed

By: ninalubrano | Published: July 15, 2009 | Filed under: Sunshine Suites

originally published in the New York Daily NewsCall them deprocrastination stations: With 9% of New York City workers without a job, newly minted freelancers and entrepreneurs are flocking to rent by the month office spaces designed to keep them disciplined.Popping up all over the city, these spaces offer full- or part-time facilities to suit many needs, and are quickly changing the way the self-employed spend the work day.“My wife and I were both trying to work from home. We have two kids. At a certain point, I noticed that my conference calls were constantly being interrupted by a crying 18-month-old,” said Neil Carlson, a 37-year-old editorial consultant from Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, who wanted office space that wasn’t “a desk in the back of a real estate office.”None of the locations he looked at suited him. And he wasn’t about to station himself at the nearest Starbucks.Instead, sensing a business opportunity, he and his wife co-founded the Brooklyn Creative League a few months ago.An office away from home comes at a cost, of course, but for many, perks like 24/7 access, free coffee and, perhaps most importantly, networking opportunities that can lead to profit (and occasional fun), outweigh the dip in their checking accounts.And there’s no questioning the fact that an office outside your home can boost your productivity. “Part of what people are realizing is that you can get done in six hours what would take eight at home or, God forbid, in a coffee shop,” Carlson said.Here are five great places to escape your own four walls:Sunshine Suites 419 Lafayette St., Manhattan; 12 Desbrosses St., Manhattan; (212) 624-5856, sunshineny.comWith locations in NoHo and Tribeca, Sunshine is sleek, chic and promises a solution no matter what your set-up: From a seat at an open collaborative workstation ($275 a month) to a private desk ($525 a month).Saving money is what first drew Achilles Tsakiridis, 35, owner of talent management firm Achilles Group, who commutes from Astoria, Queens. “The overhead fee to find and set up an office is very, very low compared to going through a broker,” he said. “Plus, it’s Tribeca. There are cobblestone streets. Clients like stuff like that.”Bike racks and proximity to the Holland Tunnel are a plus for some of the 1,000 customers, and the company’s Vermont vacation home – available for a low nightly fee – offers an opportunity to escape both home and office.read the whole article