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Prospective franchisees have the opportunity to join a runaway industry leader with thousands of customizable, full-service coworking offices in the most convenient locations, flexible terms and a global network of professionals in a range of industries.
International Workplace Group (IWG), the multi-brand coworking franchisor with over 3,300 locations in 1,100 towns and cities in over 110 countries around the world, is gearing up for major franchise expansion following the mass adoption of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are other competitors in the space, IWG stands out as the global leader of the workspace industry because of its unparalleled consumer offering and unmatched presence. This gives prospective IWG franchisees the opportunity to leverage impressive brand recognition and a proven business model in order to take advantage of an unprecedented demand.
Remote work has been establishing itself as the next innovation in office life for a decade, with the coworking space seeing an average growth of 23% per year for the past 10 years. But the pandemic has undoubtedly taken this transition to the next level. The share of online job searches for remote positions jumped 460% in the two years between June 2019 and June 2021, according to an analysis published by job site Glassdoor. With 42% of the U.S. workforce now working remotely full-time, the $8 billion global coworking space market is projected to nearly double in size over the next three years.
“As we look at COVID-19 and beyond, small private offices give clients a place where they can come in, close their door and feel safe,” said Wayne Berger, IWG of Americas CEO. “Additionally, companies like hybrid or remote work because it increases productivity and saves them money, while employees like a better work/life balance and less time commuting. We’ve been able to be a big part of that switch. That is why we’ve proven to be uniquely resilient against the challenges of the pandemic and are positioned for continued growth in the future.”
Since being created three decades ago, Regus, the first brand under IWG, and IWG have come to define the flexible workspace and coworking experience as the largest industry player by far. Today, IWG offers four coworking franchise concepts under its umbrella to match every kind of business, work style and price point, including professional workplace brand Regus, creative workplace brand Spaces, hassle-free workplace brand HQ and luxurious workspace brand Signature.
Each concept offers consumers a highly differentiated experience. Regus, for example, offers thousands of full-service, private offices in the most convenient locations, with workspaces that can be customized and personalized with full eminaties and flexible layouts. The brand also offers customers professional reception staff, flexible membership terms and access to a global network of professionals in a range of industries.
Spaces, on the other hand, is unique in its attempt to cultivate a community. The brand offers an international network of mobile workspaces and a full calendar of business events, speakers and networking lunches. HQ offers flexible terms and simple pricing that is designed to fit the needs for companies of one to 1,000 people. Signature has set itself apart by cultivating a collection of iconic buildings from top-tier cities around the world to provide places to work that project success and enhance the status of each business.
“Franchisees can buy into our franchise opportunities, take advantage of the strong loyalty our brands inspire and tap into the millions of customers who use our products and services every day,” said Ullman. “Today, we are the number one workspace and coworking provider in the world and our network is already more than six times larger than that of our nearest competitor.”
To ensure franchisees are able to successfully bring these in-demand coworking options to their communities, IWG has fine-tuned its franchise concepts and support to optimize revenue and streamline operations. The approved local marketing collateral and lead generation by the global salesforce, for example, enables franchisees to achieve high occupancy quickly after opening. Franchisees can also upsell and increase revenue by selling additional products and services such as memberships, meeting rooms and virtual offices.
“We have about 2,500 people globally whose life and work is to market and drive occupancy for Regus and the IWG portfolio companies,” said Ullman. “Those are the kinds of benefits that our scale allows us to offer that competitors can’t touch.”
Another way IWG’s size allows franchisees to draw in more customers is through unmatched and exclusive corporate and enterprise accounts. “For example, when NTT decided that they wanted to switch to a hybrid working strategy, they could partner with us,” he said. “We help them revise their facilities map where they can close and downsize offices and pick up space in our franchised locations around the world. Those kinds of relationships are a huge driver of sales for franchisees.”
Franchisees also have access to global customer support, resources for recruiting and training the best team, inventory management administration, online training, CRM support and more.
Now, Regus hopes to find qualified, passionate and growth-minded entrepreneurs in markets across the country who are eager to bring this in-demand and innovative service to the communities they serve. The team hopes to add 60 new locations by the end of 2022 and Ullman says prime real estate is quickly running out as consumer demand steadily rises to unprecedented heights.
“The flexible workspace sector has never been more in demand — people around the world are looking for temporary offices, meeting rooms and coworking areas, and we are better positioned than any other company to fill that need,” said Ullman. “As a result, more and more savvy entrepreneurs are recognizing IWG’s opportunity to join a thriving market with an industry leader, and we are excited to continue partnering with new franchisees as we expand our footprint even further.”
For more information, visit: https://www.iwgplc.com/en-gb/develop-a-location.
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