Mikhail Komarov: "Office and car as a startup image"

Toyota has launched a global project about the aspirations, attitude to life and the first steps of the young and successful. The first story we are telling about is the project of Mikhail Komarov, the owner of the Work Station coworking in Gorky Park. For the entire time of its existence, 12,000 people have passed through coworking.

And now let's get acquainted with Mikhail, with whom we talked not only about his business and cars, but also about the Toyota Mood zone for work and leisure. He doesn't like the word "office", but "Workstation" is not. The "worker", as Mikhail calls her, is a real paradise for those who do not like to work in the office, but also cannot fully do business at home. And Mikhail himself is a person who helps them.

Opening date: August 1, 2012. Self-sufficiency: 1 month. Location: Artplay and Gorky Central Park.

1. Mikhail, tell us how it all started? I am an architect by training, so one of the main criteria for me was the building itself, which would be comfortable for me and my clients. After reviewing a lot of options, we were faced with the fact that we passed all the factories in Moscow from the point of view of architecture. Plus, many landlords at that time still did not really understand what coworking was, who would pay for it and how it would exist.

2. And how important is the visual component to the people who come to you? I am sure that 80% of the choice consists in this. It is important for people that where they spend most of the day, it is beautiful, cool, comfortable. Not fashionable, but convenient. There is not a single superfluous item in the "Worker", they all stand there to perform some specific function: starting from office equipment and ending with an electric kettle.

3. What kind of people come to you? They are mostly aspiring entrepreneurs, people who have already mentally realized that the office is not their story. There are also freelancers, but there are not so many of them. They do not want stuffy rooms, business centers with a view of the railway or industrial zones, or, conversely, overly pretentious offices, aunts and uncles in ties.And what does the workplace include? A seat, Internet, meeting rooms, locker (a box for valuables), where valuable documents and seals are usually stored. There is a kitchen and a shower. In general, a "Workstation" is such a small community in which many people sit for a long time. About 70-75% are people who spend six months or more in our coworking. Many of them started a startup right on the site. Of course, it's not something global, but getting advice or copywriting services, finding a designer, programmer, copywriter here is easy. By the way, for a fairly democratic surcharge, you can get the services of a lawyer. In total, there are 82 seats in the coworking, and they are very rarely vacated.You only need a bedroom ... well, we don't have a separate sleeping place, but some clients sleep with pleasure on ottomans, because many of them have a working day that ends only at 23 o'clock, and some even smoothly flows into the next one.That is, the place is determined for a specific person, and no one can take it? In general, yes. The only exception is when a person comes with a laptop, and he needs to do something quickly. Then it is allowed, but this rarely happens. As a rule, these are so—called "one-dayers" (note: people who come for one day at a special rate - 650 rubles / day).

4. Why do you think people choose your coworking, because there are a lot of them in Moscow? They come to us to work very hard. We have everything created for comfortable work. The very atmosphere of the "Workstation" pushes you to the fact that you can't not work. People are sitting around you and working. When a new client comes to us, we communicate with him, tell him what and how. Already at this stage, it is saturated with the atmosphere. We have many directors of large companies, while employees continue to work in the office. In addition, educational sessions, seminars, lectures on various topics are held on the basis of the "Workstation": from branding to marketing. Talented speakers take part in them, and the listeners are often people from outside.And they completely perceive this place as their office? Absolutely. Some even bring clients, telling them that, they say, this is my office, these are my employees. We are absolutely fine with this.

5. Have there been any funny cases? Every New Year, people stay to work for us. There is a person who systematically comes and works... only on an iPhone. There was also a case when Bernstam himself wanted to buy a startup of one of the clients for a lot of money.And what was he connected with, if not a secret? With microcredit (loan no more than 15,000 rubles) based on data from social networks. By the way, he didn't sell the business. The project is very successful, since then it has taken off even more. And we also took a small part in the project.That is, do you still take part in the development of your clients' business? At the first acquaintance with the client, we find out what kind of business he is engaged in, it happens that we help potentially interesting projects, why not. In any case, it is important for us to know who is sitting with us and why. Coworking is a place that can give a good start to a novice businessman, and if it is there that he develops it, not without our help, then he makes us a good advertisement. A kind of word of mouth. We are always happy to help the guys who are sitting with us. For example, once one of them needed a person living in Luxembourg, because he needed to send a document urgently – literally within an hour, and this could only be done by local DHL. I had a friend there, everything was done, everyone was happy.

6. Can everyone count on a place in the coworking, or are there any fundamental requirements that you make to a potential client? As such, there are no requirements, but we never conclude a contract for a period of more than 1 month. After all, there is always a possibility that we will not like each other or a person will interfere with the work of others. We had a case when a woman came to a coworking... in pajamas. This did not suit many, and a month later we had to part with her. Especially when it comes to subscription service, a discount is asking for, and we are not planning this yet.You opened just two years ago, and have already achieved great success. I wonder what kind of car you drive, or, like many people now, choose a bike? No, I prefer cars. In addition, I really like car tours, so I have two cars: a small one for daily trips to work and an SUV that can accommodate up to 8 people. That's where I like to do my auto tours. I even have my own routes to Bangkok, Georgia and other equally amazing places.

7. And what brands do you focus on when choosing a car? When choosing transport, I consider the most reliable and modern cars from the point of view of design and equipment. I recently rode a Toyota Corolla. This is a great, stylish car: it has everything a successful business person needs, for whom it is important to always stay in touch. I had a feeling that you threw a bag into it and that's it — sat down, drove, without thinking about anything. With the help of multimedia, you can connect a smartphone or tablet to the on-board computer with access to mail, SMS, navigation. It is very convenient to park in the city, there is a rear-view camera. Corolla rides softly, accelerates quickly… I really like. I'm even thinking of taking it as a corporate car for my employees.Do you think the presence of a car plays a role in the conduct of business? For many, it is a status item. And this is absolutely Russian history. Many customers believe that if he has a good car, then you can deal with him.

8. What is the difference between Russian coworking and foreign coworking? We are no different, others are different. In American, for example, normal practice is a huge number of negotiations, the presence of a normal reception. And then in Russia there are a lot of offices, including coworking, in which there is no reception in principle. That is, it is unclear who is meeting you, I think — this is a minus. I am not sure that many events take place in foreign coworking, we have more of them. And this is already a plus for us.By the way, Toyota has opened a coworking relax zone in Gorky Park. Did you manage to visit it? Sure. They, like us, are in the very center of the habitat of progressive youth. In addition, they came with the right young soul project to the right place.

9. And finally: where do you see the future of your project? There is an idea to create a hostel. I am sure that these two stories are very close. In addition, I plan to expand, create coworking zones in cities with millions.