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From the Founders’ Desk: Oscar Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a satire that mocked the prevailing social customs of Victorian England. With due apologies to the playwright, we write in praise of earnestness and perseverance when we describe the importance of being earnest.

In my note at the end of our first year of operations at Cove, I was optimistic. Our pipeline was strong, and we were expecting several new project launches. However, the old Chinese curse of living in interesting times hit and boy, did it hit hard!

Rather than repeating a theme that has been a constant across industries and companies, we chart a different course. When we think of our 2nd year of operations at Cove we think of the benefits of earnestness, perseverance, and the importance of choosing business partners who are aligned with your goals as an organization and an entrepreneur.

Of course, COVID meant that all business Centers, including ours went empty. It wasn’t an entirely hopeless scenario, though. Our key takeaways during the last year of unprecedented churn were:

1. Earnestness with clients – We ensured that our pre-COVID clients were happy. Every single client who parted ways during or after lockdowns was given all applicable refunds. Several requests for flexibility in exits, payments and downsizing were immediately accepted. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand the pains other startups have to go through and did our best to accommodate our clients.

2. Perseverance – While a lot of other business centres were shutting shop, we as a team believed that our business plan (an asset right model) and team capabilities would take us past this once-in-a-century problem. We had a hypothesis on what it would mean for the general work environment post-COVID and we stuck to our guns. A bit later, we will talk about what that has resulted.

3. Choosing the right partners – Choosing you owner partners and investors is key for a business such as ours. Our strategy of only working with partners who understand that asset right businesses such as ours require a long-term view to success has paid off handsomely. When interests are aligned, achieving goals becomes simpler.

This has reaped great dividends. Our coworking space occupancy rates today are higher than our pre-COVID levels. We attribute this to how we treated our clients, who then returned and brought their friends along. The fact that we never gave up as a team and made the sacrifices necessary to keep running, or that none of our partners ever objected to muted returns during an unprecedented pandemic also played a vital role. In addition, we now find ourselves in a far more confident space as a team. This is because we see that in all probability (fingers crossed!), we are past the worst of the pandemic with vaccines in sight and the economy showing signs of revival.

New businesses are now starting again, with upcoming projects in Bangalore and Chennai across the spectrum of rent-yielding assets. Our outlook for the coming year looks better, with the hope that the terrible twos are now done!

A bit of quirky optimism is essential when looking back at the last year. As we celebrate 2 years of Cove today, we decided to bring that element of quirky fun into the view of our team, clients, and partners. To mark this occasion, we commissioned an artwork from a young digital artist in Chennai, Jemma Jose. In it, she has brought out the various forms of quirkiness in Cove to life. Using it, we have prepared a calendar for 2021.

While you are at it, please feel free to get in touch with us if you are looking at coworking as an option. We will be most happy to have you as a part of our journey!

Growing up, most of us have known about nomads – people who don’t have a permanent home and wander from place to place. Today, the availability of the internet has given rise to a new species – the digital nomads. Just as the original nomads were not bound to a single place, the digital nomads are not bound to a single office or workplace. They work from wherever they find internet connectivity. Quite literally, all they need is an internet connection and a place to sit.

By definition, digital nomads don’t need dedicated offices. They simply need workplaces which are available when they need, don’t cost them a bomb, have a good internet connection and offer comfortable working conditions. What could be a better solution for them than coworking spaces? And when it comes to coworking spaces, what could be a better one than Cove Offices, Kotturpuram?

Though they are location-independent, digital nomads are not too different from office-goers when it comes to getting work done. Just as there are offices and networking groups for normal offices, there are digital nomad communities in various places around the world, including India. While many of the nomads work individually, some of them do work in groups, often collaborating over projects.

Cove Kotturpuram has several amenities which make them an ideal destination for the nomads of the digital era. Some of these include:

Setting boundaries – Since you are working from an office-like setup, it becomes easier to set time and space boundaries and make sure that they are respected.

Reducing loneliness – Having people working around you, and yet not disturbing you gives you the best of both worlds – freedom from distractions and a buzz of activity to put your mind into a more productive mood. According to a recent study conducted by GCUC, more than 80% of respondents said that coworking spaces make them feel happier and less lonely while working.

Easier professional networking – Professional networking happens more “naturally” in a coworking space. This gives you an opportunity to expand your professional network and succeed in your business. More than 80% of respondents in a recent survey by Small Business Labs say so.

Cove has worked with many homepreneurs to address their workspace needs and has seen mutual success. You don’t have to just take our word for this, though. Come and experience it at Cove with a free one-day pass by clicking on the link below.

• A variety of seating options available, like hot-desks, dedicated desks and private offices
• Fast internet connectivity
• Power backup to ensure uninterrupted working
• 24×7 air-conditioning so that you can work comfortably
• Vibrant space and ambience to enable professional networking and boost productivity

If you think that’s all, you’re mistaken. Cove brings much more to the game! With its VO-Working plan, Cove offers the digital nomads a chance to roam wherever they fancy, while still having a place to call their (virtual) home. This allows them to reap the benefits of having a fixed location while staying true to their nomadic spirit. Nomads of the digital world, unite and visit Cove. That will definitely be one of the best stops in your journey.

As an entrepreneur who works from their home, your home serves as your office and your relaxation space. Managing boundaries and expectations in addition to finding meaningful work networks can be tough for you as a homepreneur. From our experience in working with and providing workspace solutions to people like you, this is what we see are your challenges and how we can address them at Cove.

Distractions and boundaries

The first and biggest challenge is to handle the distractions that you encounter when working from home. “You’re working from home, right? So, you are always available” is what most people, including friends and family, will think about you. Setting and following boundaries of space and time becomes a difficult task. Add to this, common distractions like noises from neighbouring homes, and your home soon becomes a less than ideal place to work from.

Isolation and lack of “work” companionship

No matter how fast your internet connection, and how connected you are through chat-rooms and voice/video calls, the fact remains that they cannot replace the presence of real human beings. This leads to a sense of isolation for many homepreneurs. This causes a serious lack of productivity for many. Working from home also means that you don’t have an environment where you can get formally introduced to new people and can network professionally or have real-time face-to-face interactions.

Homes are not customised for work

Most homes in India are not customised for work. Costs of homes in most metros mean that space is at a premium and we can bet that as a homepreneur, you are likely “making do” in a space that is not ideal for work. With kids studying at home and both partners working at home, space fatigue can quickly set in.

How do coworking spaces help?

Cove’s coworking and workspace solutions are centred around flexibility. This means that options like working from our centre for a part of the week or on an “as needed” basis can help. Think of the times when you need to focus on dedicated tasks for a few hours or a day and must have the space to do so. Cove can help!

Setting boundaries – Since you are working from an office-like setup, it becomes easier to set time and space boundaries and make sure that they are respected.

Reducing loneliness – Having people working around you, and yet not disturbing you gives you the best of both worlds – freedom from distractions and a buzz of activity to put your mind into a more productive mood. According to a recent study conducted by GCUC, more than 80% of respondents said that coworking spaces make them feel happier and less lonely while working.

Easier professional networking – Professional networking happens more “naturally” in a coworking space. This gives you an opportunity to expand your professional network and succeed in your business. More than 80% of respondents in a recent survey by Small Business Labs say so.

Cove has worked with many homepreneurs to address their workspace needs and has seen mutual success. You don’t have to just take our word for this, though. Come and experience it at Cove with a free one-day pass by clicking on the link below.

Right now, we are in the middle of one of the biggest pandemics of our lifetime. As we try to restore our personal and professional lives to relative normalcy, the effect of the COVID-19 crisis has been vast and deep. We have essentially moved inwards, sticking to our homes, minimising social interactions and venturing out only when really needed. Naturally, this has significantly affected how we work. Going to your office almost seems like a thing of the past and people are looking for alternatives.

The significant trend to understand is that though WFH (work from home) adoption has increased, office spaces are still vital for a business. Client meetings, geographical market presence, registered business addresses – these are just some of the needs of a business that an office space fulfills. However, what has changed is the preference of employees and remote workers towards coworking spaces vs. dedicated office spaces. Surveys show that out of those who have used a coworking space before the pandemic and lockdowns, about 70.48% workers planned to return to the spaces once the conditions were better. Not just that, about 54.99% of those going in for remote working for the first time indicated that they would prefer to try out a coworking space whenever it is possible to do so.

What causes this shift in preferences is that coworking spaces offer the flexibility to “spend as you go” for the resources and features you need. Whether it is the number of seats or facilities like registered address, secure storage etc., you have the option of paying only for what you use, thus minimising your upfront expenses. Coworking spaces can also provide their clients with more flexible and varied facilities, features and subscription plans. This means that businesses do not need to maintain a dedicated office just to have access to the facilities whenever they want. Businesses with larger teams are now looking at options related to having specific teams work in the offices each day, thus reducing the overall requirement of seats.

So, what implications does this have on companies and individuals? For companies, maintaining dedicated per-city offices will become less and less important or even necessary. With more employees preferring remote work or shared workspaces at closer distances from home, companies will take the concept of “flexible offices” more seriously because of the ability to scale employee density up or down as per government guidelines, and the overall savings obtained by switching to a shared workspace as opposed to a dedicated one. Depending on their business model and the type of interactions they have with clients or within employees, businesses will opt for flexible coworking spaces which provide them with the requisite features and availability instead of maintaining a dedicated space and locking up their financial resources.

For employees, this means that they get the freedom of choosing where they want to work from – their own homes or a cafe or the nearest coworking space provisioned by their company. Flexible working will be the name of the game. This will directly result in increased employee satisfaction, better work-life balance, reduced time spent commuting etc. The cherry on the top of the cake is that productivity and business output is not just retained, but in many cases actually boosted by these changes.

At Cove, we have offered these and many other workforce management plans to our clients. We believe that flexible office space solutions remain the answer to the new working requirements of businesses.

*Statistics Source: www.coworker.com

Ever wondered why you feel so peaceful while walking through a park or on the beach? The answer is simple – we are at our relaxed best when we connect with nature. Now, imagine if you could have nature surround you while you work. Given that we spend at least one-third of our day working, does this not sound like a great idea? Indeed, because it has been proven that working in a natural surrounding does wonders for your productivity.

Have you ever experienced how traditional offices behave when it comes to social/professional interactions among employees? Apart from their designated teams, employees tend to connect to others informally, over “water-cooler talk” and “coffee breaks”. These interactions boost employee engagement and lead to an exchange of knowledge and experiences in ways better than a formal program. Now, take this concept and scale it up across various companies, businesses, knowledge profiles and levels of professional experiences, all in one single space. That is the key benefit of operating from a coworking space.

When you are working alongside entrepreneurs and knowledge workers from various domains, the potential for forming meaningful professional connections is tremendous, and literally at a hand’s distance. All you really need to do is to keep your mind, eyes and ears open. Soon enough, you will come across someone who will be a mutually beneficial addition to your professional circles.

Coworking spaces provide a tremendous variety of people you can come across, which usually does not happen with traditional single-organisation offices. For example, at Cove’s Chennai campus, we have had design teams, equity brokers and wealth managers, tech startups, IP lawyers, real estate consultants, educational and training institutes and hackathons and disaster recovery programmes, all in one location.

Connecting with nature while working has many benefits like:

● Increased energy levels

● Low levels of stress and anxiety

● Improved memory and focus

● Better vision as you don’t stay glued to the screen all-day long

All these factors together contribute to better productivity, a higher amount of happiness and work satisfaction. A stroll amidst nature also stimulates the production of dopamine, which improves memory and focus, and is a natural antidepressant. This makes us feel more motivated and productive. As satisfaction at work is also directly linked to work-life balance, this has a cascading positive effect on other areas of your life.

Since we need modern amenities to get work done, we cannot simply pack up our laptops and go to the forest. But then, if you can’t take work to the woods, you can definitely bring the woods to work. This is exactly what Cove Offices does for you.

Our premises are designed to combine the best of nature and urbanity by providing a large amount of vegetation and large open spaces. Cove Kotturpuram was originally a vintage bungalow which has been upgraded to modern standards without losing its original charm and calm. When work tires you out, experiencing the healing touch of nature is as simple as just getting off your seat and taking a stroll in the premises. This way, you get to enjoy the benefits of nature without losing out on modern comforts and technology.

So, come to Cove and work in the lap of nature. Take the first step towards being a part of a happy, stress-free work environment.

Generally, entrepreneurs look at coworking spaces as a substitute for maintaining a dedicated office infrastructure. For remote workers, coworking is a feasible option when they cannot work at their homes/cafes or need a more formal setup for the short term. However, it would be short-sighted to think of coworking or coworking spaces in terms of these limited purposes only. While it is true that their primary purpose is as an alternative to conventional office spaces, they can offer benefits beyond that, like professional networking.

Have you ever experienced how traditional offices behave when it comes to social/professional interactions among employees? Apart from their designated teams, employees tend to connect to others informally, over “water-cooler talk” and “coffee breaks”. These interactions boost employee engagement and lead to an exchange of knowledge and experiences in ways better than a formal program. Now, take this concept and scale it up across various companies, businesses, knowledge profiles and levels of professional experiences, all in one single space. That is the key benefit of operating from a coworking space.

When you are working alongside entrepreneurs and knowledge workers from various domains, the potential for forming meaningful professional connections is tremendous, and literally at a hand’s distance. All you really need to do is to keep your mind, eyes and ears open. Soon enough, you will come across someone who will be a mutually beneficial addition to your professional circles.

Coworking spaces provide a tremendous variety of people you can come across, which usually does not happen with traditional single-organisation offices. For example, at Cove’s Chennai campus, we have had design teams, equity brokers and wealth managers, tech startups, IP lawyers, real estate consultants, educational and training institutes and hackathons and disaster recovery programmes, all in one location.

There are also many formal networking events and theme-based activities which you can participate in.

You can always find something that interests you and participate. This opens a pool of contacts, and business ideas in a way which has rarely been possible before. The best part is that there are no artificial limits to what you can do with these connections.

Coworking is not just about coworking, it is also about effective professional networking. Make the best of it and success will surely be yours.

Wondering what Virtual Office (VO) Working is? Think of a scenario wherein you book only the address of an office space for professional use, work out of the office space only when you have a meeting or as required, and otherwise continue to work from your home/cafe or anywhere that suits you.

It’s primarily used by solo entrepreneurs, small teams or teams working almost or entirely remotely. It can also be used when you want to establish a physical presence in a location while having your staff work remotely.

Most importantly, it is fast becoming the 2020 style of working in the light of the COVID-19 crisis and increased emphasis on a remote work culture. Forget old-style working, it’s time to switch to Virtual Office (VO) Working.

1 Membership. 4 Advantages.

Swanky business address

Just like a real office, you can have all your correspondence directed to the virtual office. Our professionally trained staff handles all your correspondence for you. This leaves you free to concentrate your energies on your core business without worrying about setting up the infrastructure.

Professional handling of your correspondence

When you book a Cove Virtual Office, you get to use the address of Cove Kotturpuram (a premium coworking space in the heart of Chennai) for company registration, GST registration and other business correspondence. This gets you all the benefits of a “real office” without any hassles of acquiring and managing one.

Access to hotdesks and workspaces

If you think that’s all you get with a Cove Virtual Office, you’re mistaken. We understand that correspondence is not all that matters for an office. Sometimes you do need to work or entertain clients in a “real office”. People also need to interact in person to be at their productive and collaborative best. Keeping this in mind, we offer 1 day per week access to our hotdesks and workspaces.

Access to meeting rooms

You also get time-limited, complimentary access to meeting rooms for a few hours every month. This helps you with face-to-face meetings and working alongside each other, thus taking care of your collaboration needs.

Last but not the least, you can also get a locker as an add-on to your virtual office to store documents etc. This helps you get the best of all worlds.

Cove’s VO-Working plan gives you a virtual office with real space and real benefits. Give them a shot and find out for yourself!

While the world is struggling to come to terms with the impact of COVID-19 on various sectors of the economy, it is very clear that we cannot stay holed up indoors forever. At some point, we need to get out there and start working, while continuing to take precautions. For many of us, this means resuming the use of coworking spaces, the way we did before. While we do this, the biggest question on our minds is of our safety.

At Cove, we understand your concern for your safety and assign top priority to keeping you safe while you get back to work and workspaces. Cove was among the first spaces to take precautionary measures well before the first case was reported in Chennai.

While this is a new situation for all of us, we at Cove have got off to a solid start by implementing a set of “best practices” spread across various aspects of our operations.

Some of these include:

Regular sanitation

Common areas are sanitised every 3-6 hours. For example, doors to various areas are sanitised every 3 hours while conference rooms and pantries are disinfected every 6 hours. Areas where food is consumed are sanitised after every usage.

Hygiene guidelines for clients and staff

Anyone entering the premises (whether clients or staff) is required to wear masks. Additionally, those using facilities in common areas need to sanitise their hands before doing so. The core and housekeeping staff at Cove are required to wear masks and gloves for the entire time while they are on the premises. Delivery agents from couriers, e-commerce sites etc. are not allowed inside the premises.

Health information tracking

The body temperature of the core staff, housekeeping staff, clients and visitors is recorded daily. Anyone whose body temperature is outside the acceptable range is requested to work from home (clients/visitors) or leave the premises (staff).

In addition to these, the large open spaces and fresh air help you maintain social distancing and stay healthy.

Adhering to these measures consistently over the times to come is going to be key to allowing yourself the peace of mind required to navigate the new business realities and make the best of the future. After all, just like charity, safety begins at home too. We believe that Cove is your safe home, as you get back to coworking in the “new normal”.

While the idea of a rental based real-estate venture has been in my mind since early 2017 (when I quit the corporate world), the idea took structure and form last December. And like a smooth chemical reaction, when the amorphous ideas coalesced, they did so at a blistering pace. From idea, to brand creation to company creation in less than 60 days.

So, what is Cove?

We envisaged a company that focuses purely on the rental market. The pillars on which we intend to stand ground are the following:

1. Rentals – residential or commercial, but only rentals

2. Asset Right – Neither Asset light (pure operator model), not asset heavy, but investment in assets based upon the market and product fit. We believe in having a skin in the game. This helps us ensure we focus on the long-term benefits for our clients.

3. Diversification –We pick our locations carefully, within a size range that ensures diversification on geographies, micro markets and product categories. Product and demand fit are absolute essentials

4. Transparency – we believe in being professional. With our investor partners, asset partners or clients. No unnecessary fine print, and use of technology to ensure transparency

We loved the way these pillars were invoked by our design team in our final logo

What’s the one year journey been like?

Co-working at Cove: We think our Kotturpuram coworking space is one of the coolest co-working spaces in Chennai. The space has gained significant acceptance from clients who have grown with the space since its launch in August this year (We’re almost full – in case you were looking to work out of there!

Growth: We’ve tied up 2 other projects- Bangalore and Chennai. These range from small office spaces to coworking spaces. Both are in prime locations within each city (Put a check mark against all four pillars!

We are in the process of tying up residential rental projects – a more long-term play which involves efficient design, land acquisition and construction. We truly believe these will be gamechanger projects in Bangalore for residential rentals.

Team: We have expanded our board and advisory team – not because we have investors asking us to do so, but because we genuinely believe we need alternate perspectives.

• We’ve got the inimitable Deepak Mohan, Co-CEO of MAPE Advisory (one of the most respected boutique I-Banks in India) who joined our Board and anchors us to reality.

• Capt. Ravi S (founder of Pegasus Training, Founder of Terrier Security) acts as advisor and his decades of operational and entrepreneurial experience is a boon.

• Deepthi Nemani acts as our technology sounding board apart from being an awesome source of design ideas!

And there is more to come from a Board of Directors standpoint – watch this space!

And last, but not the least – we’ve grown into a great team – both in Chennai and Bangalore. A group of really motivated young folk with a focus on client satisfaction, operational efficiency and growth.

How are we celebrating?

By thanking our clients and partners of course – with some great home-made brownies for all our clients and partners. Here’s a snippet of what our clients saw this morning at their desks along with the brownies!

Thanks to everyone who’s helped us on this journey this past year!