Fifty Four coworking case
In 2019, partners, the consulting agency Dkom, worked on the launch of a new coworking space Fifty Four in Almaty. The guys calculated the business model, made a website and a brand book. The only thing missing was booking and management systems.
There were no ready-made “boxed” solutions for coworkings at that time. That's why we were invited to the project – as proven programmers.
Firstly, it was necessary to develop a web application for self-booking and payment of places in the coworking. The main request was the effect of one window, without unnecessary transitions and downloads. Secondly, an administrator's office was needed to manage bookings.
While we were analyzing the market and looking for a solution, we realized that in the case of Fifty Four, even with the “boxes” we would have needed custom development. The customer wanted the interface design to strictly correspond to the brand book. This is impossible with any standard solution.
For development, we took the usual WAPP stack: Vue.js, Laravel, Laravel Nova. The technologies were created specifically for browser applications, and our five years of experience in working with them gave us confidence that there would be no surprises and we would meet the deadlines.
Made MVP in three months and 1 programmer
In the first version of the web application, a minimal set of functions was made. The key one is the resident's personal account. At this stage, payment was not implemented, but focused only on booking.
The app works simply. The user registers as an individual or a legal entity. Then selects the date, time and location they want to book: it can be a workspace, a meeting room or an event space. Additional services can be added to the booking, such as snacks and a flipchart for a presentation.
As the client wanted, we took care of a seamless user experience: everything happens on one page, and nothing distracts from ordering the service.
In six months, we expanded the functionality to an ecosystem
Over the next six months we will:
We connected the payment module from Sber, while leaving the option to pay for the booking when visiting the coworking. We also added contract generation: you can not only make a one-time booking, but also conclude an agreement with the coworking – for example, rent workspaces for a team for a couple of months.
In the interface, administrators manage reservations, process orders that clients make by phone and on social networks, and download reports on occupancy and sales. Marketers create promotions to attract clients — for example, adding a discount on renting a meeting room. The manager looks at statistics and monitors efficiency.
The bot sends notifications about new bookings to the administrator's email or Telegram. With the bot, employees promptly respond to each booking, even if they do not have time to check their personal account. This way, the coworking space does not risk missing residents.
In total, the project took nine months. This is quite fast, considering that we created the solution from scratch for a specific client. Does this mean that we recommend that each coworking space develop software “for itself”?
Do all coworking spaces need custom solutions – yes or no?
It's not 2019, and there are ready-made solutions for coworking automation on the market. We compared them with custom ones so you could weigh the pros and cons.
In general, if you have typical business processes without unique interactions with customers or suppliers, you can save time and use a box. But if you have already tried out ready-made software and realized that it is inconvenient for you, it is time to think about your own.
Much depends on the specifics of the business and its stage of development. Therefore, before offering the customer a universal option or individual development, we conduct a business analysis. Come – we will select the optimal solution.
