We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nadim Ahmed a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nadim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

I am in the industry of coworking where we provide fully serviced, flexible office spaces to freelancers, entrepreneurs, startups, satellite offices, and
large corporations. In the past and pre-Covid, most corporations took on the risk, liability, and responsibility of owning their own real estate even when their core business was something outside of that. As we learn from history, societies and economies improve and become more efficient when we specialize. Even though a company may be focused on tech or finance, they will also take the burden of long-term leases, debt, and management of real-estate. This is not the best use of a company’s time and resources.

There is a higher need for flexibility. Along with the pandemic, need for flexibility has been increased due to many factors. Due to globalization, markets
where a company may have growing customers are changing constantly. To be agile, companies are moving away from the Head Quarter (HQ) model to more of a hub-spoke model with satellite offices. The other factor causing hub-spoke models is that employees can come from anywhere. With our technical advances of portable working devices, high-speed internet, video conferencing, cloud computing, and multiple sharing softwares, working from anywhere has become the norm. Covid just took this to overdrive. With companies moving away from the HQ model, they are no longer limited to expensive cities like San Francisco or New York to hire highly capable staff.

Demand for flexibility also decreases risk. If a company downsizes, it cannot afford to hold on to the unused real estate. On the other hand, as it grows,
it needs to take on just the right number of desks. Instead of taking on an additional 5,000 sq ft of space, it needs to be able to increase in increments without buying new furniture, cleaning services, increasing internet speeds, and facility management. Another way companies are decreasing risk is by investing their capital on what gives them the best ROI. Instead of buying real estate or furniture, they are putting money back into their business, as that is what gives them the most return on their dollar.

Lastly, as employees are working from anywhere and at any time, the 9 to 5 in a cubicle is becoming rare. No longer are jobs separate from employee’s personal lives. They may be answering emails on their phone before going to bed or texting their boss a question during the weekend. Work is now integrated as part of life and because of this integration, employees don’t just need a beautiful harmonious space when they go home, but also when they are at work, where they spend most of their productive time. Work is no longer a place to get work done and leave, but it needs to be a place where people go to thrive in a community. However, it becomes difficult to create the right energy without taking design and amenities into account. Given companies whose core competency isn’t in facility management and hospitality, this becomes a tough hill to climb.

With the growing demand for flexibility, hub-spoke models instead of HQ, less risk as companies change sizes, and a workplace that feels as good, if not better than home, corporations are now passing on the responsibility of managing their space to coworking spaces that take the risk of having the large space, capital, staff, amenities and the responsibility of ensuring that workspace is a community where people look forward to coming to.

Nadim, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I migrated, without my parents or my 2 brothers, to US at the age of 7. I grew up in St. Louis MO and went to Purdue University for Electrical Engineering and MBA. Most of my career has been in innovating and developing products and taking them to market for corporations. I quit the corporate life and left the job at Children’s hospital to launch one of the first Venture X coworking spaces in 2018. In 2019, we doubled the size of the space and was at 90% occupancy in 2020 prior to Covid. Although occupancy levels dropped during Covid, the space was back above 95% occupancy by April 2022! With the support of our members and community, we are proud to have done well and have been voted ‘Best Coworking Space’ 2 years in a row by Reader’s Choice. We will now be opening another location in Allen, TX by summer of 2022 and will have 2 more locations by end of the year. There are now 50+ Venture X franchises globally.

Venture X is a boutique style professional community that is Inspiring, Collaborative, and Productive. It offers beautifully designed modern workspaces with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. You’ll enjoy coworking, private noise insulated offices, meeting rooms, and virtual offices with full concierge service and endless amenities. It is all inclusive with top of the line Herman Miller furniture, unlimited gourmet coffee, ultra-fast dedicated internet, hi-tech meeting & training rooms, event space, office assistant, and cleaning service. We customize to your needs, from flexible monthly terms to just night/weekend office space. From nap rooms to phone booths, from video studio to networking events, it has everything to make your work a great experience!

Couple of things that differentiates Venture X:

1. Is designed for a more professional clientele who still prefers the open modern spaces that has relaxed and high energy.

2. You are working directly with the owner of the space who is also an entrepreneur and understands the member’s needs. Any issues that members have will immediately go to the decision maker and not cause back and forth or delays.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dallascoworkingneargalleria.venturex.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vx_dallas_galleria/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VentureXDallasbytheGalleria
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dallas-coworking-space/