A baby seal, an oak tree, and a trailer truck walk into a bar together – stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Oh, you haven’t? That’s okay, because it’s not really a joke or even a cool story – yet. You also may be wondering what all these things have in common, and while the answer isn’t totally obvious, the underlying current is…BizHaus. BizHaus is a coworking space that unlike many of the other niche coworking spots, makes it niche by having none. Over 300 companies and entrepreneurs work out of our offices located in Southern LA, and of those 300, we have companies like Marine Animal Rescue (enter baby seal), TreeCare LA, and Bolt, a shipping enterprise that finds open space on private trucks and gets their clients discounted rates by utilizing the otherwise empty space – and that’s just a smattering.
It isn’t everyday that the guys working next door to you have to leave on an emergency mission to rescue a baby seal caught between rocks in the kelp beds in Palos Verdes – but it might be if you work for an organization dedicated to helping marine animals in need. In the same building as our valiant animal activists is TreeCare LA, a company dedicated to both tree care but also informing individuals what’s best for the trees around them and their house. With the build up of Silicon Beach, it can feel a little overwhelming for companies searching for space that don’t exactly fit within the guidelines of tech saturated spaces populating West LA and beyond. But the only guiding principle for BizHaus is positive energy and a smile. No doubt we’ve heard the old adage, “Variety is the spice of life,” and while having a niche can provide many benefits, we’ve adopted a more inclusive attitude, that allows for companies like Building Power, a family centric roofing company operating out of an office in our Marina del Rey location, or Bolt, the start up utilizing under-appreciated trucks. The common denominator, instead of being the work they do, is where they do it.
This diverse community isn’t just interesting, it’s useful, too. With an influx of people, you generally have an influx of ideas, something generally freely shared. BizHaus’ community communicates on the instant messaging app Slack, where questions such as “Who is or knows a great graphic designer?” to “Who has a reliable dog walker in the area?” abound, paired with proclamations of milestones reached, new members appearing, and speculation of what to order from the food trucks that come by the Marina on Tuesdays and Thursday (also ranging in food diversity) More answers mean more options, and more options is almost always a good thing.
People thrive at diverse coworking spaces because of the members, no matter whether they are teams from Fortune 500 companies, or a group of recent graduates with a new idea and a budget – everyone has something to share and everyone has something to learn if you ask and if you listen – how you utilize that knowledge is up to you.