A year and a half ago, we were notified that we had five days to move out of our coworking space<\/h1>\n
Today our project is stronger than ever, our development plans are very ambitious and we haven\u2019t even started. This is the tale of the thrilling adventure of how we bootstrapped our coworking space, with practically no investments at the start.<\/p>\n
Where we left it off<\/h3>\n
Back in March 2015 when I wrote\u00a0the first part of our founding story<\/a>, we were about\u00a0to announce the opening of a second location in the coming weeks. Our community of transformers<\/a> was growing steadily, our outreach and impact as well, our international events on intrapreneurship<\/a> were booming, and ‘everything was for the best in the best of all possible worlds’<\/em>.<\/p>\n Then someone bought us tickets to a rollercoaster ride..<\/p>\n The Solvay Sport property we were occupying was sold to a private members club, who, in partnership with a real estate company, wanted\u00a0to build a massive luxury wellness club with a hotel attached to it. To start the project, they needed to change the zoning plan, but this was\u00a0opposed by the neighbours and the three surrounding communes.<\/p>\n We were assured that nothing would change in our contract and that we could continue to build\u00a0our community and projects. But we always remained vigilant that the lease was temporary and that it could be terminated at any time. So while we kept building our ecosystem, we were continuously preparing for the next step.<\/p>\n The new building is located in Evere, northeast part of Brussels, in a completely different area from our original location which was in Watermael-Boitsfort, southeast part of Brussels.<\/p>\n We announced the news to our members, who expressed their wish to stay on the Watermael-Boitsfort site, even though it was an old building with challenging conditions at times, when the heating system broke down, for example. We respected their\u00a0wishes and came to an agreement with the property management company that would allow us to stay in Solvay Sport until at least the end of 2016. So we would then have two locations – what a luxury after less than 2 years of existence!<\/p>\n But although we were assured that the deal was secured with the new owners of the property, it appeared that their CEO changed his mind at the last minute. We were notified by a mere SMS that we had literally five days to move out. All of a sudden, we were of no use to the big guys. Why would we be? When we were creating value in a building that was supposed to be abandoned so they could tear it down.<\/p>\n I always compare an entrepreneur\u2019s life to a Mario Bros game, you need to survive until the end of the level, that\u2019s when you find the extra life bonus, where\u00a0you get to grab the big mushroom that will take you further. In our case, we signed the new lease with\u00a0CityDev<\/a> in Evere on the day in which the termination of the first lease was confirmed.<\/p>\n It was mid-June 2015, just before the summer. Needless to say that the sky fell on our head that day, we were in shock and our members were speechless. Big bucks rule, but these are the trials and tribulations of bootstrapping, you are vulnerable until you become stronger. You need to be resilient and face adversity with a cool head.<\/p>\n Most of our members were supportive, although the change of location didn\u2019t suit them. Changing the location of a coworking space turned out to be a big challenge; we learned it the hard way: moving the house\u00a0almost meant starting again from scratch..<\/p>\n In addition to securing the new location, we had already found\u00a0the furniture and even plants for it. So when the confirmed news broke, we could move\u00a0extremely quickly to ensure that our members still in need of a\u00a0workplace wouldn\u2019t suffer from a hiatus in their activity.<\/p>\n We\u00a0immediately\u00a0brought in workers to dismantle wall separations and open the space, had the internet installed, cleaned up, and within three days the new location was open for business in its beta version.<\/p>\n After that, the hacking of the space started: we needed to reinvent the entire workspace and adapt it to our activity and our values: openness, collaboration, innovation, creativity, co-creation\u2026<\/p>\n We consulted a couple of Interior Designers who were excited about the project, but their timeline was too long. We wanted to be ready at the beginning of September, they could only start working on the project in the Autumn.. Furthermore, they were very costly. So we had to come up with the space design ourselves.<\/p>\n We started by defining the functionality of every area:<\/p>\n We worked with two local artists, Karim and Dave<\/a>, and during the whole summer\u00a0we went back and forth with them and other partners in order to find the right look and feel, while keeping the space extremely functional.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner custom_padding=”0px||0px|” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ parallax_method_1=”off” admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax__hover=”off” parallax_method__hover=”off”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”25668,25676,25677,25679,25680,25666,25669,25671,25672,25673,25681,25667,25675,25678,25682″ posts_number=”16″ show_pagination=”off” module_id=”gallery” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ title_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax__hover=”off” parallax_method__hover=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.87″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Transforming the new location required resources: time, talent and money. The latter had been the main challenge in kick-starting the project a couple of years beforehand, but now, a phone call and an appointment with our banker was sufficient to get their agreement on a loan.<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t have to argue much, they knew what we were capable of, and they had a lot of trust in us. However, bankers are not inclined to take risks anymore, so as long as we were willing to personally guarantee the loan and finance 20% of the necessary investment, they were game.<\/p>\n And then\u00a0it was time to play.<\/p>\n The hardest part was about to start: bring life to the building, rebuild our community and attract talented members whose values are\u00a0in line with ours..<\/p>\n One of the\u00a0major obstacles we faced when we changed locations was the general belief that Evere, our new location, was far and out of reach. This impression proved to be quite unfounded, since our location is very well connected with public transportation (bus, tram and suburban train), very close to highways connecting Brussels to the Flemish and the Walloon regions, in addition to a having a private parking lot which\u00a0makes mobility and accessibility a strength, not a weakness.<\/p>\n We have been getting this message across, and whoever gives it a try comes to realise that the location is in fact very convenient. Only 15\u00a0minutes from Schuman or Merode<\/a> with the suburban train is not that long of a trip after all.<\/p>\n We\u2019re lucky today to count on a very solid and dynamic nucleus of a community. The growth is steady and we\u2019re attracting more members each month. And that’s\u00a0what matters more than numbers: the community feeling and the relationships between our\u00a0members. You can really feel a cosy and family atmosphere in transforma bxl, we cherish that feeling and try to nurture it on a daily basis.<\/p>\n So what are we up to now? Well, as I have been saying for the past months, in 2016 we were in second gear. We spent the year strengthening the core of the community and crash testing our services. We hired our first employee, Mike, a very determined and committed refugee from Syria, and we improved our innovation offering.<\/p>\n Now we\u2019re shifting to third gear and from there, the growth will be faster, so fourth, fifth and sixth gears will follow shortly. We\u2019re planning an expansion, with a number of higher value services that will turn transforma bxl into a landmark of entrepreneurship and innovation in Brussels and in Belgium.<\/p>\n Watch this space, we\u2019ll announce more soon\u2026<\/p>\n ABinbev, Board of Innovation, Sappi, Belfius, Brussels Airport, L\u2019Oreal, Decathlon, Nagelmackers, Swissport,TNS, Sogeti, Edebex, Agila, MCI, The European Commission, Kornferry, Bridgestone, Orange, Fluxys, Toyota Europe, King Baudouin Foundation, …Adversity is always around the corner when in bootstrapping mode<\/h3>\n
A permanent home<\/h3>\n
![\"Sustainable](\"https:\/\/www.transformabxl.be\/nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/04\/20150702125050-300x200.jpg\")
We met a couple of visionary executives from CityDev<\/a>, the real estate development agency of Brussels Region. They liked our project, and we started looking for a permanent home for transforma bxl. A few meetings and visits followed, until we found the property that we liked.<\/p>\nWe\u00a0were of no use to the big guys<\/h3>\n
Like a phoenix we rose from the ashes<\/h3>\n
Hacking and transforming the space<\/h1>\n
Designers too costly, too slow
We had to find the concepts on our own<\/h3>\n\n
All ‘Bout The Money<\/h3>\n
Restarting the community and embracing our local anchorage<\/h1>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.transformabxl.be\/nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/01\/20150925201759-300x200.jpg\")
At the end of September, after four months of intense labour, we were ready to reopen. We celebrated the end of the transformation process with a concert ap\u00e9ro, with the great Pretchel Dave & Shamen on the mic.<\/p>\nThe real fun is about to start<\/h3>\n
\nHighlights from the past year (and a half)<\/h1>\n
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Communities we welcomed at transforma bxl:<\/h3>\n
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Organisations we welcomed in the Innovation Garden<\/a>:<\/h3>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax__hover=”off” parallax_method__hover=”on”][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”3.2″ hide_on_mobile=”on” global_module=”2326″ saved_tabs=”all”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_team_member name=”Anis Bedda” position=”Co-founder at transforma bxl” image_url=”https:\/\/www.transformabxl.be\/nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/01\/IMG_7021.jpg” twitter_url=”https:\/\/twitter.com\/anisb” linkedin_url=”https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anisbedda\/” admin_label=”Author: Anis” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” animation=”fade_in” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_module=”25662″ saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n