The other day I was on the train past the Hawthorns and Jewellery Quarter going into Birmingham and saw all the abandoned warehouses and factories just sitting there doing nothing. It got me to thinking about a good use of these buildings and came up with a few ideas with Katie. Some of these were
- Vegan/Vegetarian cafe
- Recording studio for musicians
- Office space for small companies/design firms that need somewhere cheap and easy to work
- Bloggers cafe/lounge
The last item is the one I thought the most about. I have an idea that I would love to get open one day. Allow me to expand if you will.
The idea is a basic one. Its a coffee lounge that’s more aimed towards the home workers/mobile workers, the people who work from laptops where ever Wifi is available. Its a place where there are plenty of large tables to sit down at, comfy seats, power sockets, wifi (perhaps free). And you could expand that really. Have lockers for people to put their laptops if they need to pop out for half an hour, offer printing facilities at a small cost, offer PO box services, allowing people to get packages delivered.
The theory behind this was that people who can work anywhere, may not want to work from home, they might want to spend it somewhere else, with other people, but still be able to get everything done that they need to. You could come here and spend the whole day working away, get food and drink, and get that project or web page sorted.
Now this may not be a great idea. But the theory is to play on not the people on their way to work, but the people who want to sit and work in a friendly environment, where they can feel safe, and be surrounded by similar people.
I suppose my hopes are that some of these buildings could be reused and help to build up a strong sense of independence in Birmingham, where small businesses can get a good start. It could be a hive of artistic, musical, creative thinking folks. You could have community centres for groups to meet, have a flea market for people to swap and sell things to people who would appreciate them.
I realise that this is difficult to get started. You need capital to buy these buildings, make sure they’re safe, kit them out with all the necessary gear, and of course get the work out to the people you are targetting to get people to come. I would like to build on this idea if possible.
If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or information that would be useful, please do leave me a comment.
