Technology for coliving businesses
At HWL we started developing coliving projects five years ago. Since then, technology has evolved a lot. Initially, no tool centralised the management of the business, or PMS (Property Management Systems) or management software for coworking spaces. Nowadays, we have a wide range of options and alternatives.
In a nutshell, coliving tech tools include management software that integrates high-speed internet, smart access controls, booking management and community management through specific portals and applications. However, choosing the right solution is crucial to managing the coliving business, space and community seamlessly and securely. So today, we share with you the steps to follow and the business areas to analyse to choose the most optimal technology solution for your company. We also give you this technology guide with a directory of software and other tools to consider for coworking spaces, coliving and coplaces (hybrid spaces).
Benefits of technology in coliving
The benefits of technology in coliving spaces are numerous, revolutionising how residents interact with their living environment and enhancing their overall experience.
Here are some specific ways technology has influenced coliving spaces:
- It improves the user experience and comfort, thus fostering the feeling of belonging to the community and, consequently, the retention level. Therefore, it is impacting on reducing marketing costs.
- It streamlines operation processes, giving the management team more time to focus on business development.
- It makes it easier to know how tenants behave regarding their use of space and amenities. You can also learn more about their needs. This information allows you to create new services and design new sales strategies.
- It enables smooth communication and encourages interactions between members and between the management team and members.
- It improves building and member security.
- It reduces maintenance costs.
- It promotes the planet’s sustainability through energy, water saving, and recycling systems.
How do I choose the most effective technology solution for my coliving?
There is no single coliving software solution that perfectly fits all types of coliving business models. For this reason, you should know your users’ needs well and identify your business needs within three main areas of your company:
User needs
Explore, segment and analyse your demand. Which generation are they, what is their power purchase, what kind of profession, what are their interests, habits, and hobbies, and of course, what are their needs and pains.
Company needs
You need to analyse three main areas:
- Facility management: all concerned about building processes like access control automation, energy saving, security, maintenance, etc.
- Operations management: all related to business operations like operations in finance, administration, accounting, marketing and sales to streamline and optimise business performance. In addition to room bookings and other services you offer to your client.
- Community management: facilitating resident interactions through chats, member directory, notifications, events calendar, etc.
Once you have identified the needs of your users and your company’s needs, the next step is to analyse and select the best coliving tech tools that meet all your requirements.
Management software and integrations
Good operational management of coliving requires a technology solution that combines a PMS (Property Management System) and a community app with the necessary integrations. A PMS is software that provides a centralised IT system for the management of property operations. In contrast, the app for the community should manage the users’ needs and facilitate their dynamisation.
As in coworking, the choice of tools and functionalities will depend on the needs of the business, as we have explained in the previous section. The most essential functionalities in coliving are:
- Community app.
- Digital contract management.
- Invoicing.
- Residents’ maintenance complaints and incidents.
- Tasks list and project management.
- Visitor manager.
- Booking management.
- Report and Big Data.
- Sales management and CRM.
- Room or flatmates matching.
- Digital inventory.
- Iot solutions.
Do you need help?
Coliving tech tools are essential to your coliving business because they optimise operations and improve the resident experience. To design your technology solution, you must first analyse, on the one hand, what your business needs and weaknesses are and, on the other hand, what your tenants’ needs are. You need to figure out how technology can help you meet those needs and turn your weaknesses into strengths. If you need help figuring out where to start, we can walk you through the process and help you design the most effective technology strategy for your coliving space. Contact us for more information.
If this article interests you, you may also like coworking and coliving management softwares.
