Are you distracted by children, spouses, or maybe furry family members? You often fail to draw the line between working hours and free time, so your working hours stretch throughout the day? Maybe you just need to get away from home and wear something other than pajamas and go to a motivated and working environment?

We cannot all work from our home in complete comfort, and remain motivated, focused, and at the same time complete regular daily tasks within the set deadlines. If you are in such a situation, coworking spaces are an ideal solution for you, providing you with a warm but professional, motivating working atmosphere. People of different professions and interests can share their ideas and experiences in one place, creating opportunities for new projects and jobs.

Some of the most important benefits are:

• Money savings
• Flexibility
• Exchange of ideas, greater motivation
• Modern and comfortable work spaces
• Working unit with all necessary equipment and high-speed Internet

Coworking Zagreb

Zagreb is the business and cultural center of Croatia, ideally positioned between the Mediterranean and larger Central European cities. Therefore, has a considerable number of coworking spaces and everyone can find something for themselves. They are ideal for freelancers, small and medium entrepreneurs, developers, creatives, entrepreneurs and in fact anyone who likes this concept and at the same time would like to save money.

The concept is similar to virtual offices (https://www.virtual-office.hr/hr/virtual-offices-in-croatia/), except here you really get a workspace that you can use, with some providers from 0 to 24 hours.

In addition to the work unit consisting of a desk, chair, and if necessary a PC, there are also a kitchen, toilet, telephone rooms to have privacy during important business conversations, a relaxation room where you can relax or hang out, meeting rooms, and some companies even have showers for complete comfort.

Depending on the company, you also get a business address and receiving mail service, but if you are just passing through and need a place to work for only a few hours, it is possible to take that option as well.

You don’t need to pay expensive office space rents, but by using coworking you actually share costs with other members and you pay for as many work units as you really need. All offices are fully equipped with high-speed internet, printers, scanners, and some even have 3D printers.

Numerous coworking companies organize various educations, workshops, courses, and if you are their member, you can get additional discounts, maybe even free participation.

You can rent a work unit in a coworking space for one hour, but most companies charge for use on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Prices on a daily basis range from 50 to 90 kuna, weekly up to 200 HRK, and monthly from 350 to 1300 kuna, depending on the selected package. Some companies also offer one day of free space use, in order to decide before renting whether or not you want to continue to use it.

Packages are formed from the cheapest ones which include all basic services (desk, use of printers, internet) to more expensive ones where you can secure your parking space, a locker with a key for personal belongings, and discounts for certain education, etc.

Coworking in the rest of Croatia

Apart from Zagreb, which definitely boasts a large number of coworking spaces, other cities also do not lag far behind, and Split is one of the examples. During the season, entrepreneurs, creatives, and freelancers from all over the world gather there, combining a pleasant climate and proximity to natural beauty with occasional work from coworking spaces that are fully equipped and ready to use. Some of the spaces even have a mini fitness where you can get some exercise and rest your thoughts.

In all major cities we can find at least one coworking space, and for digital nomads, creatives, developers and other freelancers, it is extremely important that they can start working when and where they want and that they have space and good conditions. Many will, especially in summer, choose locations along the coast, and if there is a beach next to them where they can go to refresh themselves during the break, it can’t get any better.

With a rich tourist offer, the beautiful Adriatic Sea, more and more companies are recognizing the benefits of opening coworking centers, spaces or incubators on our coast. One of them is the well-known American company, which in addition to Split has spaces in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, London, Lisbon, and other major cities. The company allows its customers to use their premises for a year anywhere in the world.

Apart from Split, coworking spaces can be found in Rijeka, Šibenik, Zadar and Pula.

The premises are also fully equipped, have work units, toilet, kitchen, and rooms for relaxation, telephoning, conference and meeting rooms, lounge spaces, etc.

In Rijeka, for example, we have a coworking center that is more oriented to creatives and holding various workshops, exhibitions, lectures, or events.

Zadar also boasts a fairly developed coworking center, which meets all the needs for work, and a break from it.

There are more and more coworking incubators that have been created as co-financed projects with the aim of increasing self-employment, encouraging entrepreneurship, and as support from EU funds for entrepreneurs through various institutions in order to facilitate their business operations and answer all additional questions and ambiguities that they certainly have as beginners.

Šibenik boasts a coworking incubator that subsidizes the use of premises until the first year of the lease, where for the first three months it subsidizes 75% of the amount, and for the next nine months the amount of 50%.

We can also find coworking spaces in central Croatia. Varaždin, Osijek and Čakovec offer coworking spaces that have everything one entrepreneur needs, and in Čakovec you can rent space in the amount of only HRK 300 per month.

The packages do not differ much from those in Zagreb, but companies offer different shades of services at different prices, depending on the city where they are located and the location.

Coworking Belgrade

Belgrade has a diverse offer, at relatively affordable prices. Do you want to work in the famous Knez Mihaila Street, near the most beautiful Belgrade park Kalemegdan or the bohemian district of Skadarlija? Anything is possible with representative locations of coworking space.

The premises are fully equipped, and even if you come without notice, you will surely find your place to work. For some, prices are fixed regardless of the time of arrival, while for others, prices increase for weekends and holidays by 6 € per hour.

Conference halls of all sizes, equipped work units, printers, scanners, telephone rooms, lounge spaces, all the more or less basic things that make a coworking space can be found here as well.

There are open spaces where during warm days you can enjoy sipping coffee and recharging your batteries for further work. If you want you can make a barbecue, play billiards, board games or maybe go to a yoga class and all within the coworking center.

We can conclude that the Belgraders really made sure that apart from good motivation and working conditions, you have everything to relax and rest.

Coworking Ljubljana

As in most European cities, Ljubljana has a different offer of coworking space, from those equipped with basic office equipment to fully equipped spaces. Some companies even have electrical romobiles that users can use free of charge for the purpose of performing their daily activities.

For different types of creatives, there is a coworking center that, in addition to the basic conditions, offers various workshops, the use of 3D printers, photographic services, etc., and spaces for rest and relaxation. A multitude of different creative people inspire each other in one place, open new perspectives and create new ideas.

Working in an inspiring environment will contribute to your creativity and progress. Some companies also offer mentors to help solve various problems or business dilemmas.

Coworking Vienna

Vienna, as a Central European historical, business and cultural center and a favorite destination of many tourists, boasts a large number of different coworking spaces whose popularity has been growing in recent years.

In addition to the usual services, we can especially point out examples of fully equipped spaces that are decorated with high quality and elegant furniture in a representative location in the city center for the price of € 200 per month, it certainly sounds attractive.

Of course, Vienna also has creative spaces for exchanging ideas and experiences or the so-called quiet work zone, if you still need silence for complete focus.

Some companies have gone a step further and even offer their members babysitting services in specially organized playrooms.

With the development of coworking, companies really try to please their customers, meet the expectations of different needs and profiles of people, offer a variety of services and thus help them in business, education, motivation, creativity and save money. Taking into account productivity, but also the human need to socialize and feel comfortable, some companies provide their customers with various options such as babysitting, barbecue, yoga, fitness, electric scooter, billiards, table tennis, showers, relaxation areas. We see the future of coworking space in additional services, but also in narrowly specialized and specially equipped spaces that bring together people of the same profile and interest, for example UX designers or developers who have testing equipment at their disposal (various mobile and tablet devices) or the gaming industry, photographers, cameramen, or Youtubers.

Prepared by Hana Puljiz in Zagreb on 26.01.2021.