Freelancing means working from home but that has it’s own disadvantages. Indeed cites distractions, isolation and an imbalance between work and life as some of the cons of working from home.
There are alternative working spaces available for freelancers besides working from home. One of the most popular spots for freelancers are coffee shops and restaurants. They offer hot beverages, food, free wifi and a space to meet fellow freelancers. They also have less admin and fees associated with rented shared working spaces.
Some co-shared working spaces in South Africa range from R890 to R2890 per person per month. The only associated fees that come with coffee shops and restaurants is only paying for your beverage and food.
Here are some of the features South African freelancers should look out for when picking a coffee shop or restaurant to work from :
- Stable Free Wifi : This kind of internet connectivity in coffee shops and restaurants allows freelancers to download and upload files quickly, attend team meetings and meet deadlines effectively. Therefore, if you are freelancing in South Africa you might want to watch for spots that have complementary stable wifi.
- Comfortable Seats : This promotes good posture, reduces fatigue, stiffness allowing freelancers to have optimal focus and concentrate better on their tasks. Spending long hours on chairs can lead to aches and pains which can be distracting so you might want to pick a place with comfortable seating.
- Quiet Atmosphere : Pay attention to the surroundings before picking your coffee or restaurant for the day. Avoid places with construction work happening around unless you have the noise cancelling headphones that will block out the noise. In a quiet environment, freelancers can enter a state of flow allowing maximum productivity and creativity for those who are in creative industries.
- Multiple Power Outlets : Spending a couple of hours at a coffee shop or restaurants means your devices are likely to run out of power at some point. The smartest decision would be to choose a place that does only have power outlets but multiple outlets. You want to avoid an awkward situation where you ask someone else to share. So multiple outlets would be a bonus!
- Backup Power : If you are in South Africa, you are familiar with the word ” load shedding”. While most coffee shops and restaurants have backup power, it is best not to assume and ask outright before you sit down and get interrupted during your work sessions. Therefore, backup power is another nice feature to add when looking out for spaces to work out from.
Having said that, let’s tap into a few recommendations provided by some members of the Collaborahub community. This also includes spots that are not exclusively coffee shops and restaurants.
Fair warning, these are Gauteng biased but most of the list mentions franchises with nation wide outlets.
- SEATTLE COFFEE CO – ROSEBANK ( Muphulusi Nefale, Founder)
” Seattle Coffee stood out for me out of all coffee shops that I go to. I liked the round table, the plugs and the fact that there seemed to be an active community of people working there. It seemed people do this regularly so Seattle is my recommendation”
The Rosebank Branch also came highly recommended by Tshego and Tshimologo Leburu who provided us with a picture from her work session :
2. SEATTLE COFFEE CO – BRAAMFONTEIN ( Denzel Machaka, Social Media Manager and Copywriter)
” I loved the creative atmosphere. There was great lightning , seats and also plugs for charging devices. The coffee was also great! ”
3. Mamakashakanadfriends – BRAAMFONTEIN ( Tshego, Community Member)
” Best working day would be Friday”
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4. EXCLUSIVE BOOKS – HYDE PARK ( Tshego, Community Member)
” Great place but may get noisy because of Olives & Plates”
5. BOOTLEGGER COFFEE ( Ntando Mdletshe, Community Member)
6. ABIZ RESTAURANT, LONGPOINT – ( Ntando Mdletshe, Community Member)
That’s the end of our short and sweet list. We will accommodate more places outside Gauteng in our upcoming blogs. Seattle Coffee for example has nationwide outlets so any freelancer outside Gauteng can try Seattle Coffee as a working space.
We will also encourage South African freelancers to join our Hive days, if you missed the last blog on Hive days post, check it out here
If you want to join our WhatsApp community you can join using this link