The Bremen startup Tapdesk wants to turn bars and restaurants that are closed during the day into coworking spaces. This should not only make coworking significantly more cost-effective.
Björn Giess (27) and Patricke Runge (25) from Bremen founded Tapdesk and want to make the startup successful with a “hands-on bootstrapping mentality”. Tapdesk
Normally the door to the “Lemon Lounge” – a bar in Bremen city center – remains closed during the day. Only in the evening do people come in to drink cocktails, wine and schnapps. Until now. Because on this day Patrick Runge is already waiting behind the door. He wants to welcome his guests. And they didn’t come to drink, they came to work.
Together with co-founder Björn Giess, Runge started an experiment at the beginning of the year: Tapdesk. The startup wants to use bars and restaurants that are closed during the day as coworking spaces. The highlight: Because existing space can be used more efficiently, the price for Tapdesk coworking is extremely low. A subscription – i.e. unlimited use of all future Tapdesk locations – should already be available for 49 euros per month. For comparison: For other coworking offers, users often pay more than 200 euros per month.
Live tests should provide information
“There is tea and coffee at the front, but otherwise there is free choice of seating,” says Runge. In the entrance area, the two founders have set up a serving trolley with a pad coffee machine and a kettle on it. In the long term, they want to think of a better solution. “It’s all coming bit by bit,” says Patrick Runge.
Working with a view to the bar: Tapdesk tests bars for their working atmosphere. Kim Torster
Tapdesk is currently still in the testing phase. Since January, the startup has been inviting interested parties to various bars in Bremen. For free. On the one hand, the concept and on the other hand the bars should be tested for their coworking suitability. Are the chairs comfortable? Are there enough sockets? – The two founders want to answer such questions as realistically as possible. The two of them are currently on site during the testing, filling up water, laying extension cables and ensuring there is enough light. One of the bars tested was rather dark: “We screwed a few light bulbs into the lamps in the morning and then out again in the evening,” says Giess.
Cold calling in the Bremen gastronomy scene
25-year-old Patrick Runge gradually developed the idea for Tapdesk. He originally wanted to found a startup that would take care of the efficient use of various areas – no matter where, no matter what. Because this task seemed too big and time-consuming, he decided to focus on coworking. “I talked to different people and learned that the coworking situation is somehow difficult for everyone.” Workplaces are expensive, and working in a café doesn’t work for many people because of the noise alone. He met his co-founder Björn Giess at a startup camp in Bremen. Giess himself commuted to his employer in another city for a while so that he could at least be among people every now and then and not always have to sit alone in the home office. That’s why he was immediately enthusiastic about Runge’s idea – and quickly joined the company.
Neither Giess nor Runge knew the Bremen gastronomy scene particularly well. They personally visited the locations and their owners one by one and convinced them of their idea within “two to three conversations”. Cold calling. “Most people were irritated at first,” says Runge. “Many people thought that people needed printers and screens to work well. We then explained to them that many people simply sit in the café or at the kitchen table.” Even well-known coworking chains often offer their customers nothing more than a table and a chair.
Win-win for everyone?
“The idea is that everyone benefits from the Tapdesk concept,” says Runge. On the one hand, there are the restaurateurs who make their shops available for a fee, but do not have to be there themselves and thereby generate a passive income. And on the other hand, the coworkers: people who would otherwise work alone at home, who perhaps don’t have their own study, but just a kitchen table. Or who simply have their home office ceiling fall on their heads every now and then.
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At least during the test phase, the concept seems to be working. Although Tapdesk is still relatively unknown, the bar – aka the coworking space – fills up throughout the day. By midday almost all tables are occupied. People even sit on the big sofas with their laptops. Every now and then someone is on the phone, otherwise everyone works concentrated and quietly. The feedback from past tests was generally positive, says Giess. There are still small construction sites here and there (such as the coffee supply), but there is nothing that cannot be solved.
Things get serious in March
The startup’s final test phase ends this week. Then things get serious: From March, interested parties can book the first Bremen coworking location for money. Then it will become clear whether the two founders’ calculations work out. The subscription price of 49 euros is based on the Deutschlandticket. People were asked how much they were willing to pay. And tries to calculate the resulting costs – not that easy when there are hardly any comparable concepts. “So far we have had to reckon with a lot of variables,” says Patrick Runge. During the tests it also became clear that users are also interested in daily flat rates or hourly prices. So can Tapdesk stay this cheap in the long run? The two founders say that their offer should remain affordable – for example also for students.
The Tapdesk founders can well imagine turning the Lemon Lounge into a coworking space during the day. One of their advantages: large windows and lots of light – at least on sunny days. Kim Torster
Tapdesk is currently completely boostrapped – and should stay that way for as long as possible. The founders’ goal is to quickly become profitable. That’s not unrealistic, says Giess. Because the costs are basically manageable. The aim is for the coworking locations to function without staff. To do this, members should have access to the respective locations using a code on their smartphone. More spaces will gradually be added – including in other cities. Once things get going, the founders want to gradually expand the offering. “We would like to make it possible for our coworkers to network if they want to,” says Giess. For example, after-work events after work are conceivable. The coworkers don’t even have to get up to do this – they’re already in a bar.
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