A friend is being offered a space in London to setup a new Maker Space.
Any reference material I can point him at regarding what questions he should be asking, considerations etc?
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@wcbdata @Workshopshed @makemagazine @millforge @jonty @russss
All that said, there is a problem with the independent FabLab's, as they cannot be run on a For-Profit basis, as their most innovative competition comes from their most innovative users doing it for themselves.
The original MIT FabLab cost between $150K-$250K in academic year 2000/2001.
Just 9 years later, 4 ariists in Holland set up an identical spec of FabLab for themselves costing 5000 Euro's:
The main takeaway from this one is that you cannot do it by yourself.
No-one has enough time to build and maintain all of the machinery, without that being the only thing that you do, and, in order to keep the machines fully functional requires at least one maintainer per machine.
But if you have enough hands, hearts, and, minds, then it becomes way simpler to do. 😁
@wcbdata @Workshopshed @makemagazine @millforge @jonty @russss
All of that said, what part of London is the building in, and how long a lease are they being offered?
I know some people in East London who would like to start a space, who might be interested, depending upon where it will be located.
Give me a shout, and I will put you in touch. :D
@Workshopshed
Gui Cavalcante and the folks who started Artisan's Asylum put together some great materials 10 or 12 years.ago.
Some of it is still available at @makemagazine
https://makezine.com/article/education/making-makerspaces-creating-a-business-model/
And some of it is still available deep in the archives at Artisan's, I'm told.
We started with their guides and examples (among several) when we started @millforge !
@Workshopshed @makemagazine @millforge I'd also reach out to the folks at London Hackspace.
Tagging @BillySmith as a good starting point there.
@wcbdata @Workshopshed @makemagazine @millforge
I was going to mention @jonty and @russss as they were the original founders of the London Hackspace.
@jonty 's reply here:
https://chaos.social/@jonty/117606091362279297
and the linked doc is some of the best advice I could share.
The most important being "start with the people, and not with the building." With the London real estate market being what it is, you can never rely upon a building unless you can get it long-term, and even then, you'll be relying on the market conditions, and those can change at the whims of the landowner.
Even a long lease won't save you from gentrification.
One aquaponics company based in Beckton got booted out of the industrial estate, along with all of the other leaseholders, as the landowner wanted to build luxury flats just across a motorway from Beckton sewage works... 🤦 🤣
