Hate working at residence? This firm brings you chairs, devices, web and even babysitters to make your life simpler

December 15, 2020 9 min read

This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors can occur due to this process.

The opinions expressed by the entrepreneur’s contributors are their own.

Manuel Del Valle, Mariana de Alba and Antonio Ruiz opened the homework with the topic of community and comfort. Their goal was to be a company that not only creates coworking spaces, but creates accessible wellness environments to foster free communities with a personal approach that cares less about the needs of each individual in terms of development and belonging.

“We always worry that it is not possible to work productively when you are not comfortable,” said Manuel del Valle, co-founder and connection maker of homework, in an interview with Entrepreneur en Español.

Homework started four years ago as a people-centered coworking space where every name is important and freedom, empathy and development are core values.

The general concept of this company is to bring the offices closer to the people and make them accessible to them. They currently have four locations on Plaza de la República (in front of the Revolution Monument), Avenida Chapultepec, Mariano Escobedo and the Skala Corporate in Tlalnepantla. The locations are designed to be within 15 minutes of each other by bike as the general concept is to bring offices closer to people so they can be accessed.

But one day a contagious pandemic struck that made everyone stay home.

Homework Like many other coworking spaces, it was faced with the difficulty of developing its business model in order to continue to work for its users or home workers who were restricted in their working days and had to find ways of survival through certain measures.

“This pandemic has made us realize our purpose and enforce it for all of our domestic workers, including their homes,” the executive said.

Antonio Ruiz Moran and Manuel Del Valle / Picture: Courtesy of homework

A coworking space in the middle of a pandemic

Given the current situation, Manuel asked his team: “What would happen if a meteorite fell on our homework today and it was destroyed by the x and y situation? Would homework really still exist? “The answer is yes.” This was achieved through a ‘future scenarios’ projection exercise.

The restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico made the entrepreneurial team wonder how they could bring people’s wellbeing into their homes. The result was a product that precisely tries to make wellness centers available to its customers.

“We started thinking about how we could do it. We recognize the difficulties that exist in the home office today, but we also highlight the benefits of working remotely and realize that there are many. For example, we found that travel times, which used to be very important for meetings, are now minutes that you can spend with the people you love most, ”says Manuel.

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For this reason, through various alliances with leading companies in the fields of technology, furniture, financial solutions and connectivity, Homework has created the world’s first membership to make the future of work accessible: Homework Flex. It’s an initiative where, with a single subscription, you can choose the tools you need to organize your work day wherever you need it all. This means everything from booking meeting rooms to yoga classes, ergonomic furniture and technological accessories.

“We offer these two programs: traditional coworking and support in preparing your life for remote work. For example, in the offices we are opening at Skala in Tlalnepantla, we have a mixed scheme. The real goal of Homework Flex is that you can have the tools anywhere, whether at home or in the office. Then we generate the one-stop-shop modality where you can choose what to measure: furniture, accompaniment, gadgets and even the internet. ”

Image: Courtesy of Homework

Bring the good things out of the office without sacrificing your home

Despite the benefit of reducing travel times There are a number of problems that are specific to the home office. “For example, before you would leave the office and automatically log out, you had a physical barrier that you could separate and free your mind from the hustle and bustle,” adds Manuel. But with the academic from day to day homes have been converted into offices, classrooms, practice studios, etc., and often home internet connections don’t have enough bandwidth to serve all family members.

The homework guys analyzed the various problems that can arise while working from home that they currently have alliances with Telmex, PM Steele, American Express, Herme Systems, Telcel, MiNuNú, CompuDabo, Psiqui, Homely among other things, to help their customers (individuals or large companies) condition their rooms to facilitate teleworking.

“For example, we have MiNuNú, a personal or virtual babysitting service for the home. Many people need it because they not only have to deal with the home office, but also their children’s online schooling. So you need to see professional babysitters so they can help them with their duties while they are in meetings or at work. The babysitters have these two options, going to their homes in person with whatever measures possible, or connecting remotely to help the kids do their homework and answer questions. They are trained both pedagogically and in first aid, ”says Manuel.

Homework has also partnered with furniture makers like PM Steele and Gaia to bring people the products right into their homes so they can customize their spaces at home to work better. At Telmex, they worked with the Sponsored Infinitum plan, which is the home internet paid for by your company.

In addition, with the Fundación Educa they offer the opportunity to help teachers who do not have sufficient resources to do their work more efficiently and with dignity. They are currently in beta testing this service with their first 27 teachers in Mexico City and the state of Mexico who are taking extraordinary efforts to teach online classes. You can support this cause by donating to the official Fundación Educa page.

On the other hand, they have agreements with specialists in wellness and exercise so that in the same subscription you can have access to different systems of physical care.

“We have an alliance with a virtual gym called One2Fit. As soon as you get in, you can get semi-personal attention for your training from home, ”adds Manuel. They are currently turning to other fitness and wellness companies to offer meditation services, yoga, and other disciplines so that people can make their work day the way they want.

One of the main goals of homework is to be able to provide these benefits to large companies in order to maintain good management and to help their employees be much more productive.

“We want the employees in the HR department to be able to support their employees. Not only does it send them the chair and desk (which many could do), it also gives them a lot more tools so that they can do their work in a balanced way, ”explains Manuel.

The homework believes this will be the future: a mix of homes and offices that are much more dispersed around the city and are close to where you live for easy mobility and access. Homework Flex came about as an initiative to keep a business alive, but it turned out that people need to be able to do their jobs satisfactorily and productively.

“I believe that having a positive attitude is very helpful in understanding the possible scenarios you can create and, most importantly, how you can achieve that goal. Posture is extremely important, ”says Manuel.

Although Manuel is mostly optimistic, he follows the philosophy of considering all negative and catastrophic scenarios as this can help you get an idea of ​​what to do in this situation. For him it is necessary to see alternative futures and, above all, to develop innovations in order to get ahead.

“People who have no clear meaning in life or in their company deviate a little and no longer know where they are going,” concludes Manuel.

Image: Courtesy of Homework