Indian cities may soon have a large proportion of professionals working out of cafés rather than cubicles at a formal office. While Starbucks and Costa and others still become the place to work out of on an odd day, restaurant and hangout Social is shaking things up a bit by offering young entrepreneurs and creative professionals the option of renting a workspace for an entire month, even hosting meetings there. Conveniently, all work and most play can now happen in one place.

Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and MD of Impresario, the group that is behind Social says, “We wanted to create a brand for young people. They’re so connected and want to share their lives visibly. They are highly entrepreneurial and have a tremendous sense of social activism. So we created Social to foster a space that caters to that need, a productive space, a space for doers and makers to work and network.”

Social in Bangalore is spread across a sprawling 6,000 sq. ft. space on Church Street. The place shifts gears and becomes a high-energy bar and place for people to hang out in the evenings. During the day, the ground floor is open throughout and offers “fun-dining”. The workspace is a level above and allows renting of a table or a conference room for meetings. The décor is rugged – cushy leather sofas juxtaposed with hard industrial elements designed to give off the vibe of a hangout in the Meatpacking District of New York.

Vinay J, Project Manager at e-learning firm Amalga Educraft is based in Bangalore and works out of Social regularly. “We have our offices in Delhi and Mumbai but here in Bangalore we do not have an office space. The nature of our jobs requires us to collaborate and work, so a place like Social is brilliant. The location is central, so it is easy to meet and brainstorm,” he says.

Smriti Sharma is Director of travel start-upWanderers. On working out of Social in New Delhi, she says, “Start-ups like mine cannot afford rentals of an office space and often work in isolation. At Social, I am getting a platform where I am sitting on a table with a graphic designer, copywriter, documentary maker, theatre artist and me, a spiritual retreat maker. So it’s a buzz of creativity at our table always. Plus I am sold on the lake view!”

Social offers working space, food, wi-fi and other generic facilities for a monthly fee of ₹5,000 which is taken from members as credit. Kabir Uppal, Consultant with Marketing and Digital Portals Com First (India), says, “The monthly fee is way more than fair, considering that it is redeemable. The services being offered to members make for the right amount of infrastructure for any freelancer or entrepreneur.”

In many ways, it’s not all that new an idea. Amlani himself admits, “We saw it as something that was already happening. We just decided to make it official.”

The F&B business is known to be a challenging one. Rahul Khanna, co-promoter of Mamagoto, a four-year old chain of Asian café-style restaurants that kicked off in 2010, feels that longevity in the business isn’t always easy.

“Personally I like the Social concept. A Costa, for example, is a quick meeting place. My meetings there would never be meal-oriented. If I wanted to really work longer term with someone or get to know them better, a place like Social allows for that. Five-star hotel coffee shops are stiff and boring, and so young professionals don’t opt for those,” says Khanna.

With Social in the fray, food and drink is going to feature in a whole community of small businesses to some extent. Social in New Delhi and Mumbai are already thriving within weeks of starting out. The New Delhi hangout got 350 applications in its first three weeks. And call it cheeky, but a Social is coming up right opposite one big-name ‘third place’ in Colaba!

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