“We have got a lot of great stories where businesses have started here and grown into…Maboneng as a whole”

The OPEN center has about 30 members. Most are small start-up companies related to the field of technology. But there are also “satellite” offices for manufacturing companies. One member of the OPEN Collaborative Workspace operates an online center for games of chance.

Paul Keursten owns part of OPEN Collaborative Workspace. He notes that many traditional offices are dull and uninviting. By comparison, he praises the center’s atmosphere as lively, a place that helps people develop ideas as they drink coffee and talk.

This shared space and spaces like it are not the only places in Johannesburg that serve people who work alone or at a distance from their companies. For example, there is the IT Corner in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville. The IT Corner is a coffee shop that gives many neighbors a place to work as well as a place to meet new and old friends. Amanda Forsythe is a local political worker. She says she visits the IT Corner often.

“This for me is an ideal working space, because not only do I get to see various people all in one go, often. But I also get to know what’s happening in the neighborhood…Before becoming a counselor I had my own company and working as an entrepreneur. That can also be incredibly lonely…”

Such spaces can also provide chances for networking. Luthando Mfabe works for a company called Digital Voodoo, which does digital marketing. The company has its headquarters in the OPEN workspace. Mr. Mfabe says meeting and talking with others about subjects of interest can open new possibilities.