5 key learnings co-working spaces can take from movies like Dangal, Baahubali

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Dangal And Baahubali-2 continue to create history at the box office, globally and have disrupted the scale at which success is measured, changing the definition of a mega blockbuster by multi-fold, from Rs 200 crore to 2000 crore. Here are some interesting business and strategy lessons that co-Working spaces, which themselves are becoming the choice of the new generation of smart workforce, can learn from these two superhits.
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1. Focus on making High Quality Core Product

Nothing Beats Quality, Still.

One unique thing which was quite evident in both the blockbusters was the superlative script, high octane performances by the cast, top notch direction and overall a very well-crafted film that leaves you feeling inspired as well gives you full bang for your buck. While last two years saw crass comedies and run of the mill films also crossing 100 cr, both these films teach us that it's very important to get the core product which is script, acting and direction right for the end result to be of high impact.

Similarly, co-working spaces, while requiring all the bells and whistles like new age fancy architecture and gadgetry, also need to get the core right i.e comfortable ergonomic seating, high speed internet, availability
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of conference rooms, F&B, thinking space and most importantly, a curated ,well designed community and activities. The brands need to bring the best of the breed mentors, collaborations, partners and services to make the experience of co-working a delight. The workplace should be such that people look forward to coming to office to work and stay motivated to make the dent in the universe that they aspire to.

2. Right Strategic Collaborations

After all Co in Co-Working is Collaboration

Baahubali witnessed coming together of two heavyweights of Indian Motion Picture Industry, S S Rajamouli and Karan Johar, leaders in Telugu and Hindi Film Industry. By getting Karan Johar to present the movie in part 2, movie franchise deal, S S Rajamouli pulled off a major scoop by covering all the major movie markets of India between two of them like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil , & Malayalam making it the biggest Pan India hit till date .

Co-working spaces are an essential bridge between need and fulfillment .On one side you have a high energy, disruptive linkster and millennial workforce with demand of technology, capital, guidance and customers and on the other side, the right collaborations. An apt or prefect collaboration has to be in place to provide the necessary services, mentorship, partnerships and access to global collaborative networks to make it happen for the tenants.
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3. Multiple Revenue Streams

Warren Buffett, famously, said “never rely on a single source of income"

Baahubali 2 have shattered all Box Office records for Indian Film Industry and look set to surpass 2000 Cr by the time you read this. Not to mention, the satellite rights for both movies smashed all records by going for a huge 75 Cr. The revenue from Music, Merchandise, Mobile games, and for a first, a spin-off Animated series on Amazon Prime, Baahubali : The Lost Legend , shows how new revenue streams can keep the cash register ringing for long.

This shows importance of exploring new revenue streams for co-working spaces. Some of the trends that have already caught up with Co-working space offering is more than a seat and include things like legal, financial, professional services, software development to digital services to having branded in-house cafes, events and more.

4. Go Global Baby
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The World is truly Flat, Make Local, and Sell Global.

Dangal Released in India and was a smash hit and could have been content with Rs 500 cr. it made in India and Rs 250 cr in Europe and Americas. But being Mr. Perfectionist , Aamir khan decided to play the Chinese checkers and as on date out of the whopping 2000 Cr gross Dangal has managed to collect around Rs 1200 cr from China only, Yes China, you read it right, a big market for Hollywood films but hitherto never exploited to its full potential by Bollywood movies .Meanwhile Baahubali 2 is also smashing domestic and overseas records with a total of around 1800 cr till date & considering China’s new found fondness for Bollywood, it can easily cross Rs 2500 cr or maybe even Rs 3000 cr .

This shows how global collaborations can truly change the game for Indian service providers and can scale new heights by such partnerships. Few example recent collaborations like Vikarm Solar tie up Israel’s Water-Gen and Creator’s Gurukul, collaborated with Global Leaders like F6S and Startup Grind from Europe and Silicon Valley respectively to curate a truly global experience.

5. Community Building

Love Thy Neighbor
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These two mega hits built a clan of Fan-boys and Fan-girls giving the movies a cult status of a kind unheard in Bollywood till date. While it was rooting for women power “Mhari Choriya Chorro se kum hain ke” from Dangal to curiosity around the question that the entire Nation wanted to know” Kattapa Ne Baabhubali Ko Kyu Maara?”, whereby the marketing team hacked virality and social media, so well, that it created an entire legion of Baahubali aficionados leading to unprecedented frenzy around these movies. The shared values among the fans created a sense of togetherness and debuted a new kind of community around Bollywood films.

Similarly, what differentiates a co-working space, at the most from a typical office, is that people with different strong suited, capabilities and know how help each other in the areas of weakness to achieve the respective goals.

While people working out of a co-working might be from different companies, they help each other to achieve success because there is a feeling of “belongingness”, a community bond which means success for one is success for all. Globally, people take pride in calling them “We-Workers” nearly as much as a “Googler” or so ...

We can soon expect co-working spaces to have the portraits of Mahendra Baahubali and Mahavir Singh Phogat to inspire the workforce and have #LikeABaahubali replace #LikeABoss .


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(The article is authored by Abhinav Tandon and Mohammed Sirajuddin, Co-Founders, Creator’s Gurukul)


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