It is much more than a group of companies that share the same workspace. In Area 25, in Faro, real synergies have been created and companies from different sectors are growing together. Yesterday, Thursday, they presented their concept.
They say strength is in numbers and, if this old maxim applies in the business world, the seven companies that share the same space on Rua Ascensão Guimarães, behind Refúgio Aboim Ascensão, are on the right path.
Only the gains that are obtained from mutual help are an invaluable asset for any of the partners, they assure.
This is just one of the advantages that companies working in Area 25 say they feel. Added values that the company Dengun has pursued since its inception and leveraged when it met those responsible for Nata Design and Boom Models.
«Dengun was already headquartered in Gambelas and I started to bring together a series of companies within the same space, which had about 60 square meters. It got to the point where there were already four companies there and it started to be small for so many people. Only if we built a second floor», revealed Miguel Fernandes.
The person in charge of the web and mobile development company then started looking for alternatives. «However, I met the people here from Nata Design and João from Boom Models and told them I was looking for a space. They liked the idea and we all started to develop the concept, until we got to this point», he said.
The formal opening of the space takes place months after the synergy began. «We thought that the project was already solid enough to present it to everyone», said Miguel Fernandes.
When referring to everyone, the young entrepreneur spoke of the more than 140 people who accepted Area 25's invitation and attended the inauguration yesterday. Numbers well above what organizers expected, but also reveal the curiosity that the concept aroused.
An even clearer sign that this is an interesting concept was the approach of another group of entrepreneurs, who will replicate the model «out of Faro».
A parallel initiative, which would always have to take place in an alternative space, as Area 25 will soon run out of cargo capacity.
Despite the fact that seven companies physically share this space, 14 businesses “gravitate” around it. Thus, there should only be space for the company Cubo Matias, which should soon join the group.
«What makes our concept different, in my opinion, is the fact that there are a series of premises that define the subsequent health of space and the relationships between everyone. For example, we do not allow competing companies here, there is only one in each branch. By doing this, instead of getting into conflict, we mesh and add value to our products and provide a better service to our customers», believes Miguel Fernandes.
And why the name Area 25? «I will be very honest! It's not to be Area 51, otherwise they'd start to think that we were making sites for aliens or “green” accounting here», Miguel Fernandes said laughing, in an allusion to the famous North American complex, connoted with secret research involving extra-terrestrials.
«25 is the port number. We wanted it to be a relatively neutral name, because what matters is to highlight the companies that are here and not the name of the space», he revealed.
Currently, the companies sharing Area 25 are Alfa Cargo – Transport and Logistics, Awareness – Management Consulting, Boom Models – Model Agency, Dengun – Web Agency, Lotus Studio – Sustainable Architecture, Layer 3 Solutions – Informática and Nata Design – Design and Advertising.
Nata Design solved too much space problem
With the creation of Area 25, in addition to creating synergies and added value for your business, Nata Design, the original tenant of the space, solved another problem: making the most of an area that was too big for her needs.
The first company to share the same space with Nata Design was Boom Models, which works in a closed office, unlike the other companies, which despite having niches, operate in a common open space logic.
For João Neves dos Santos, «unfortunately» there are windows and a door, almost always open, that create a barrier in relation to the other companies. “This is sometimes too limiting for the good atmosphere that exists here. I sometimes have to get up, to circulate and talk to this and that company», he confessed.
The arrival of new tenants brought advantages to those who were already in what is now Area 25. «In practical terms, the contacts that other companies have are contacts that I easily access. Someone easily tells me that, having a certain job, they can propose to the client the hiring of hostesses or a photographer», he exemplified.
As illustrated in the presentation of Cláudia Fonseca's Nata Design concept, with this partnership, companies want to “go further, think outside the box” and create an innovative way of relating and benefiting from cooperation.
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