TGt Meets ... Matt Greenwood

We've been catching up with Matt Greenwood, owner of newly opened, Desk Cowork. He's been talking all things business and Swindon.

What inspired you to set up your business in Swindon?
I chose to set up Desk when after a while of searching around for somewhere in Swindon I could productively work and meet likeminded business people, it became apparent that Swindon was missing what the world has 15,000 of: a cowork space where entrepreneurs and business people alike could collaborate and work together.

After visiting Google in Dublin on an internship, working at Web Summit 2015 and working from similar talent gardens and cowork spaces in Milan, I dreamt of somewhere I could work that wasn’t at all corporate in Swindon. I decided to take all of the ideas from these places and make Swindon a creative cowork space!

Desk was a no brainer as I met more and more coffee shop warriors like myself, spending £12 a day on coffee or sitting at their kitchen table with an unworldly amount of distractions around. Situated in the heart of Old Town, I just had to take the lead and bring together the community that was lurking in the shadows.

Describe your business in 3 words…
Collaborative, creative, awesome.

What advice would you give anyone looking to do the same?
Looking to start a business? A lot of people with big ideas spend too much time evaluating and wondering whether it will be a success. The 1st best thing I learnt in business is the 6 F’s: Fail Fast, Fail Frequently and Fail Forward. The 2nd best thing in business I adopted is a saying by Alex Hillman - a successful co-working space owner in Philadelphia: #JFDI is the hashtag and acronym. Like Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ but with a little more attitude…

What do you think attracts business people to Swindon?
Swindon is actually a thriving business town, it was just missing a physical hub for the entrepreneurial spirit. I think business people choose to come to Swindon because it is affordable in terms of space, but also there are a load of graduates and talent thanks to the many HQ’s in the area.

Especially as London’s belt is pushing further and further on, I don’t think it will be long until Swindon develops at a rapid pace - it’s certainly an exciting place to be.

How do you like to spend your time off?
In my time off I enjoy riding my motorbike, seeing friends, going to the gym and travelling! I’m excited to go to Asia for the first time next month. But as geeky as it sounds, in my time off from Desk I most enjoy planning other business ideas and discussing ideas with friends!

What have been your key challenges and how have you overcome them?
Starting Desk was difficult as there isn’t anything else like it in Swindon, and so very little market research to go by. I have read so many times from other Cowork owners not to take the “build and they will come” approach (really you shouldn’t do this with any business idea), so I had to try and find all of the entrepreneurs in the wood work which is easier said than done. To test the idea we ran two cowork days in January which went really well, qualifying the need for a cowork space.

Your 2pm meeting has been cancelled, meaning you now have a two-hour lunch break. What do you do?
At the moment? Celebrate and crack on with the mailbox full of emails and enquiries - it’s been mad! But when things calm a little, I am sure I would go for a nice lunch at Los Gatos or Eggelicious!

Describe Swindon in three words…
Exciting, growing, promising

What has been your biggest achievement to date?
Not too sure what to say for this really, I think opening Desk was a big deal for me as while it’s not my first business, it’s the first with a physical presence in a community like Swindon, and particularly Old Town. My other businesses have been tech, event or online retail based and so this is quite different. I think the support from members and all walks of life has been outstanding and has really made me feel like I have done something great here.

What are your plans for the future?
I would like to see Desk grow so much so that we can open another larger venue, and then expand entrepreneurial programs to support people who want to start businesses. I think this is really key for Swindon getting better and it is something I am excited to help try and support.