Monetize Your Workplace
Create a surge-priced marketplace for in-demand meeting rooms, and other ideas on how to monetize your workplace.
Don’t feel bad about working on your side hustle during work hours. Integrate your side hustle into work by leveraging underutilized workplace assets! Put your guilt to one side, too... you’re benefiting the economy by adding liquidity.
Get snacks from the kitchen and take them to non-HQ locations and sell them
This is an easy one. Those poor people in remote sites don’t get unlimited access to paleo protein bars, sulfite-free jerky and expensive water replacements with a disconcerting hint of something. Acquire extra (pro-tip! don't do it all at once, and attack multiple kitchens at different times of day, opting for the dietary rhythms of each department), cart them to off-site team visits and set up a stand. Say your kids are fundraising. They are. For you!
Book high-demand meeting rooms far in advance, and charge for them based on a surge pricing model
You know which ones these rooms are… they’re the ones with lighting that makes you look good, that are equidistant from the kitchen and bathrooms, have working videoconferencing and room for more than two people. Simply book them out with a slew of dummy meetings (e.g.: “Ops Sync”) under a bunch of shared calendars (that you own, but that’s not visible immediately). You can either wait for someone to contact you for them and then ask for a favor, either organizational or just $5 for the trouble, or you can explicitly put them on a slack channel. I suggest “#rent_seekers”. If you’re a pro, make an adaptive surge pricing model using Google Sheets. Either way, skrilla baby!
Monetize your mailing lists with referral marketing promos
You know what most email marketers would do for a 1,000+ person targeted email list with high read rate? Become the key person for sending out organizational newsletters, and then think what you could sell with it! Everyone at your work is a prime candidate for sales of things like
- Work bags/cases
- Vacation deals
- Concert/sports tickets for nearby venues
- Alcoholic beverages
- Noise cancelling headphones
- Therapy
- Fitness instructors
- Nutritionists/dieticians
- Allbirds
- Better jobs (this might be a tricky one to pitch)
Even just putting referral codes into group emails and you could be adding $100/week to your take-home.
Rent out empty desks to make your office a co-working space
You know who that guy is who never shows up. He “works from home” or something. Well, his desk is a monetization opportunity waiting to happen. Sign in a guest near you, put them on a guest wifi and bam, you’ve got a $100/week visitor. How many desks are free around you?
Buy group gifts for co-workers’ birthdays, departures, various special events, and over-charge colleagues for their shares.
This takes a bit of organizing, but it’s worth it. Nobody knows exactly what things cost. In fact, they’re relieved to just be venmoing you $25 rather than worrying about numbers. If anyone suspects you, it’s probably because they have a similarly sneaky mind - simply cut them in, and widen your net for the next take.