Humans of Coworking: Garth & Justin

When it comes to coworking, Mantis Digital know what makes a coworking space great!

In this edition of Humans of Coworking, we catch up with Garth and Justin from Mantis Digital. Based in Auckland, these guys are currently working out of the stunning Textile Lofts coworking space in Parnell.

We learn more about the amazing high performance websites they create, what they reckon makes a space great to work from, and a little insight into what they have planned for the future. 

Garth & Justin, Mantis Digital

Tell us a bit yourselves and what Mantis Digital is all about.

Headed up by Garth Nicholls and Justin Wannenburg, we’re an Auckland based website design and development agency who love helping clients of all kinds build and grow their businesses online. Check us out at mantisdigital.co.nz. 

We're a new school agency that do things differently from the old guard; we have the technical chops to design and build beautiful websites in-house but we also intelligently leverage open source software. That way we can ensure that we’re spending time building an asset that is going to grow a business - rather than reinventing wheels. 

In other words, we deliver superior results for superior value!

How did you first learn about coworking?

Garth and Justin have a long history in coworking - Justin used to run a shared space himself and they met when Garth moved in, having found it on Sharedspace.co.nz.

Mantis Digital Team

What are some of the coworking spaces you've worked from?

We’ve been in three since we started, initially at 10 Customs Street, then Generator (Stanbeth and then Britomart Place) and most recently the Textile Lofts in Parnell.

Why have you chosen to work out of a coworking space as opposed to leasing a space of your own?

One of the key benefits is the flexibility it affords us - we can scale up as our business grows and we don’t have to worry about predicting the space we’ll need and commit to it, only to then outgrow it.

Being in a sharedspace also means we can outsource a lot of distracting things that we’d otherwise have to look after yourself. We’re busy running our business and being in a sharedspace means we don’t have to think of things like fit out, utilities, printers, cleaning, buying more coffee...you name it! 

Another major positive is that you’re surrounded by other businesses and you benefit from a bigger feeling of community than you’d get being in a space by yourselves.

What is your favourite thing about working from Textile Lofts?

The guys that run it really give a damn! You can tell they’ve put a lot of work and thought into the place and they’ve created a wonderfully frictionless environment for us to inhabit. It’s also the little things, they keep the kitchen stocked with great coffee and snacks and a beer fridge with a revolving selection of craft beers (and good old Heinekens for the luddites).

Textile Loft Coworking Space

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about joining a coworking space?

Do it! If you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur it’s a bit scary to make the jump to taking on a business expense like that but it’s well worth it - it’ll stop you going stir crazy at home and it’ll pay for itself with your increased productivity, guaranteed. 

If you’re a bigger company looking to move into a shared space, making a consultative choice on a coworking space with your team is a great way to get buy in from your staff and keep them happy at work.

What does the future look like for Mantis Digital? Any upcoming plans?

We’re going big - we’ve spent the past couple of years investing heavily in our internal processes, structure and team and now we’re poised for lift-off. 

Aside from building a business that has the expertise and processes to produce truly exceptional results for clients, we’ve also structured it with a view to acquiring and on-boarding other businesses. To that end we’ve recently completed our third acquisition (webfu.co.nz) and we’re not going to stop there…watch this space!

Click here to find out more about Mantis Digital + grab a special deal exclusively available to all Sharedspace users. 

For more information on workspace available at Textile Lofts, check out their listing here.