sell sell

sell sell sell
Sold on Camden
It took less than five minutes to walk from Camden Town
station to meet Vanessa Butz – MD of Interchange – at
the Triangle, a new co-working space right in the middle of
Camden Market. During the short walk I had already tried on
four different coats, considered a handful of micro-business
ideas, and stuffed myself with too many caramel covered
churros. Why? Because I was possessed by the spirit of
commerce – I wanted to be part of it. That and caramel
covered churros…
Camden Town has a wonderful way of making you
want to buy into everything you see. I guess it’s the
environment, and Vanessa confirms my suspicions.
“Everyone knows that location is key to running a
successful business. It’s not just about having retail
points easily accessible to customers, just being in
the right environment will have an enormous impact
on the productivity and the wellbeing of a team.”
And that couldn’t be clearer wandering through
Camden Lock, surrounded by the stallholders
like animals in their natural habitat soaking in the
atmosphere of, well… business! There used to be no
better training ground for a small business owner
than a busy market stall.
But business has changed!
Stock? I’ll take drop shipping instead. Hard Sell?
No thanks, we now build relationships over social
media and retail using ecommerce. I’m not saying
Camden is outdated, far from it. You can’t replace
human interaction, not yet anyway. Ideas flourish in
the midst of a conversation, not in cold email strings
sent on a schedule. I want the market stall buzz to
pour into today’s office-bound startups and SMEs.
Interchange is right on track for that with 84,000 sq
foot of space for genuine inspiration at the heart of
Camden.
Offices need to be more than just an empty room
with some Wi-Fi and a printer. I was at Facebook the
other day… and I didn’t want to leave. It was more
hospitable than most people’s houses. Think about
it, being so comfortable at the office you don’t want
to leave? That’s a guaranteed way of becoming a
total workaholic. It’s the difference between inviting
a potential business partner to your place filled with
DRS and Tom Dixon designed furniture – if your
place is Interchange – and the nearest Starbucks
filled with loud teenagers... the difference between
working next to someone who can empathise and
help you along the way, and well – teenagers. And
even though Vanessa doesn’t mind teenagers as
much as I do, she agrees:
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