A local coworking space is using a crowdfunding campaign to help build a second 15,000-square-foot location tailored to the needs of entrepreneurial mothers.
Founder Tammira Lucas is planning to expand The Cube Cowork in Baltimore or the Atlanta area through a $100,000 crowdfunded debt raise. The demand for the company's mix of coworking space and onsite babysitting services has increased in the last several years since many women started their own businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and child care costs have continued to rise. Lucas founded the coworking space in 2016 and the Cube moved into a portion of its current space at 4709 Harford Road in late 2020 before expanding fully there in 2021.
The company is pledging to give investors a return of 1.4 times their investment by 2028 regardless of the Cube's revenue. Lucas hopes to raise $100,000 by June 9 but if the company fails to reach its goal by that date, all investors will receive a full refund. The relatively low risk of the funding round is an intentional decision to help drive investment from people who would otherwise never invest in real estate, Lucas said.
"This is about me providing my community with an opportunity to be an investor to help change their mindset around wealth creation and generational wealth," Lucas said.
Lucas, a West Baltimore native, said she would like to expand in Baltimore but is also eyeing Atlanta for a second location because it has so many young, Black professionals, which is her company's main customer demographic.
If the round fails, Lucas said she will pursue other financial vehicles to gain the capital for the new Cube location. The campaign has raised $3,400 as of press time. In addition to the crowdfunding campaign, state Sen. Cory McCray sponsored a state bond initiative that will provide $100,000 for the space. McCray views the Cube Cowork as an anchor institution for the Harford Road corridor because of how it brings events and other traffic into the neighborhood. Lucas hopes to raise a total of $200,000 from the crowdfunding round and the state bond.
"I think as a small Black business owner that she's leading the way not just for Black folks but for women," McCray said of Lucas. "It's a great asset in the 45th district."
The expansion plan comes as more women are becoming entrepreneurs. Women created half of all businesses in the nation from 2019 to 2022, up from only 29% of new businesses before the pandemic, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman said during a talk at Coppin State University on Thursday.
The entrepreneurship boom is partially the result of 1.8 million women dropping out of the workforce during Covid-19. Women who were laid off or had temporarily left their jobs to take care of children during remote learning realized their skillsets could transfer to business ownership, or picked up new skills that allowed them to start new companies, Lucas said.
Many of those women business owners still face the barrier of gender inequities in child care. Mothers still do the majority of housework and child work in the family, according to a study from the Center for Global Development. Women are often asked to take care of children while balancing the responsibilities of work, especially after the pandemic caused a shortage of child care workers. The cost of child care across the nation rose by 41% during the pandemic, making it difficult for many families to balance work with the cost of care.
The Cube Cowork tries to provide a space where women can focus on their business without being interrupted by their children, while also creating a community where mothers can network, Lucas said. The onsite care helps lift the psychological burden off mothers who feel uncomfortable going to an office far away from a daycare center, she added.
"The on-site babysitting services that we offer break down a huge barrier for women-owned businesses," Lucas said. "You eliminate that mom guilt we get when we are trying to focus on ourselves."
The coworking space, which has a staff of four, has seen its revenue increase massively over the past year. The Cube Cowork grew from earning $8,500 in revenue in fiscal year 2021 to earning $192,211 in revenue in the fiscal year 2022, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure that accompanies the round.
Cube Cowork's increase in revenue comes despite the wider office market seeing a stark decline as more companies move to hybrid work. Many people are dissatisfied with working completely from home and need a space outside of the home to work, especially if they have children, Lucas said. The company is also using multiple revenue streams, like renting out event space and meeting rooms to create a more steady cash flow.
