I'm working on creating a local group for freelancers, small businesses and other home workers based in and around Redhill and Reigate. So far I've created a website, a twitter account and a Meetup group and between these (allowing for some overlap) I think approximately 65 people have joined and expressed an interest.

Last week I asked these people to complete a very short survey to tell me a little bit about what they would like to gain from the group. In the five days I had the survey open, 30 people took the time to respond. Many of them also including long additional comments and suggestions. Thank you to everyone who spent time completing it.

So what did I ask and what did these thirty people say? Here's a review of the results.

Q: What would you like to get from this group (multiple selection)?

Q: How often would you like to co-work?

Q: How often would you like to meet to socialise or network?

The responses to these three questions were excellent as they paint a really clear picture about what people are wanting. They show an overwhelming desire for meet-ups that allow for networking and the large majority of people would like those to be monthly.

Beyond the obvious desire for networking I was very pleased to also see a strong interest in getting together for co-working days. Slightly strangely only 16 people said they wanted to co-work in the first question but 20 people said they'd like to co-work either daily, weekly or monthly in question two! But taking the smaller number of 16, I would hope that a well placed monthly co-working could attract 10 people, which is plenty for such an event.

The Plans

While definitely still a draft plan, I'm aiming to arrange two monthly events (possibly on a single day so people can move easily from one to the other, we'll see).

One will be a co-working day, hopefully running from about 9am to 5pm, possibly with the first hour being a networking late breakfast. Then open access desks, chairs and internet provided in a single area. The venue will obviously have an impact on how this would work, but that's roughly my target.

The second event will be a very straight forward networking and social evening gathering. Probably to be held in a reserved section of a central and easy to access pub. Hopefully a very relaxed event with no strict structure, at least for the first one.

To make these happen I need to find somewhere willing to host them. I asked another important question to help guide me on this topic.

Q: Where are you based?

Hence my preference is going to be for a venue as close to Redhill town centre as possible. This should cover as many people as possible, providing train, bus, car and maybe foot travel options.

I've created a venue investigation page on the Redhill Micropreneur site where I'm recording ideas and the results of enquiries. I'll update it now and then so you can follow along - please do email me if you have any suggestions.

Other Details

That's mostly it from my short survey but I'll just leave you with results from the final question I asked. I named the group Redhill Micropreneurs, hoping that term would be taken to encompass a wide range of people working on their own and in small businesses. But what do people actually consider themselves to be?

Q: Which of these descriptions suits you best?