Coworking space in Medellin vs working from a coffee shop - I picked wrong

I spent two months in Medellin last year bouncing between the Selina coworking space and a little coffee shop in El Poblado called Cafe Velvet. The Selina cost $200 a month for a hot desk, but the wifi kept dying around 2pm every day, so I switched to Cafe Velvet where I spent $3 on coffee and worked for 6 hours fine. Ended up burning through my data plan because the coffee shop internet couldn't handle video calls either, and I lost a client meeting when Zoom dropped. Anyone else find that the cheaper option just costs you more in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_michael1mo ago

Hang on, you said the Selina coworking cost $200 a month but then you switched to Cafe Velvet and spent $3 on coffee per day. If you worked there five days a week for a month, that's about $60, not the $200 you were paying before. But you also mentioned burning through your data plan, which is probably another $30 to $50 depending on your carrier. So you ended up spending around $90 to $110 total, which is still way less than the Selina. The real problem wasn't the cost, it was that neither place had reliable internet for video calls. You needed a real coworking spot with a backup connection, not just any cheaper option.

victorcoleman1mo ago

Yeah you know what, I think you're right. I was so focused on the dollar amount that I didn't really think about the hidden costs like the data plan. I used to think cheaper always wins but you broke it down and the math is different now. I remember one week I had to take three different data top ups because my hotspot kept crapping out during a Zoom with a client. So yeah @the_michael, the real issue was the internet reliability not the price.