Secure private storage units inside Elevator’s co-warehousing facility, offering flexible office space for rent with lockable doors, professional amenities, and scalable solutions for growing businesses.

Beyond Office Space for Rent: How Co-Warehousing is Revolutionizing Business Scaling

Office space for rent has long been the standard solution for growing businesses, but today's entrepreneurs need more. For product-based businesses outgrowing their home operations, co-warehousing offers a revolutionary alternative that combines flexible warehouse units, professional workspace amenities, and a supportive community—creating an ecosystem designed specifically for growth. Traditional office space for rent falls short for product businesses. Discover how co-warehousing combines flexible workspace, warehouse functionality, and community for optimal scaling.

co-warehousing | 2025-08-13

Co-warehousing is transforming how entrepreneurs scale their businesses, offering advantages that traditional office space for rent simply cannot match. For product-based businesses outgrowing their home operations, this innovative model combines flexible warehouse units, professional coworking amenities, and a supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs—creating an ecosystem designed specifically for growth.

The Home Office Ceiling: When Success Creates Problems

Sarah Ohrt, who recently utilized Elevator's Omaha co-warehousing space while updating her company's Waterloo warehouse, describes it as "the PERFECT solution for our short-term needs. The flexibility of month-to-month rentals made the transition seamless."

Her experience reflects a common journey for successful entrepreneurs. What starts as a convenient home-based operation eventually hits a ceiling where continued growth becomes logistically impossible.

The signs are familiar to anyone who's built a successful product business from home:

Traditional solutions often create more problems than they solve. Conventional office space for rent typically requires long-term commitments (3-5 years), substantial security deposits, and lacks the specialized infrastructure product businesses need. Meanwhile, basic coworking spaces address the professional environment but offer little for inventory management or shipping operations.

The Co-Warehousing Difference: Beyond Physical Space

"Co-warehousing combines the flexible, community-focused aspects of coworking spaces with the logistics infrastructure of warehousing," explains Emiliano Lerda, CEO of Elevator, which operates locations in Omaha, Des Moines, and soon, Kansas City and Lincoln. "It's purpose-built for businesses that make, store, and ship physical products."

The model comprises several key components that traditional office rentals lack:

Flexible Physical Infrastructure

Unlike traditional office space for rent, co-warehousing facilities offer:

For entrepreneurs like Laura Dueland, who uses Elevator's Omaha location, the combination is invaluable: "Not only is it a great space to focus, but an awesome space for resources and networking."

Operational Flexibility

Perhaps most revolutionary is the flexibility co-warehousing offers growing businesses:

This operational agility allows entrepreneurs to align their physical infrastructure with their actual business needs rather than committing to space they might outgrow or can't fully utilize.

Community and Resource Access

Beyond physical infrastructure, co-warehousing provides something traditional office rentals never could: a purpose-built community of fellow entrepreneurs facing similar challenges.

Shannon Lerda, Co-Founder and President of Elevator, explains: "We're not just building spaces; we're building ecosystems where small businesses can thrive."

These ecosystems include:

"Levi even took time out of his busy schedule to help us with business planning, which was above and beyond!" notes Sarah Ohrt about her experience with Elevator's team.

Beyond Office Space for Rent: How Co-Warehousing is Revolutionizing Business Scaling

Real Growth Stories: From Home Office to Thriving Business

The impact of co-warehousing on business scaling is perhaps best illustrated through real examples from Elevator's communities:

Tholi, an essential oils company with a patented shoe product that administers oils through the heel, joined Elevator's Omaha location in late 2023 with a single small unit. Within four months, they expanded to six units, and within a year, had grown enough to purchase their own manufacturing facility in Kansas City.

316 Strategy Group, a digital marketing agency, closed $150,000 in new business within 60 days of moving into Elevator's Omaha location—all from connections made inside the building. They designed a trade show booth for a landscaping company, built websites for e-commerce businesses, took over marketing for an essential oils business, and helped a mortgage company repair their Google Business Profile—all fellow members they met simply by showing up to work.

These success stories demonstrate how co-warehousing serves as more than just a physical space solution; it functions as a business accelerator.

The Financial Equation: Beyond Monthly Rent

When comparing traditional office space for rent with co-warehousing, entrepreneurs must consider the complete financial picture:

Traditional Office/Warehouse Rental:

Long-term lease commitment (typically 3-5 years)

Co-Warehousing:

For growing businesses, the co-warehousing model eliminates substantial fixed costs and converts them to variable expenses that can scale with the business—a significant advantage during critical growth phases.

Who Benefits Most from Co-Warehousing?

While the co-warehousing model offers advantages over traditional office space for rent and basic coworking arrangements, it's particularly valuable for specific types of businesses:

E-commerce and Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Online sellers dealing with inventory management, fulfillment, and shipping logistics find the combination of warehouse space and professional infrastructure particularly valuable.

Product-Based Startups

Companies developing and shipping physical products benefit from flexible space that can accommodate prototyping, inventory, and fulfillment needs without long-term commitments.

Subscription Box Companies

Businesses managing monthly assembly and shipping cycles need flexible space that can handle their unique operational patterns.

Transitioning Businesses

Companies between growth phases—like Sarah Ohrt's business, which needed temporary space during warehouse renovations—can use co-warehousing as a strategic bridge without long-term commitments.

Service Businesses with Physical Components

Professional service firms that also have equipment, promotional materials, or product elements benefit from the hybrid nature of co-warehousing spaces.

Beyond Office Space for Rent: How Co-Warehousing is Revolutionizing Business Scaling

The Future of Workspace: Integration Not Isolation

As entrepreneurs increasingly seek flexible solutions that adapt to their business needs, the distinction between traditional office space for rent, coworking facilities, and warehouse solutions continues to blur.

Co-warehousing represents the natural evolution of workspace—integrating operational necessities with community benefits in a model designed specifically for product-based entrepreneurship.

"The traditional warehouse lease is becoming increasingly impractical for today's agile businesses," notes Shannon Lerda. "Co-warehousing isn't just a transitional solution—it's a fundamental rethinking of how businesses manage physical space in the e-commerce era."

This rethinking comes at a critical time. With e-commerce sales projected to exceed $6 trillion globally by the end of 2024 and more than 63% of these businesses starting in homes, the need for scalable, flexible infrastructure has never been greater.

Making the Transition: From Home to Growth Space

For entrepreneurs considering the move from home operations to a proper business facility, the co-warehousing model offers a lower-risk entry point than traditional office space for rent or warehouse leasing.

To determine if you're ready for the transition, consider these indicators:

"We were renting space while updating our warehouse in Waterloo, and it was the PERFECT solution for our short-term needs," Sarah Ohrt explains about her experience with Elevator. "The community they've built is perfect for any entrepreneur or business looking to scale!"

Conclusion: Beyond Space to Ecosystem

The revolution in business scaling isn't just about finding more square footage—it's about finding the right ecosystem for growth. Co-warehousing represents a fundamental shift from viewing workspace as a necessary expense to recognizing it as a strategic asset.

Unlike traditional office space for rent or basic coworking arrangements, co-warehousing provides the physical infrastructure, operational flexibility, and community support that product-based businesses need to scale effectively.

As Shannon and Emiliano Lerda discovered when founding Elevator after facing these challenges in their own e-commerce business: the future of entrepreneurial workspace isn't about choosing between warehouse functionality and office professionalism—it's about integrating them into an ecosystem that elevates every aspect of business operations.

For entrepreneurs ready to move beyond their home office limitations without committing to rigid, long-term commercial leases, co-warehousing offers the perfect middle ground: professional space with the flexibility to grow, surrounded by a community designed to help you succeed.

Elevator operates co-warehousing communities in Omaha (est. 2021), Des Moines (est. 2025), Kansas City and Lincoln (opening second half of 2025). To learn more or book a tour, visit our tour page.


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