25. Building success by throwing out the playbook with Chiko Abengowe

Chiko Abengowe is the founder of Perfect Office Solutions, a portfolio of 25 coworking and flexible office locations that generates over $125,000 per month in virtual mail revenue alone. He built his first location without knowing the coworking industry existed, scaled to 18 locations before attending his first GWA conference, and created an unconventional business model focused on affordability, flexibility, and entrepreneurial tenants. This conversation reveals how he did it without following anyone's playbook.In Episode 25, Chiko breaks down the systems, incentives, and marketing strategies that let him scale without typical tools like Google Ads, corporate pricing, or traditional coworking norms.Plus, he gets into guerrilla marketing, virtual mail dominance, and performance-driven team structures, including:How he filled his first locations with outbound cold calls, guerrilla yard signs on weekends, and Facebook Marketplace listings instead of paid ads. He made 100 calls a day asking one question: "Are you paying too much for rent?"Why he welcomes hair stylists, lash techs, massage therapists, and braiders to rent private offices at Perfect Office, how that became a recruiting channel, and why it keeps his pricing model sustainable across all tenant types.The exact staff bonus structure he applies across all of Perfect Offices’ services and how it turned virtual mail from an operational complaint into $1.5 million in annual revenue. How marketing competitions every three months encourage top performers to teach their strategies to teammates, creating a built-in training system that raises the performance floor across all 25 locations.Why he staffs every location with three people, two of whom are roving managers responsible for five to eight locations each, and how that model keeps overhead low while maintaining service quality.The contract he pitched to his mom in high school to create his own incentive program (and how he went from a 2.0 to a 4.0 and earned a Bill Gates scholarship).If you run a coworking business and think you need to follow the standard playbook to scale, this episode will show you a completely different path.Want to connect with Chiko? Find him on LinkedIn and check out iQ Offices.By the way, you can also:Check us out on YouTubeDownload all free tools, templates, and resources from 2 Marketers and a Coworking Podcast 🛠️About 2 Marketers and a Coworking PodcastHosted by Kevin Whelan of Everspaces and Taylor Mason of Talemaker, 2 Marketers and a Coworking Podcast dives deep into marketing tips, tools, insights, and strategies you can actually use to grow your coworking business. 🔔 Hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.