How One Global Start-Up Manages the Remote Workplace

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Here’s how Indy, a European start-up, uses Upflex to solve the challenges of the remote workplace — while they build solutions to simplify work for freelancers.

We believe flexibility is the future of work — and that isn’t just limited to geography or office hours. Since March of 2020, millions of Americans have started freelancing for the first time, because they either want or need the flexibility freelance offers. Of course, our freelancers know, running your own business comes with a lot of steep learning curves. Without good systems to keep track of it all, it can also come with a lot of headaches. These are the headaches Indy helps solve. 

With team members spread out from Santa Monica to Warsaw, Indy provides an all-in-one productivity platform where freelancers, contractors, consultants, and side-hustlers manage their business through powerful marketing, workflow, and payment tools. And they know well, a remote-first workplace can lead to its own set of headaches. To address those, they’re using Upflex to manage the remote workplace.

In seven cities and four countries — and counting — Indy’s growing team uses Upflex to book between two and 10 desks per day. That helps ensure every team member has equal access to well-equipped, well-connected, and beautiful workspaces near their homes — and to help team members meet up and work together. 

We checked in with Indy VP of People and Culture Marcelina Godlewska to learn a little more about how they manage being a remote-first team — while building tools to help freelancers manage their careers.

Marcelina Godlewska, IndyUPFLEX: Tell us about Indy.

Marcelina Godlewska: Indy stands for independence. We provide a productivity suite to help freelancers and independent professionals to manage their businesses from one easy-to-use freelancing platform. The main purpose we serve is to help freelancers make and save money and time, freeing them up to do the work they actually get paid to do and reduce the time they spend on the back office work.

UPFLEX: How’d you hear about Upflex?

MG: We learned about Upflex from one of the real estate agencies, Colliers, when we were opening our entity in Poland back in 2020. It was still in the middle of the pandemic where everyone was working from home, so we were looking for a flexible office solution for the team.

UPFLEX: What challenges were you facing before deciding to use Upflex?

MG: We didn’t want to commit to a long term lease with a dynamic COVID-19 situation. We also knew that we will follow a flexible approach in the hiring process  in terms of location to extend our talent pool. We wanted  to provide full flexibility with a working setup including fully remote to recruit the best talent. 

UPFLEX: What’s your favorite thing about using Upflex?

MG: The quality of the spaces available on the platform is really high. The responsiveness of the team in terms of customized solutions and day to day support is really great. We are also organizing office days where we select one location with the team to meet and cultivate togetherness. We are receiving positive feedback from the candidates that we are offering Upflex as a benefit. 

We were also very happy about the partnership with Upflex which we launched last year. We have teamed up to offer a complete solution that supports all the needs of today’s decentralized workers, from online tools to physical co-working spaces and access to community.

Q: What’s next for Indy?

MG: We are continuously developing our product to respond to our customer feedback and planning to rollout to other countries. We want Indy to become the home for independent work. This means we want to help more and more freelancers build their businesses, support their families, and achieve a stable freelancer career. As we grow, we plan for Indy to advocate even more for the success of freelancers.