(Originally posted on the DeskHoppa Medium site.)

The table tennis table, the startup’s secret weapon to get team members to work together and collaborate, allegedly. Recruiters love putting the humble table tennis area as one of the big bonuses of startup hiring, along with the beer fridge and oversized bean bags.

However, utilisation of the slab of board is usually low and if you have remote workers it’s really difficult to have a game of ping pong with them. With a full size playing area of about 19 feet by 11 feet it takes up a large amount of square footage too.

Putting The Table Tennis Table To Better Use

Here’s the DeskHoppa simple guide to putting the table tennis table to better use.

1. Fold it up (or sell it, or burn it* outside out of harms way).
2. 19ft x 11ft is 209 square feet. With an average desk and chair taking 30 square feet you can fit six working areas in to the same space.
3. Create a host account on DeskHoppa. In the Live Availability section type 6 in to the “Desks Available” field and 10 in to the “Price Per Hour” field. Click on “Update Availability” and you’re ready. You can sell day, week and month passes with DeskHoppa too.
4. In “General Host Info” section create a funky strapline, “We got rid of our table tennis table so we could meet you!” and a general description of your workspace.
5. You can add features, things such as free tea and coffee, working Wifi, a whiteboard etc in the “Features” section.
6. Start shouting about your listing on Linkedin, Twitter, Instragram and any other social channel you are using.

Here Are The Numbers

With six workspaces on DeskHoppa listing at £10 per hour, six guests staying one hour a day will give you an estimated £14,400 per annum. If those same six guests worked a four hours morning then that’s a potential £57,600 incremental revenue.

If there are certain skill sets that you are on the look out for then using DeskHoppa is the perfect tool for finding them. Guests have profiles that you, the host, review.

DeskHoppa was created to help hosts create revenue and for guests to find somewhere peaceful to work. A professional place where the clatter of coffee cups and loud discussions and reduced.

If you want to learn more about hosting on DeskHoppa please take a look at our “Becoming a DeskHost” section on the DeskHoppa website.

* If you do decide to burn your table tennis table then please note we can’t take any responsibility that may arise from you doing you. Your decision, not ours.