An Ottawa entrepreneur is providing tiny technology start-ups — even if they consist of only one person — with downtown office space, complete with boardrooms, a library and a café.

Ian Graham founded the Code Factory on Queen Street earlier this year as a place where technology workers can pursue projects solo or in very small teams alongside others doing similar things.

'Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely experience at times.'— Eric Smith, lawyer

Graham rents out space by the hour, week or month at a rate of $4 an hour and a maximum of $25 a day to software developers, graphic designers and consultants contracted by the government, giving them access to offices, meeting rooms and common spaces. Graham also tries to facilitate social and networking events, such as an office-wide lunch every second Friday.

The current economic downturn has led to layoffs and scarcity of new jobs, leading some technology workers to work on their own ideas, Graham said.

He added that he considers himself an entrepreneurial catalyst, providing emerging businesses with resources they might otherwise miss while working on their own.

Separating work and home

"People want a separation of work and home so that's important," he said.

Eric Smith, a technology lawyer who advises emerging startups, said entrepreneurs can benefit from having social opportunities in their work lives.

"Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely experience at times — people not really realizing there's lots of people like them out there."

Smith, a consultant at the business and litigation law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, said he thinks the Code Factory is a great ecosystem for fuelling innovation, co-operation and social networking.

Computer software entrepreneur Pascal St. Jean has been working on two startups out of the Code Factory — Citadel Rock Online Technologies and PicSphere Technologies Inc. — since it opened. He said the concept helps fledgling companies make a difficult transition.

"As it evolves as a company, you find that little window where you're not ready for own office space but at the same time you're getting away from the basement," he said.

St. Jean said he likes the social environment, the way Graham introduces people to one another and the opportunities to connect with mentors and other people who can help companies grow through their difficulties.

Graham said he chose the downtown location because his research showed that's where local entrepreneurs wanted it, not in suburban Kanata where many larger technology companies have their headquarters.

He added that if the Code Factory idea is successful, he will try to replicate it in other cities.