The Checklist
BLOG SERIES PART 10
The Complete Co-Working Compliance Checklist:
How 8004.salon and Pod.World Built a Legally Airtight Model for Independent Professionals in Switzerland**
Co-working in Switzerland is not new.
But co-working in service-based industries like hair, beauty, tattoo, wellness and personal services is still catching up to the legal structures that office co-working spaces have used for years.
The difference?
Office co-working has always understood one thing very well:
If you build the structure correctly, there is nothing to fear from an audit.
If you build the structure poorly, everything becomes a problem.
At 8004.salon, we didn’t guess.
We didn’t copy other salons.
We didn’t bend salon software into a shape it was never meant to take.
We studied the law.
We studied SVA criteria.
We studied MWST logic.
We studied audit case studies.
We consulted with high-ranking legal professionals.
And then — we built our own co-working infrastructure and our own software tool from scratch to enforce compliance by design.
This is not an accident.
This is not luck.
This is architecture.
This final blog lays out the Complete Co-Working Compliance Checklist — the same guidelines we used to build 8004.salon and the Pod.World co-working management system.
For authorities, Members, space owners, lawyers, and anyone evaluating co-working practices in Switzerland:
this is the gold standard.
**SECTION 1
Structural Independence Checklist**
A compliant co-working space must demonstrate clear independence at every level.
8004.salon + Pod.World provide:
✔ Independent businesses, not staff
✔ No employer-like control
✔ No unified service menu
✔ No influence over pricing
✔ No influence over appointment decisions
✔ No shared client lists
✔ No centralised revenue reporting
✔ No service payments flowing through the space
✔ No commission system
✔ No revenue-based fees
✔ No integration of branding or marketing
✔ No assigned or exclusive chairs
✔ Block-based workspace access
✔ Clean separation of responsibilities
✔ Members free to leave with 24 hours’ notice
✔ Members free to take all client data with them immediately
Every one of these is an SVA indicator.
8004.salon meets all of them.
**SECTION 2
Financial Flow Checklist**
Authorities always follow the money.
Which is why we built Pod.World to enforce the correct architecture automatically.
✔ Service payments → Member’s bank account
✔ Retail payments → Space Owner’s bank account
✔ No mixing of payments
✔ No splitting of payments internally
✔ No pooled income
✔ No commission payouts
✔ No turnover visibility for the owner
✔ Separate receipts from separate businesses
✔ No MWST confusion
✔ No revenue aggregation risk
If authorities want clarity, this is clarity.
**SECTION 3
Client Ownership & Data Protection Checklist**
Client ownership is one of the strongest legal indicators of independence.
At 8004.salon:
✔ Clients belong exclusively to the Member
✔ Member controls all client data at all times
✔ Member retains their full client list upon exit
✔ Space owner cannot view or export client data
✔ Pod.World uses role-based access to ensure separation
✔ No shared customer database
✔ No central branding in client communication
✔ Website transparently states Members are independent
✔ Departed Members remain listed for 3 months to assist client continuity (not for business gain)
This aligns with DSG (Swiss data protection) and with international GDPR standards.
**SECTION 4
Digital Footprint Checklist**
Online presence must reflect the real structure.
✔ Every Member has a separate Google Maps listing
✔ Every Member uses their own booking link
✔ Every Member has their own website
✔ Every Member uses their own branding
✔ 8004 lists Members clearly as independent professionals
✔ No unified “team page” implying employment
✔ No central service menu
✔ No “our stylists” language
✔ No salon-style promotion of Member work
✔ Social media bios reflect independence, not employment
This matches how Impact Hub, Westhive, Citizen Space, Trust Square and therapy collectives manage digital separation.
**SECTION 5
Contract & Legal Architecture Checklist**
A compliant co-working space must have:
✔ Membership agreements (not Mietverträge)
✔ Non-exclusive access (not fixed stations)
✔ Clear statements of independence
✔ No employer-style expectations
✔ No minimum working hours
✔ No revenue participation
✔ No service-related obligations
✔ Transparent termination rights (24 hours if necessary)
✔ No clauses that resemble employment law
✔ No clauses that resemble a salon-with-subcontractors model
8004’s contract was built with legal advisors to be fully aligned with Swiss co-working standards.
**SECTION 6
Space Owner Role Checklist**
A co-working space owner must provide:
✔ access
✔ infrastructure
✔ utilities
✔ cleanliness standards
✔ safety
✔ community
✔ optional retail for Members to recommend
They must not:
✘ manage Member business decisions
✘ set pricing
✘ manage clients
✘ assign tasks
✘ control branding
✘ supervise revenue
✘ take commission
✘ control marketing
✘ require loyalty
8004.salon follows these principles strictly.
**SECTION 7
Pod.World — The First Software Built to Protect the Law, Not Bend It**
Traditional salon software breaks co-working compliance because it was never designed for independent professionals.
So we built something new.
✔ Pod.World keeps the space owner blind to Member revenue
✔ Pod.World keeps Members blind to each other’s clients
✔ Pod.World splits payments at checkout
✔ Pod.World issues separate receipts
✔ Pod.World stores contracts
✔ Pod.World automates compliance structures
✔ Pod.World protects data
✔ Pod.World reinforces independence
✔ Pod.World prevents all the accidental violations salon software creates
Pod.World is not just software.
It is a compliance tool.
It protects:
the client,
the Member,
the co-working space,
and the legal integrity of the entire model.
No other system in Switzerland does this.
**SECTION 8
Conclusion: Compliance Is Not a Defence — It Is a Design**
Most salons try to defend themselves after something goes wrong.
8004.salon took the opposite approach.
We built an environment where:
independence is visible,
separation is structural,
compliance is intuitive,
data is protected,
finances are clean,
Members operate freely,
the space owner has no involvement in business operations,
and the co-working model is unmistakably clear — offline and online.
This is not a workaround or a loophole.
This is co-working as it exists across every other industry in Zürich — finally brought into hair, beauty and tattoo.
In other words:
We didn’t adapt the law to our space.
We adapted our space to the law.
And we’re ready to stand behind that — confidently, transparently, and with the full support of legal experts and custom-built software that protects everyone involved.
