Alternative Offices

Virtual, Satellite and Start-up Space
By Mike Howard

In the last ten years, the United States has seen a tremendous surge in the number of people working from home. It is estimated that over 32 million entrepreneurs now have home-based businesses. Affordable technology - faxes, computers, and Internet access - has helped fuel this growth, but has not solved all of the challenges faced by those who work at home.

For instance, a business' requirements can quickly exceed the benefits a home office has to offer. There are some business services are that difficult to bring to a home office, and often people are still wary of the image a home office projects. Often the home office is not a suitable setting for meeting with clients or interviewing potential employees as your business grows. There are many other issues to consider such as what mailing address to use for business purposes, who can sign for package deliveries and how to handle phone calls.

For these and many other reasons, a "virtual office" with an executive suite company can be an important piece in the complicated puzzle of a home based business's success by providing solutions in several key areas. Professional telephone reception services, prestigious business address with a receptionist to sign for packages and greet visitors, secretarial and administrative support when you need it and access to conference rooms, private meeting offices and work stations are just a few

Most Virtual office programs offer a number of ways to help a home-based business with its telephone reception woes. Clients either have all calls handled by the reception team or continue to use their home office as their main phone number and call forward it to the team when they leave the house. Calls are answered by a receptionist in the name of the individual's business. Acting like a personal secretary, the receptionist can transfer calls to a home office, mobile phone or anywhere the person can be reached, making it seem like the person is in an office down the hall.

A business address is a critical part of a growing home based business in two key areas, practicality and image . Many industries require a business address for licensing purposes, and you need an address to incorporate. It is also a great to have a receptionist to sign for deliveries and greet walk in business. Many people and businesses prefer to do business with a large well established firm and a prestigious address can help a small business's image dramatically..

On an as-needed basis, executive suites provide a variety of support services such as word processing, desktop publishing, internet research ,, photocopying and faxing. Some firms even offer an IT specialist that can help maintain you PC, add software or hardware, and can help coach you through an IT hotline. Since a virtual office can be customized to provide as much or as little as required, a business benefits from having professional services available at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee. A virtual office can significantly enhance the image that a business projects while at the same time help improve productivity. Since support services are available on an as-needed basis, businesses only have to pay for what they actually use.

The home based professional can forget about meeting clients, prospects or potential employees at a coffee shop, hotel lobby or the kitchen table when they use a virtual office service. Board rooms, conference rooms, Executive meeting offices, fully equipped with presentations and wired for T-1 are available by the hour week or month.

These facilities can be leased on a full-time office or as a place to meet clients in a professional setting. Many executive suites also offer video conferencing services on an hourly basis for meetings to help save on business travel. A Virtual Office Program can help those working from home get the best of both worlds, all the benefits of working from home, along with the services, convenience and image offered by a large corporate office. Many businesses are finding that this service is the perfect partner to their home office.

For more information on Virtual Offices, call American Executive Centers at 800 736-6034, or visit us on the web www.aecphilly.com.

Mike Howard is Leasing Manager of American Executive Centers, an executive suite company with seven facilities located in Center City Philadelphia, King of Prussia, Bala Cynwyd, Exton , Plymouth Meeting,and Marlton, NJ.

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