Virtual offices' allow small-business owners to look like magnates

Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, Fla.
Author:Elaine Aradillas, Sentinel Staff Writer
Date:Jan 9, 2006
Start Page:A.1
Section:A SECTION {ZONE} FINAL
Text Word Count:969

(Copyright 2006 by The Orlando Sentinel)

Elaine Aradillas can be reached at earadillas@orlandosentinel.com or
407-931-5940.

CELEBRATION -- When Kirby Ryan meets with clients interested in his
medical services, they sit around a polished wooden desk inside a
well-appointed executive office in downtown Celebration.

But Ryan must make an appointment to use the office at 215 Celebration
Place because he's allotted only 16 hours a month there. Most of his time
is spent at his home office 10 blocks away, where a spare room is lined
with laptops and file cabinets.

About 150 small businesses share Suite 500 on the fifth floor in a
corporate park surrounded by lakes and manicured lawns. Users pay $250 per
month for a package that includes an elite mailing address, an answering
service and occasional office space.

It's called a "virtual office," and for small-business owners -- who
choose not to or cannot pay for expensive and scarce office space -- it's
a way to look big-time at a small-time price.

"It gives the appearance of a professional office setting when you need
that setting," said Ryan, whose Clinical Mobility business sets up
flu-shot clinics and diagnostic services at retailers and employers across
the country. Adding to that professional appearance, he said, is the
receptionist's computer that tells her which business a client is calling
for, allowing her to answer the phone with a greeting that includes the
business's name.

For some people, it's better to say they have a business space, "versus
working out of a home office or garage apartment," Ryan said.
Virtual offices have become the modern-day post-office box, but with a
physical address. Budding entrepreneurs no longer have to conduct business
at their local Starbucks coffee shop, where they compete for table space,
electrical outlets and a quiet moment between uses of the espresso machine
to make a phone call.

There are virtual offices in many high-rent locations in Central Florida,
including downtown Orlando, Maitland and Winter Park.

People are attracted to doing business with companies that have
established reputations, said Al Polfer, director of the Small Business
Development Center at the University of Central Florida.

"Celebration denotes success," Polfer said, referring to the upscale
Osceola community near Walt Disney World. "It's a high-rent area. It would
give a perception of success."

In Kissimmee, while business people are placed on a waiting list to rent
"hard" office space to call their own, they can purchase a full-service
virtual package for $227 per month at Park Hill Place Executive Center.
Owner Pam Eaton, who runs the virtual office at John Young Parkway and Oak
Street, said office space in Osceola County is tight -- occupancy is above
90 percent -- and some people don't need a lot of it.

"They don't need an office because they're on the road," she said. "They
come in, touch down for a little while and take off again."

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that virtual offices are
popular. But with only an occupational license to prove they exist, the
thin paper trail makes it difficult to report how many people are using
them.

Carol Ann Dykes is the chief operating officer for UCF's Technology
Incubator, where start-up high-tech companies receive guidance in business
development. She said her operation provides real office space but also
assists two or three virtual-office clients.

"It's not too surprising it [growth in virtual offices] is occurring
because of the growing level of entrepreneurs and the growing number of
home-based businesses," she said.

Experts agree that virtual offices are a result of evolving technology.
It's not much different from post-office boxes used by people who conduct
business at home.

Virtual offices are well-known among business people, said Polfer, whose
center offers seminars and counseling to small- business owners. But if
customers feel they are being misled by the setup, then it's up to them to
do the research.

"It's not a deception," Polfer said. "That is your technical business
address."

He added that some business owners claim to have locations in Rome, Vienna
or London, but sometimes those locations are nothing more than a virtual
office.

"People like to do business with people they know or trust. Trust can come
from a misplaced belief that you're well-established. If that claim is
important, you need to check on it," he said.

Nick Mowery is the regional director for EBC Office Centers, which
provides the virtual offices with a Celebration address. He calls himself
the "cruise director," and many clients said he fosters a networking
relationship among the business people who work from there.

"The perception for folks who come to meet their clients, they don't know
or have to know it's not their [client's] office," he said. "They want the
impression. They want the Class A building."

He said his company does little advertising. It sought business travelers
through an advertisement in an airline magazine, but locally, EBC relies
on word of mouth.

Some of his company's clients started as virtual office-space owners. Once
they felt established, they rented office space full time in the building.
Bob Guidice, a real-estate agent, for Golfpark Properties, started his own
business a couple of years ago with two associates and used virtual office
space.

But his business grew and so did his company. Since then, seven more
employees have come to work for the company, which now occupies two of the
fifth floor's larger offices.

"It's a great way to make your business seem like a bigger company," he
said from his office, which overlooks Celebration and the lush greenery
surrounding Walt Disney World. "We can grow into the office as we grow."

PHOTO: At a `virtual office' in Celebration, small-business owners
can rent well-appointed executive quarters for a few hours a month.
Ismael Perez, operations manager for EBC Office Centers, is in
foreground. ED SACKETT/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.

Abstract (Document Summary)

At a `virtual office' in Celebration, small-business owners can rent
well-appointed executive quarters for a few hours a month. Ismael Perez,
operations manager for EBC Office Centers, is in foreground. ED
SACKETT/ORLANDO SENTINEL
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.