In business, meeting tactics and strategy have been raised to an art form. However, while volumes have been written on meeting best practices, we can forget that the success or failure of a meeting starts before the first attendee even arrives.
Scott Chambers, COO of Pacific Business Centers was recently interviewed on our adoption of advanced Business Center technology and Pacific Business Centers’ vision of the future of workplaces – Cloud Officing ™ - by the Office Business Centers Association International (OBCAI). Check out the podcast where Scott discusses some of the work we have been doing that has gained attention within the Office Business Center Industry
Is the “office” component of a “Virtual Office” really “virtual”?
When my father and I started offering Virtual Offices 25 years ago they were not called “Virtual Offices”. In fact, to my knowledge, the term “Virtual Office” was not used in its present context until about 1994.
We were simply meeting the demand of individuals calling and saying, “we don’t really need a full time office, do you have something we could use part-time that costs less?”, with our supply of empty offices. Thus, our “Part-Time Office Plan” was formed. These were home based entrepreneurs and start ups that needed an inexpensive alternative to leased office space, as well as professional phone answering and an appropriate business address.
Read More→
So you finally signed up for that Virtual Office - but people often don’t realize all the services that can be leveraged with Virtual Offices. A professional business address, call answering services, and conference rooms to meet with clients are standard with any good virtual package, but what about staff to help you with administrative tasks?
As fast as Technology seems to change and advance, year by year that pace quickens even more. Just consider that in the last 10 years, ‘new’ technologies like e-mail and instant messenger have become old hat and now social and business networking sites such as twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn are the ‘new’ technologies.
Technology has now become the major agent of change in the business world, surplanting marketing, research and development, and even profit. Social networking has become a standard marketing tool. Communications and computing hardware have become mobile Blackberries and wireless/cellular technology is eroding the function of the desktop pc. Software-as-a-Service and cloud computing have even changed the way technology products are delivered.
Writing a good press release may be a Fine Art, but it also isn’t Rocket Surgery. Any seasoned PR professional will tell you that the real key is to approach the press release process from the point of view of a journalist.
The journalist’s world is commonly filled with short deadlines and a literal flood of press releases competing for their attention. A typical news room will get hundreds of press releases per day, and all but a very few will end up somewhere other than the trash can. What can you do to give your news the best shot at making the cut?
Subleased office space has become an attractive option for many companies over the past year. Markets have seen a 122% (!) surge in subleases according to figures released by Cushman & Wakefield. As businesses cut overhead costs, subleased office space looks more and more attractive … but it is not the only cost cutting option for your office space, and frequently not the best.
Shared office space, also called ‘office business centers’ or ‘executive suites,’ have been around forever and provide a similar option to sublease office space – primarily lower cost vis a vis traditional office space as well as easier lease terms. However, shared office space comes with important advantages over subleases.
The current economy presents an opportunity for new startups, as well as large corporate entities, to transition to mobile and ‘virtual’ workforces … both out of necessity and a new understanding of the future business landscape. (Read: mobile, flexible, technology based) The trend to cloud-based business operations is undeniable.
Unfortunately, the discussion has been of internal organization issues and productivity as potential problems that the transition to a virtual workforce present. While these may be issues to heed, in our experience, working everyday with home-based businesses and telecommuters, we have found that there is a much more critical problem for successful home-based operations.
Moving into office space is a coming-of-age moment for any startup. However, decisions made regarding your first office space can become an asset or can become a weight that dooms what would be an otherwise successful venture. As a shared office space provider working with start ups, there are four common mistakes that we caution entrepreneurs to avoid:
