Add an Executive Suite to Your Home Office Without

                                   Hammer and Nails

 

              By Marcus P. Meleton, Jr.

 

              Dressing up your home for business visitors, especially formal meetings, is not possible in

              many cases. But modifying your home to give that executive feel is expensive in

              construction and furniture costs. There are alternatives including transferring your meeting

              to “their” office or meeting in hotel lobbies, restaurants or private clubs. Now there is a new

              alternative. It’s renting executive suites at locations designed for that purpose. Other

              benefits include providing capabilities not available in your home or just a way of escaping

              the noise and distractions of your home office.

 

              Businesses offer these executive suites, renting by the hour, day or whatever your needs

              are. Some are as low as $7.95 an hour. They may have secretaries, computers, multimedia

              rooms, copying, faxing, and furniture rental available, providing home businesses with the

              advantages of a large corporation without the cost of owning or renting the space full-time.

 

              The availability is growing, so much so, that an association called Executive Suite

              Association (ESA), located in Worthington, Ohio, now serves the industry. Just in the past

              year, ESA reports the association grew from 474 members to over 550 member businesses.

              Members range from small, single location setups, to large multi-location corporations.

 

              Over 4,000 of these suite locations exist in the United States. Space can be anywhere from

              cubicles to large plush offices with leases up to five years. If secretarial service is all you

              want, they can tie into your phone lines. The industry has found that home businesses are a

              major customer and tailor themselves to serve you. They also support companies

              outgrowing their locations or needing special services such as video conference rooms.

 

              If you are in a need for such services, look in your yellow pages or call the Executive Suite

              Association at 800-237-4741 to find a location near you. Executive suites are growing

              rapidly, trying to keep pace with the expanding home business market. Executive Office Club

              is one such corporation, focusing on opening several locations in major cities to provide

              by-the-hour suites to local customers. Alliance Networks and H.Q. Business Centers are

              also expansive in their locations.

 

              So if you need meeting locations to fit your business, an office away from home, or have

              special needs not available in your home, this may be the service for you. It may also be a

              franchise or business opportunity, if providing such a service is of interest to you. If so, the

              Executive Suite Assoc iation can provide information on where to look for a franchise or as

              a member, help you develop your business. HBM