The reason they are one of our favorites is their perseverance in the marketplace. Each has been around since the early days of the internet. Esuites became an official domain in September 1995 and Offices.org sprang up a month earlier.

Esuite is run by Pat Garner, an avid business center supporter who was writing about the importance of the internet to our industry way back in 1999.

Offices.org is run by Tina Bartel and is incredible mainly for the site design. Please check it out… it is so old school in its design — well, it’s just beautiful. I know that goes against my previous aesthetic value statement, but I contradict myself quite a bit. So it’s par for the course.

Here’s to Tina and Pat. Keep it up!

But all that is changing. As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, key workplace think tanks such as CoreNet are addressing and discussing alternative workplace strategies. Landlords and brokers are finding the industry to be more enticing during this downturn, and are slowly dipping their toes in the water. And of course, companies and individuals are looking for different ways to work, and at a lower cost.

And despite this change, true consolidation is a long way off. Once the industry matures — say in 20 years — we will see some significant consolidation. Until then, it’s still the Wild West. So our advice is to get on the horse, hold on tight and don’t let go!

In a study published by CoreNet Global in April of 2009, a survey conducted among corporate executives it found the single biggest obstacle to corporations implementing alternative workplace strategies (which could include executive suites as a component) is executive buy-in:

With current workforces becoming further geographically spread along
with the introduction of new technologies, alternative workplace strategies (AWS) present
opportunity that can potentially save on salary cuts and freezes. Still, the largest challenge
continues to be a lack of support from senior management, according to a recent survey of CoreNet
Global Dallas Summit registrants.

While there are pockets of the serviced office industry that are working diligently on gaining access to C-level initiatives, unless there is constant pressure from the industry, demonstrated cohesion and an innovative and solid value proposition, the industry will continue to wish, hope and pray without seeing much benefit.

Regus is doing a great job on this front, but despite their diligence Regus alone is not enough. True innovation is more likely to happen with some direct competition. We’re all still sitting… waiting anxiously for that competition. Where will it come from?

Please come back often as we will be cranking up.

The key is to understand that you will spend a significant portion of your life in your new executive office space, and contrary to traditional space, you have a dependency on the executive suite employees for many tasks, such as cleaning your office, keeping phones and internet working and the ensuring the office receptionist is greeting your guests appropriately. So, as you visit your prospective serviced office, pay attention to details:

• Are you greeted in a professional and friendly manner when calling or walking in the door?
• Is the office neat, orderly, clean? Check everything, the walls, the carpets, etc.
• Are interactions with the staff smooth, orderly and clear?

If the answers to all these questions are yes, then you may have found a great location. While appearance isn’t everything, this is a good indication that your office will be well-run and efficient. But, more investigation is in order.

Next, you should “interview” the executive suite staff. Typically, there are 2-4 staff, depending on the office size and the business model. The owner or manager is often your main point of contact and is responsible for ensuring day-to-day office efficiency. He or she hires the rest of the staff, works with supplies to ensure all is functioning properly. Interview this person to ensure a level of comfort you can live with before you decide.

In a larger suite, the Manager will have an Assistant Manager who is responsible for “lite” sales activities, basic office tasks, clerical and advanced admin work and substituting for the manager when he or she is not in. If your business plans to leverage support services offered by the suite, the assistant is often the person who will perform or co-ordinate the work for you.

The 3rd staff member of the executive suite is the admin or receptionist. In a busy suite this admin will be constantly be on the telephone and greeting clients and guests. It often hard to “interview” her (yes, it is almost always a woman), but listening to how she answers the telephone and interacts with others can give you an idea of her abilities.

After interviewing the staff, speak with a current client and ask these questions:

• Are the telephone system and internet reliable and easy to use?
• Is staff competent? Do you ever have significant reliability issues?
• Are maintenance issues (broken locks, plumbing, wiring issues) taken care of promptly?
• Are monthly billing mistakes common? Are billing issues easily resolved?

Follow these suggestions and once you’ve found an executive suites that meets your expectations, you probably have found a great new serviced office space location!

Here’s the quick rundown:

• Group collaboration software that can be simply chat, or a combination of chat, collaboration, centralized repository of communications
• Home or mobile (i.e., your car) office set up that allows independents or corporate workers to connect virtually to colleagues and partners
• Executive suites offering, where client has access to offices, meeting rooms, virtual receptionists, use of a business address, mail receiving, etc.
• Virtual administrative assistants, virtual assitants and virtual personal assitants, and more
• Phone system that allows all types of services. Examples are Ring Central and Phone.com

Within each of these options there are many different many different flavors, many different sizes and many different brands. This will continue to cause confusion in communication and on the internet. Lucky for our industry, the virtual office that is quite prominent on the web (search Google for “virtual office”) is the the executive suites industry. The executive suites industry claims 6 of the top 10 results.

But why do I say this is annoying? Well, I ran into another group collaboration website today that promises:

You save time, stay more competitive, build meaningful business relationships and reduce costs with everything you need in a single location.

While this company might provide a great solution, how many more flavors of these group collaboration and networking sites do we need? Can we really promise these things with simple web collaboration?

The latter of these promotions is a standard industry offering, or almost always negotiable if signing a contract. But giving away the membership or the virtual office is somewhat novel. Generally, the industry isn’t interested in giving away their high margin, low cost virtual services, but it looks like Regus is changing that to get small business attention — a sort of loss leader. In addition, they are giving away a Businessworld membership (the gold plan) which costs $300 per year.

It’s clear that Regus strategy is to penetrate the small business market like no other office services provider can. This is a brilliant strategy and one that competitors will find difficult to combat.