While the virtual office industry is making inroads with the promise to let you work from a home office in your PJs while you drink OJ and e-mail BJ, Regus is boldly suggesting that working from home might not be the ideal for every entrepreneur.

Sure, working from a virtual office means you don’t have to commute and you can start and stop when you want, or even pick up work in the middle of the night if you choose. But Regus is offering 10 reasons why you may want to consider serviced office space instead.

Regus isn’t making this stuff up. The business center behemoth says it talked to real-life clients about the real-life challenges of working from home. Here is the list:

1. Not enough space
2. Noisy kids or pets
3. Temptations of the TV or refrigerator
4. Working too much
5. No professional place to meet customers
6. Lack of privacy
7. Feelings of isolation
8. No administrative support or convenient parcel or shipping services
9. No technical support for computer problems
10. Limited capabilities of home office equipment like copier, faxes, etc.

With all this in mind, do you really want to work from a home office? Regus hopes not. Despite the fact that Regus also offers virtual offices, it’s pushing the notion of fully furnished and equipped business centers that offer a more professional environment without the above-mentioned hassles.

What do you think? Can you relate to these home office irritations? When is it time to move from a virtual office to an executive office suite?

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Meyers is no stranger to building successful associations. In addition to founding Association Growth Management, an association management company, he also served as executive director of the Alliance Business Centers Network, director of Government Relations & Communications for the National Nutritional Foods Association, and as a liaison between franchisees and franchisors for the corporate marketing department of IHOP Corp.

aBetterOffice.com caught up with Meyers to discuss his views on the opportunities and challenges the business center industry faces today and his priorities for OBCAI.

What do you see as the biggest opportunities in the industry right now?

I’m like you. I ask people that all the time. Obviously, I’m hearing virtual office space. The virtual office industry has grown a lot over the last few years and it still has the most potential to grow.  I sometimes wonder if it is cannibalizing tenants or if it’s sort of an entry level option that lets companies grow and become real tenants in our office space.

What about the challenges for the association? You’ve got a lot of goals. Do you foresee any stumbling blocks?

I’m confident in where we’re going. I have the blueprint. I’ve done it for another associations. It’s just a matter of proving it to members so that they have confidence that their association is going to provide value for them.  This association attracts great people. It attracts people who are entrepreneurs and who are people-persons. They share information readily among competitors, which is not done in a lot of industries.

People in this industry are willing to participate in various programs and try new things.  I know that if we give them the forum to exchange ideas and discuss best practices things will snowball. There’s a lot of goodwill. People want their industry association to succeed and to thrive. We have that advantage. And the board and the staff wants to provide quality services to our members.

What’s the next biggest priority in your master plan? Where do you go from here priority-wise?

We’re going to focus on putting together a conference that is second to none. We’ve revamped the format this year. We’re going to announce the program very early this year – in April. You’ll see some serious changes in pricing structure for the September Conference in Miami. We’re also going to make sure all the information is available much earlier.

We are also offering a webinar schedule. We announced the first 12 webinars and we’re going to finish the rest of the calendar year in the coming weeks. I’m optimistic because of the caliber of the membership and the caliber of the board. When you combine that with what should be a growing economy at the end of 2011, I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to do great things here.

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Meyers has 15 years of association management experience. In 2004, he founded Association Growth Management (AGM), an association management company. No stranger to the executive suites industry, he previously served as the executive director for the Alliance Business Centers Network.

aBetterOffice caught up with Meyers to discuss his vision for the organization, how he and the OBCAI board will work together to make that vision a reality, and how his previous association management experience will help him serve the serviced office space.

What’s your vision for the organization?
Well, I’ve watched this association for 12 years – 7 years while I was at Alliance Business Center Network and also during the five years I’ve been out in the industry. I don’t think the industry has realized its potential. I want the association to do what associations do – and to do it loud and proud without apology to anyone.

In the past, the association has shied away from providing services to members for fear of stepping on the toes of others who might provide a similar service. My feeling is that this association’s mission is to be the industry association, and anything we do should be the rising tide that lifts all boats. So, the first thing I want to do is make sure we establish and provide true value to our members to the point that they wouldn’t even consider operating without being a member of OBCAI because it’s such a valuable resource. That’s the big picture.

How will you accomplish this goal?
We need to make sure that we’re providing great resources and terrific information. The board is unified. We understand what we need to do and we’re excited to do it. I think if you go to the Web site, it serves as sort of a blueprint. For example, that Flash rotator at the beginning says, “Certification.” The certification program we have right now is very light, but we want to make it a little more substantial. There really should be an exam for people to become certified center managers, for example. There should be continuing education requirements.

I’m going to follow the blueprint of other large successful trade associations. We don’t want to just give lip service to the benefits we offer. When we say, “professional development,” in the Flash presentation on the home page, for example, I’m very serious about providing real training by real trainers and real substantive webinars.

What did you learn about association management before you came to OBCAI?
Five years ago I started my own association management company. My primary client for the last five years has been a foreclosure industry association. Five years ago, the foreclosure industry association paralleled where OBCAI is now. But they’ve grown. Obviously, the number one factor in an association’s health is the health of its industry. The foreclosure industry has gotten very healthy, sadly, over the last five years. But they’re also well-organized. This is not a healthy time in the cycle for the business center industry, but I think it’s going to get a lot better.  When I say a lot better, I mean the association is going to get a lot stronger over the next few years.  I’m excited. I’m really excited.

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If this sounds like you, you are not alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.8 million people commute to work 90 minutes or more each day, in each direction. (Sort of makes me glad I work from a home office, where the commute time is zilch.)

Some cities are worse than others. In Forbes magazine’s 2010 “Best and Worst Cities for Commuters,” Salt Lake City, Buffalo and Rochester are listed among the best. Atlanta, Detroit and Tampa are listed among the worst.

Reducing Commute Times in Atlanta
Atlanta’s workforce is reportedly clamoring for mobile working opportunities – and finding them. This is according to the Regus Group, which boasts 23 physical locations, along with virtual offices solutions and video communications suites.

“Last year was tough on everyone and commuting two hours to work each day doesn’t do much to boost morale,” says Kris Elliott, area director of Regus Atlanta. “Employers across the region have begun to recognize the benefits of a mobile workforce – keeping overhead low and productivity and employee satisfaction high.”

In the past year, the economic downturn has spurred a trend toward mobile working. The worldwide mobile worker population is set to top one billion in 2011, making up30 percent of the global workforce, according to an IDC Market Analysis Report. Cutting costs, increasing productivity and improving work-life balance, Atlanta’s new mobile workforce is leading the way.

Working from Multiple Virtual Locations
Of course, Regus took the occasion to call on one of its clients to do some talking for them: Glenn Wilson, president of Harbor Consulting and Management. Wilson’s IT consulting firm that has been using Regus services across the country for more than a decade.

“We initially started our operations with a regional office space firm, but as expanded our operations to other markets, they were not able to grow with us. We chose Regus because they were able to provide us with all the services we needed while still keeping our overhead low,” Wilson says.

“Now we have offices and virtual locations with them all across the country. Our consultants are able to work wherever our clients need them. Regus enables us to easily manage our mobile workforce and that is something that is invaluable to our business.”

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So what are Regus’ top five tips for ambitious boot-strappers? Let’s dive right in.

1. Divide the best from the rest
First, focus on what you do best and outsource the rest. Regus says small businesses should consider letting someone else handle administrative tasks, such as hiring an office manager or selecting an Internet Service Provider.

2. Look the part
Regus rightly states that a professional image is vital to success. That may mean having an impressive office space to entertain potential clients and investors. Rather than leasing traditional office space, Regus suggests serviced office alternatives to keep costs down.

3. A penny saved…
Is a penny earned. The goal is to make more than you spend. Regus says too many entrepreneurs spend money on items they won’t use or don’t really need. Rather than investing in the latest Apple gadget, you may want to invest in strong employees, technology and marketing.

4. Opening your second office
Maybe you are opening a satellite location. Regus says expanding doesn’t have to be risky when you tap into virtual offices or part-time offices. This gives you an opportunity to explore the market without a large physical presence there.

5. Network, network, network
It’s written three times for a reason. Networking is critical to developing new business relationships at the entrepreneurial level. That may mean attending Chamber of Commerce meetings or building a presence on social networks – or both.

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Established in 1999, B3C is the world’s leading fund management consultancy, specializing in investment in business centers, managed office space and flexible workspace. B3C has become one of the pioneers in alternative asset class investment and is a leading source of primary and authoritative research on the business centre, managed office and flexible workspace industry.

What does your business do?
B3C acts as adviser to business center companies that have capital needs or that wish to restructure themselves. It also advises investors or non-business center companies that are considering entry into the business center market. It also advises banks that have exposure to the industry.

Who have you worked with in the past?
From 2000-2007 B3C was under contract to Close Investments Ltd, part of the Close Brothers Group plc, a London listed investment banking group. During that period B3C designed, established and managed several mutual funds investing in business centers including Business Centre Properties plc, the world’s first public fund for investment in this sector.

How has the credit crunch impacted the serviced office landscape?
Unlike conventional offices, where voids have increased substantially, the occupancy rate of most good serviced office operators has held up quite well. To maintain this level of occupancy, the business center management staff have had to work harder – run faster to stand still! – and have had to discount rates from 2007 levels. We estimate that license fees have dropped between 10 percent and 20 percent over the last 18 months. As a comparison, in conventional office space, rents have dropped around 40 percent to 50 percent in many locations.

Business centers have always had an element of counter-cyclicality. When economic conditions are challenging, corporate customers hesitate to commit to longer leases and prefer the flexibility of short-term licenses. In addition, in locations where there are large numbers of executive staff redundancies, as in the City of London in 2008, business centers benefit from a high level of start up enterprises as those executives try to go it alone.

What does 2010 hold for UK business centers? Where are the opportunities and challenges?
The amount of debt built up by the UK and U.S. governments to fund the rescue of the banking sector and the economic stimulation undertaken in 2009 make it extremely difficult to predict what will happen in 2010. At some point taxes will have to rise to fund the payment of interest on that debt and to start making repayments. If this happens too soon, it could choke off the recovery. In the UK there is the added question of the currency.

I feel that there could be a sterling crisis as overseas investors shy away from buying sterling denominated government bonds (gilts). We may well start to rue not being in the Euro if this happens. 

The opportunity for the serviced office industry is to continue to demonstrate how the flexibility that it offers is valuable to companies in uncertain conditions. How clients can use this flexibility and the services on offer to their advantage in reducing costs.

The challenge facing operators is how to stay competitive. The number of serviced offices continues to rise all over the world; competition is increasing. It is important to think strategically and to have a plan for growth or exit in mind.

Do you have any thoughts on how the U.S. business center market will fare?
Similar comments apply to the industry in the U.S. We expect there to be consolidation of companies as competition makes achieving economies of scale more important. This process has already started and is likely to speed up. The Australian company Servcorp is positioning itself to take on the market leader Regus and several UK based operators are expanding in Asia. We expect to see international companies making another attempt to establish themselves in the U.S., thus increasing competition.

Does the business center industry need a ratings system?
We feel the question of a rating system is a bit of a red herring and there is a danger that companies may get distracted arguing about the desirability of ratings. As an outside observer and user of the industry, a rating system might be marginally useful, but its absence is not really a major problem.

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There’s lots of so-called Rubies at Ruby Receptionists, a Portland, Oregon-based virtual receptionist company. Ruby Receptionists uses remote virtual receptionists that are trained to offer cheerful greetings and professional service. The company’s stated goal: to make you look good.

Ruby Receptionists has a five-step formula for success that goes something like this:

1. They hire the best and brightest virtual receptionists.
2. They improve your company’s image while keeping your costs low.
3. They staff virtual receptionists that make great first impressions.
4. They make your callers think they work in your office space.
5. They take your calls when and where you like.

Ruby Receptionists is no fly-by-night outfit, either. It’s one of Portland’s Fastest 100 Growing Companies, according to the Portland Business Journal and was listed on the 100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon. The company was also recently featured on its local NBC affiliate.

Ruby’s clients include lawyers, retailers, technology companies, accountants, non-profit organizations, computer consultants, financial consultants, mortgage brokers, marketing firms, stock brokers, sales organizations and many others.

What’s it going to cost you? You can tap into the professionalism of Ruby Receptionists for as little as $199 a month. That gets you 100 receptionist minutes, Ruby Voicemail with e-mail notification, unlimited talk time, unlimited voicemail time, and an exclusive member services area that includes real-time call reports. For heavy users, there are plans that run up to 500 reception minutes for $669.

If you aren’t too sure, you can get a free 14-day trial and try the service out for yourself. Let them know aBetterOffice.com sent you.

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Regus said sheer demand is driving the expansion of its video communication facilities. In 2009, the company reported a 22 percent increase in video communication bookings worldwide. Regus seems ready to run even faster on the video communications front, pointing to a recent Gartner report as evidence of the growing need.

Gartner estimates the value of the video communications market will post a compound annual growth rate of 17.8 percent between 2008 and 2013, rising from $3.8 billion to $8.6 billion. Regus offers its view into the growth drivers: businesses are looking for smart ways to reduce travel, the associated environmental impacts, and cost without compromising business operations. Regus said video communicating can be up to 75 percent less expensive than traveling, and with negligible carbon emissions.

“Business boundaries have been expanding for some time but as pressure mounts to curb travel spending, increase productivity and reduce environmental damage there’s the risk that international business relations could suffer,” says Regus CEO Mark Dixon. “Whether the motivation is cost, productivity or the environment we’re allowing companies to stay connected and expand their international footprint. With facilities in 1,100 locations, from Tokyo to Tehran and Tbilisi to Toronto, video communication through Regus means it can be business as usual.”

Need a video communication facility? Here’s how it works: You need to book it three to seven days in advance. When you do, you’ll tap into online, real-time meeting room and video communications equipment. It’s just that easy. I tried to do a demo online, but Regus doesn’t make it plain as yet how to access these services. I am not sure how it compares to a simple GoToMeeting or WebEx solution, but it seems you need to be at a Regus location to take advantage of its video communications solutions. Without any pricing details, it’s difficult to gauge if you’d be better off with Regus or an Internet-based solution you can use from anywhere.

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Officescape just rolled out a new service package with you in mind. Dubbed Nomadic Office, the new package makes way for office nomads, smartphone users, road warriors or coworking aficionados to stay productive while they travel from place to place. The package includes communication services, conference services, software application and online file management services plus access to Officescape’s worldwide network of on-demand day office space and conference rooms.

With solutions like these, you can bridge the productivity gap. As Clooney’s character pointed out in “Up in the Air,” the wrong suitcase can cost you seven days of your life over the course of the year if you are a heavy traveler. If that is true, then how much more can missing important calls or misplacing important digital files cost you?

Nomadic Office lets smartphone users faxes on their Blackberry, iPhone or other Web-enabled devices and synchronizes these devices with the client’s in-office e-mail, contacts and calendar, to avoid duplication. What’s more, Nomadic Office also provides Web Phone capabilities. That could come in handy for international travelers who run into spots where cell phone coverage is limited – or not available.

Nomadic Office is on the cutting edge. These are the types of services road warriors demand, appreciate and will leverage to drive more productivity during travel. Combined with the ability to tap into a day office or on-demand meeting room, this is the type of solution that would turn Bingham’s head.

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So says Regus. Regus isn’t just offering its biased opinion. The company even went so far as to commission research to support its argument that letting employees to work flexibly could save businesses money in staff turnover and recruitment costs.

Researchers surveyed 11,000 businesses in 13 countries. The results reveal that nearly one in five respondents globally have seriously considered leaving their job in the last two years because their journey to work is too long. Most countries showed a proportion of between 15 and 20 percent. That’s especially noteworthy considering the global recession over the past two years.

Commuters who spend over one hour to get to work showed a stronger tendency to want to defect to another company even though their job satisfaction remained high.

Employees’ Green Concerns
Of course, it’s not all about the cold weather. It seems some employees are concerned about the environment for different reasons.

Car emissions are the biggest contributor to CO2 pollution in the UK. By letting employees work from home occasionally this figure can be dramatically reduced while also enhancing a company’s brand reputation as environmentally responsible.

The UK government recently ran a TV advertising campaign which is encouraging everyone to reduce their weekly car mileage by five miles, a step which could collectively save approximately 2.7 millions of CO2 output each year in the UK.

Regus is quick to point out that companies can reach this goal by allowing an employee to work from home one or two days a week. Regus also pointed to telecom specialty company GemaTech to offer some advice on flexible working.

Tips For Employing Flexible Working
Specifically, Regus pointed to four of GemaTech’s tips for making flexible working a reality in your workplace. These will work just as well in the United States as they would in the United Kingdom or anywhere else employees office.

1.   Identify which employees can easily work from home. Of course, not all employees can fulfill their job responsibilities from home. You need to be sure key employees such as sales staff, customer service staff, executive management and finance managers are able to work from home before making this suggestion.

2.   Ensure that employees can receive their incoming calls. GemaTech says the most reliable solution is by re-routing calls via the PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network) which avoids the pitfalls of mobile phone network capacity issues and high demand for broadband capacity for IP Telephony.

3.   Consider how the employee will securely access corporate data and systems.
Simple-to-use technology is available today to allow employees remote, secure access to their normal IT systems including e-mail, corporate directories, office applications including contact centre databases and servers.

4.   Management of home workers is not difficult as long as regular communication between team leader and employees is maintained. For the manager who fears losing control, secure voice recording of re-routed phone calls is easy to introduce as is keyboard key stroke monitoring and recording screen data input.

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