All this leads Regus into a discussion of fixed costs, specifically personnel, facilities and goods and services. Regus is pulling out the heavy hitters on its latest small marketing blitz, drawing from the wisdom of USA Today small business columnist Steve Strauss to help the company make its case.

“Cutting back on overhead expenses is a great way for companies to save money and remain financially prudent. Small businesses often get locked into large, fixed expenses unnecessarily,” Strauss says. “It’s essential to stay fluid as work demands ebb and flow. Business owners often see these expenses as unavoidable or costs that can only be reduced in the long term. There are immediate ways to adjust these expenses to keep businesses afloat and profitable in times of crisis, and as a long term strategy.”

Cutting Personnel Costs
Regus is quick to remind small business owners that hiring full-time employees comes with additional expenses, such as healthcare, 401(k) plans, and other benefits. Even when business is not going well, those expenses remain fixed. Regus suggests hiring freelancers instead, pointing to the fact that independent contractors make up 30 percent of the nation’s workforce. A Regus study from September 2009 reveals nearly 60 percent of U.S. companies expect to use freelance workers more often in the next two years. Why shouldn’t you?

Cutting Goods & Services Costs
On the goods and services front, Regus reminds small businesses that they don’t have to enter into exclusive, long-term contracts with vendors anymore and recommends negotiating flexible agreements that can be revisited quarterly to ensure competitive rates. Regus also points to just-in-time production and creative storage practices to cut down on inventory overhead.

Cutting Facilities Costs
No Regus public relations effort would be complete without a focus on cutting facilities costs and the tie in to serviced office space. Regus called getting locked into a long-term, traditional lease “corporate suicide” for small businesses. The company suggests turnkey options that let small businesses pay only for what they use without sacrificing a professional image. Regus also points to virtual offices as a viable solution for entrepreneurs, freelancers and small businesses that don’t need physical office space.

“Paying for unused, unnecessary office space is like throwing bags of money into a bonfire,” says Guillermo Rotman, CEO of Regus Americas. “Small businesses fall into the long-term lease trap all too often. Staying nimble by scaling expenses with projected or actual revenues is essential for any size business, but is absolutely crucial for smaller companies operating on much tighter budgets.”

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Anaheim Hills Business Center is billing its new virtual program as a service that helps
entrepreneurs focus on their core competency while a “fully supported professional team” handles their phone calls, mails, and faxes. That’s probably true enough. However, Anaheim Hills Business Center also promises “all the benefits of a full-fledged office” at minimal cost.

“We offer all the advantages and resources of a traditional office with 500 centers nationwide as well as in 23 other countries as well. Whether you’re a large corporation seeking flexible alternatives or a smaller enterprise with a watchful eye on expenses, we can meet your space requirements and other needs of office while you are expanding in the market,” says Christine Walker, the manager of Anaheim Hills Business Center.

Don’t Make Virtual Promises
It’s easy to over-promise on the virtual office concept and I think Anaheim Hills Business Center crossed that line, perhaps unintentionally. Virtual offices provide great value, indeed, and virtual offices are an ideal solution for many companies large and small. But you can’t blanket the virtual office with the “all the benefits” a full-fledged office offers.

A virtual office doesn’t give you a receptionist to greet your in-person visitors. A virtual office doesn’t gives you access to copy machines other equipment down the hall. Of course, a virtual office doesn’t give you a full-time office space. With so much hype around virtual offices – and much of the fanfare is legitimate because the virtual office is truly a valuable resources – vendors have to be careful not to over-promise.

Anaheim Hills Business Center is a fine serviced office facility, but it’s marketing messages have a tendency to make grand promises, like the center being “famous.” Sure, this business center is fully equipped with all the latest facilities, such as 24/7 Internet access, voice mail, conference rooms, and video-conferencing etc. But I think famous is a stretch.

Note to serviced office operators: As you jump on the virtual office bandwagon, don’t make the mistake of making so many promises that your customers will be disappointed with your service. There are enough benefits of the virtual office without over-promising and under-delivering. When you hype it up, you could hurt your brand, you ultimately harm consumer perceptions of a vital virtual office industry.

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Office Suites PLUS just announced the grand re-opening of two executive suites projects in the Atlanta area. The company renovated its locations Windward and Mansell locations, both in Alpharetta. It doesn’t sound like a grand makeover. Windward office space got upgraded finishes while the Mansell project got a new high-definition videoconferencing system. But it’s an improvement, nonetheless.

James Baughman, Jr., president of Office Suites PLUS, says the company decided to invest in the upgrades in the face of recession because a high-quality appearance is vital to the brand and its consumers: “The renovation of these beautiful Atlanta-area facilities is just one of the steps we have taken to ensure that we do everything to provide our clients professional image regardless of the economic conditions.”

Marketing the Renovation
Office Suites PLUS is pulling out all the stops to get the word out about the upgrades – and leverage the opportunity to drive new potential clients through the door. The marketing program includes official “grand-reopening” events at both locations, including an ribbon cutting ceremony and an open house. The serviced office provider will offer refreshments, networking opportunities and facility tours just as if it were opening a brand new facility.

This is a smart strategy. I am not sure how significant the upgrades were in terms of a visual appeal, or how much money Office Suites PLUS invested in their Alpharetta projects, but taking the opportunity to introduce the community to its brand by sprucing up and relaunching the facilities should be a strategic investment in the end. I imagine some of the finishings were wearing old and technology upgrades were necessary to compete with other executive suites projects in the area.

Of course, the Office Suites PLUS brand is no stranger to the Atlanta area. Office Suites PLUS has projects in Class A Atlanta office buildings in Buckhead, City View, Duluth, Dunwoody, Decatur, Lawrenceville and Peachtree Corners. What bodes well for one location bodes well for them all from a broader Atlanta market perspective.  The company operates in more than 35 locations in nine states, making it one of the larger serviced office providers in the nation.

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The British Property Federation, or BPF, has accused the serviced office space giant of a “cynical move” and is calling for changes to insolvency rules. Apparently, Regus is trying to get rent reductions from some property owners at its “loss-making” sites” and even secure rent-free periods and get cash from landlords to fund refurbishment work.

The Telegraph reports: “The company, led by chief executive and founder Mark Dixon, has warned that if its demands are not met then the vehicles holding the leases could go into administration, leaving the property owners, which include some of the biggest commercial landlords in the country, with an empty building.”

No Peace with Property Managers
This appears to be a cynical move by a highly regarded company, and is the first time a part of the property industry has used such tools against the rest, according to Liz Peace, chief executive of the BPF.

“Landlords are caught between rock and a hard place when it comes to bailing out occupiers at the expense of their shareholders or facing the prospect of empty space and the costs that come with it,” she says.

Peace is most disturbed that, as she explains it, despite the cuts in margins Regus has obviously had to face in recent times, they have a strong cash position and a profitable business. Then Peace asks a question: All firms have suffered in the recession so why should the shareholders of property firms – many of whom are likely to be pension funds – be bailing out badly negotiated leases or underperforming parts of another’s business?

“We need to see the insolvency rules tightened up to stop this kind of abuse and landlords need to think about asking for some kind of clawback if they make concessions to enable them to obtain some benefit from the upturn when occupiers they bail out come back,” Peace says. “Any firms looking to use these kinds of methods to restructure should remember that the industry is cyclical and what goes around comes around. They could find it difficult in the future to secure they kind of terms they want when landlords are in a position to get tough.”

Regus Speaks Out
What is Regus’ response? Regus is holding its line on the matter. In a published statement attributed to a Regus spokesperson, the company said: “As we stated at our half year results in August the UK is the toughest business environment of our geographies.

“Like many other companies with operations in the UK we are seeking to regear a small number of leases. However we remain fully committed to our operations in the UK where we have approximately 150 centers. We will continue to grow our leadership position in the UK and are contracted to open six centers in the next two months.”

How will the story end? Will Regus make peace with Peace, the British Property Federation and the property managers in question? Or will the stir cause bad blood between Regus and its landlords?

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As Thomas so aptly puts it, “Working from home is nothing new, but managing a business with employees scattered across the country has only recently become possible with new software and management techniques.”

The article points to Department of Labor statistics citing that between 13 million and 19 million Americans do most of their work at home.

Thomas interviews a man named Dan Guillory, CEO of a consulting firm named Innovations International, who works from home. Guillory didn’t always work from home. Thomas reports that he used to rent expensive office space in San Francisco, but he ditched it for a much more affordable virtual office. His staff is spread out across the country.

“Rent alone was $60,000 a year. In addition to that we also had hard line phones that we used; we also had servers that we used. There are a lot of hidden costs that you don’t necessarily think about,” Guillory told ABC.

Guillory said the benefit of the virtual office is that “you have more flexibility, but at the same time our expectations are a little bit different so there’s a price for that freedom to some extent.”

This is a great example of virtual office use – and I’m sure it wasn’t hard for Thomas to find a prime example in the San Francisco area. These days, you can go to any major city and find a stellar portrait of an entrepreneur who is taking advantage of the cost-savings, flexibility and efficiencies a virtual office can offer.

Expect to see more media coverage of virtual offices this year as companies like Davinci Virtual, United Virtual Offices, CESVirtualOffices and others continue making their value proposition known to the entrepreneurial world.

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What does this mean for entrepreneurs, road warriors and others who need an occasional meeting space? It means they have more options in more business centers in more U.S. cities. That’s good news! Specifically, Davinci is offering meeting rooms from over 600 locations and over 1,500 meeting spaces around the world.

“We are enjoying the continued growth of our online meeting room reservation platform,” said Bill Grodnik, president and CEO of Davinci Virtual. “The continued addition of prime office locations and meeting rooms enables Davinci Virtual to offer our customers a great selection of International countries and metropolitan cities. Whether you need a virtual office in Atlanta, a virtual office in Chicago, a virtual office in New York, a virtual office in Los Angeles or meeting space anywhere in the world — Davinci offers the right space at the right price.”

Grodnik was referring to Davincimeetingrooms.com. The reservation platform offers advanced applications, including:

• Instantly available, live conference room inventory
• Critical add-on services such as LCD projectors and video conferencing
• Catering services for meeting participants
• Business support services for administrative and technical needs
• A variety of interactive tools

Davinci still has the best meeting room reservation platform in the industry.
Here’s how it works: Just log on to Davincimeetingrooms.com. You’ll see a form that offers pull down menus that let you select rooms by the hour or by the day in just about any city you choose.

Once you’ve selected all of your meeting room criteria, just hit the search button and you’ll get instant results. I searched for meeting rooms in Hallandale Beach, Fla. and found two suitable options. One cost $23.50 an hour and the other $45 an hour. It took about 30 seconds.

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The global serviced office company just opened the doors to its first-ever U.S.-based executive suites project. The first location is (drum roll, please) Chicago. Servcorp is introducing itself to entrepreneurs and businesses in the Windy City at a location on North Wacker Drive in the West End of the Loop precinct of Chicago’s downtown business district. Servcorp will reside on the 42nd floor of a 46-story building on the Chicago River’s banks.

Should Regus be worried? Hardly. Regus has 15 locations in Chicago, and another 14 serviced office locations in Chicago suburbs. But this is definitely a sign that Servcorp is throwing down the gauntlet in the U.S. executive suites arena. There’s been talk that the company will open 12 new business centers this year. That’s a blip on the radar screen, but it’s a start. And if it goes well, Servcorp could be in position to expand much more rapidly in 2011.

If you visit Servcorp’s Web site, you’ll notice the “Find a Location” pull down menu now includes “Chicago, IL.” Here’s the company’s description of its newest location:

“Situated in the West End of the famous “Loop” precinct in Chicago’s vibrant downtown business district, the brand new 155 North Wacker is a prominent 46 floor tower, and an exclusive business address. 

Located close to major banks, businesses, finance and lifestyle amenities, 155 North Wacker is in an elite neighbourhood of high-end retail, boutique hotels and fine dining options. 

This highly-sought-after location is conveniently located on the northeast corner of North Wacker Drive and Randolph Street, and just minutes away Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains, Metra, subway and bus transport services. Servcorp’s 42nd floor boasts breath-taking views of the Chicago city skyline and Lake Michigan.”

A savvy Servcorp is offering an opening special. If you sign up for a virtual office online in March you get two months at half price.

Will Servcorp hit a homerun in Chicago? Or will driving brand awareness be a major challenge in a city where Regus dominates?

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Let’s look a little bit closer at what We Work has to offer from its newly-minted office suites project in the city that never sleeps. When we do, we’ll find the location tucked away at the intersection of Grand and Lafayette in Soho. The specific address is 154 Grand Street.

We Work clients have four options:

1. You can rent a virtual office space for $99 a month. This gives you mail and package delivery, access to a conference room and a Manhattan address.
2. You can also opt for hotdesk coworking. That will cost you $250 a month and lets you work in a café-like work space with high-speed Internet access and other basic amenities.
3. Climbing up the price scale, you could also choose a single desk workspace. You’ll get a desk, chair, filing cabinet and desk lamp in a room you can lock for $375 a month. You’ll share this room with two to five other people who also opted for a single desk workspace.
4. At the top of the heap, you can get a private office for one to six people. This is a full furnished and completely closed private office with everything but a computer. It will run you $550 to $2,400 a month.

A Unique Workplace
We Work offers many of the same standard amenities you’d find in most other serviced office projects. But there are some unique differentiators worth nothing. For example, the conference rooms are dressed with entire-wall whiteboards. The company also offers a podcast recording booth and a private phone booth, as well as fresh fair trade organic coffee every morning and aquavo ovpur water filters, a new book and magazine library, indoor bike storage and discounted zipcar membership.

Beginning with the Web site all the way through to the podcasting booths, this company has taken pains to put a different twist on the traditional serviced office experience. We Work even sets up events like “Thursday afternoon drinks” and book reviews. This community-oriented workspace is also concerned about sustainability, taking extra steps to ensure energy efficient lighting, using recycled furniture and donating to social and environmental causes.

All in all, We Work is one of the most unique shared office projects I’ve written about in the last couple of years. All that’s left is for We Work to get the word out – and I’m glad to help in that regard. If the company can communicate its uniqueness, then it should be smash hit office complex in Downtown New York City.

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There’s no specifics on the U.S. cities yet, but Servcorp did just open the doors to its 14th location in Tokyo on March 1. Servcorp chose to launch its latest serviced office project in the city’s Shinjuku skyscraper district. By way of comparison, Regus has 12 locations in Tokyo, and no executive suites in the new building Servcorp chose for its latest project. Servcorp settled in the Nittochi Nishi-Shinjuku building.

“We’re proud to announce Servcorp’s fantastic new location Nittochi Nishi-Shinjuku Building. This building has a striking blue-glass façade, complimented with magnificent views of Shinjuku City from our level eight floor,” says Olga Vlietstra, general manager of Servcorp’s Japan operations. “It’s the perfect location to establish your corporate presence. Servcorp is now in all the prime areas of Tokyo, giving our clients wider options to base their business large or small.”

According to Emporis.com, Shinjuku has been an important district for hundreds of years. It’s strategically located on the main walking road to Osaka, Koshukaido and has more recently become known as the main station for the Yamanote train loop that surrounds Tokyo. The Shinjuku skyscraper district was the Tokyo’s first major skyscraper.

Servcorp said the new office space in the Nittochi Nishi-Shinjuku building gives businesses that deal with the Tokyo government a prime position because the area is home to both the administration center for the government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The commercial hub also puts clients within walking distance to Shinjuku’s largest shopping malls.

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That’s because in the face of layoffs, pay cuts and tax hikes, many Americans are more stressed out than ever. Unfortunately, it shows in work-life imbalances such as working longer hours trying to stay employed. So says a just-released Regus Group survey.

The Regus survey reveals that 35 percent of Americans have felt what they describe as an “extreme increase” in workplace stress in the last two years. But it’s not working harder or longer hours, necessarily, that’s causing the extreme increase. Nearly 40 percent cited fear of unemployment as the culprit.

I take that to mean that folks are working harder and longer in hopes of keeping their job – and that’s leading the stress and work-life imbalances. It’s one thing to work harder and longer to reach a goal, such as a raise or a promotion. It’s another thing altogether to work harder and longer just to keep food on the table. With fewer staff, remaining employees tend to have to shoulder more work – and if they won’t someone else will.

Remote Control Work
How does this all fit into the Regus angle? Flexible work arrangements. Regus reveals that many employees are afraid to ask employers for the flexible arrangements they need to bear the brunt of longer hours. I can see how this could create more tension in the workplace because employees need a break, some may be approaching burnout, and the overall company morale could suffer. That’s bad for productivity and ultimately bad for the business, which could lead to more layoffs. It’s a vicious cycle.

“One of the most significant factors in improving employees’ work-life balance is offering the flexibility to work remotely,” says Donna Scott, east region vice president for Regus. “Flexible workplace solutions allow companies to offer employees the ability to work full or part-time from home, along with a breadth of alternative workplace arrangements. By taking advantage of such measures, businesses will be better positioned to attract and retain talented personnel, increase overall productivity and job satisfaction.”

Boosting Productivity
The problem is so severe that Mrs. Obama recently urged companies to implement policies that will help their employees balance their work and personal lives during a visit to the Department of Labor. The First Lady also offered advice to employers to boost productivity through work-life balance, including offering flexible time, part-time telecommuting and paid time off. (Regus and other executive office space providers must have eaten that up.)

Regus says some companies in New York are responding to the plea for a more balanced, productive workforce. Scott is seeing more and more companies, particularly small businesses, taking advantage of the company’s flexible work arrangements. She concludes, “Having employees work remotely a couple days a week and using business centers that are located closer to where they live instead of traveling to the city not only improves morale and productivity, but also keeps overhead expenses low.”

Although this is a clear plug for Regus’s executive office suites, I can see some truth it in. The only problem is it’s an extra expense out of the company’s pocket. With so many companies looking to downsize the office space they already have, I can’t see them renting more office space they really don’t need. It’s all about ROI. If the productivity went through the roof at a remote business center, it might catch on. But that’s a hard case to prove with any consistency.

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