Home Business Information

TONY Todaro had 20 subcontractors and an impressive roster of high-tech and financial services-industry clients, but he was still working out of his home in Redondo Beach. He was hesitant to lease office space again. Five years earlier, he moved his marketing-communications firm, Todaro Communications Inc., into the 18th floor of a Los Angeles high-rise building. When the 1994 Northridge earthquake struck, extensive damage to his office and equipment sent him back to the home-based world.

By late last year, however, he was looking around again for a real office.

"I needed a formal place to make formal presentations to clients," said Todaro. He also felt an office would improve his image because "big companies like to have a feeling of doing business with a company of their peers."

This time he found a great alternative to a full-time office -- classy offices and conference rooms he can use on an as-needed basis. He found what he was looking for at eVirtual Suites, located in a sleek, blue-and-yellow office building near the Los Angeles International Airport eVirtual Suites rents offices, conference rooms and business services on an as-needed basis, while making available fulltime receptionists to answer private, dedicated phone lines.

The company provides clients with a permanent address, a building directory, and phone, fax and voice mail service. When using the space, Todaro can take advantage of clerical services from word processing, faxing and copying to mailing, printing and notarizing. When he's not there, "telereceptionists" answer his calls. A pop-up screen on their computer terminals provides specific information to his business. They can also patch calls through to him anywhere in the world. By not having fulltime space, or hiring a receptionist or clerical support, Todaro keeps his overhead low and can pass those savings on to his clients.

Flexible, affordable bridge

More and more home-based entrepreneurs are relying on virtual offices or renting time and conference rooms in traditional, temporary office facilities. A virtual office provides a flexible and affordable way to bridge the gap between working at home and moving into a permanent space. Part-time real estate arrangements, coupled with high technology, create a seamless feeling of having an outside office even on the days when you're working from home, according to Loriann Hoff Oberlin, author of "Working at Home While The Kids are There Too."

# posted by Medical Information : 3:35 AM