LEAD Smart Moves

It’s good to have one’s own business, but putting up an office for it is not that easy. There just are too many things to do and too much expense required to get things off the ground.

For the start-up entrepreneur, however, there’s now a very convenient and cost-efficient way to have an office in no time at all: the CEO SUITE solution. CEO SUITE, which started operations in the Philippines only in the middle of this year, offers ready-to-occupy office space for start-up businesses or just an office address for those that are simply testing the waters for a prospective venture.

The company provides two types of services: an instant office for chief executives on the go and for mobile entrepreneurs, and a virtual office with a specific business address and dedicated phone numbers for clients who don’t find a need to put up an office of their own.

Either way, CEO SUITE’s instant office services can spare businessmen all the hassles of looking for an office, designing and furnishing it with all the necessary equipment and furniture, and hiring a full-time staff to take in calls and messages.

The rates of CEO SUITE starts at US$50 a month for clients that only need an office address. For those who need a dedicated phone number or an assistant, the rates range from US$60 to US$200 a month. The rates for a physical office space range from US$550 to US$4,000 depending on the size of the office and the services required.

Ems Llanes, country director of CEO SUITE for Manila, says the company decided to enter the Philippine market in June this year because of the fast-growing market for office space in the country.

“The office space market in the Philippines has been experiencing a boom because of the continuing growth of the country’s call center industry and business process outsourcing industry,” she explains. “There are now very few available office spaces left in the Philippines, so it is one of the countries that the office space investors would have in mind for expanding their business.

This shortage of office space has jacked up the cost of office space in Manila, a problem that CEO SUITE now addresses with its instant office services.

Precisely what kind of services does CEO SUITE offer?

Llanes says CEO SUITE can make it instant offices immediately available for the client’s use for an hour, a half day, or a day or a weekly or monthly basis. For entrepreneurs who are just starting a business, CEO SUITE provides services that can link them with the appropriate contacts for business registration and other start-up needs.

She says that CEO SUITE has a ready list of contacts with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company can thus help clients that engage its services in going through the step-by-step process of business registration.

CEO SUITE can thereafter make the necessary follow-up calls for the processing of the client’s business applications. “We help speed up the process and provide representation for our clients,” Llanes says.

She says that for start-up businesses, CEO SUITE has a package that can go as low as P2,000 monthly for clients needing mainly a business address. Its P5,000 monthly package, on the other hand, provides a business address as well as a telephone answering service and the other basic office amenities.

For its virtual office offering, CEO SUITE provides a client company a respectable business address, a dedicated phone line, and a skeletal office staff to take in calls and messages for the client. The virtual office services costs around P2,000 per month, depending on the duration of the service.

For its serviced office offering, on the other hand, the client will be provided with the following additional amenities: a pantry area and a Private Automatic Branch Exchange or office PABX . “We can transfer a client’s call anywhere and we will also provide for the client world-class board room facilities,” Llanes says.

The rates for the serviced office are similar to the rates of five-star hotel, ranging anywhere from P12,000 to P40,000 per month.