You pay as you go with virtual office

You pay as you go with virtual office

Business center provides services and space for home businesses and road warriors.

Brighton, MI-There are many companies who offer services that are done at customers' homes or offices around the country.Many of these have employees and hundreds of independent contractors work from their homes.Why pay thousands of dollars a month on a long-term office lease?Instead, InSights Group offers a solution - Tax Saving Solutions, LLC, a tax planning resource and accounting firm; LAMOCU Media Services, an event planning and speaking company; and EC Group, a marketing consulting firm - have virtual offices or use space in the Brighton commercial complex.Unlike virtual reality games, virtual offices are physical places. It's just that tenants don't stake out a permanent presence there. They get mail delivery, phone answering, use of equipment and conference rooms on a pay-as-you-go basis. They don't pay for services or space they don't use.The concept - a subset of what are called executive suites or office business centers - appeals to home-based business owners, traveling sales personnel and telecommuting employees far from corporate headquarters.The business address is for these companies housed at InSights Group is 7187 Grand River, Brighton. It is managed by Sandra Maki and Allan Curtis, who dreamed up the idea to bring a diverse offering of services to the local business community within their trend setting office facility.Most of Insights' tenants are small businesses or corporate employees who rent offices on an as needed basis within the center. But a growing part of the business is people who come maybe once a month to use conference room to meet with local staff or use the fax machine or copier. Prices start at $80 a month for all inclusive service, and $160 for eight hours use of a conference room, said Insights spokeswoman Sandra Maki."I get the personal touch that the InSights Group provides to members, and I get a professional look if I meet with clients there. But my work is done on site at a clients' location. We are able to save thousands of dollars a month." Says Alan Smith of LAMOCU Media Services.This virtual approach is increasingly common because of cell phones, computer and Internet technology.There are more than 4,000 office business centers in North America, another 4,000 worldwide as reported by the Office Business Center Association International, a trade group.Often office building owners won't lease less then several thousand square feet of space. An office business center can take a large suite or entire floor of a building and still accommodate a small business that needs and can afford only a few hundred square feet.While technology makes business centers and virtual offices possible, the economy is making them more popular. "Working from home was popular a few years ago, but many people who did it found they don't like being in their house 24 hours a day. People miss socialization. Often they find they're not as productive as they thought they would be because of all the distractions at home."says Al Curtis of InSights . "People come to us because they want an alternative to working from home. It's a personal preference. How do you work?" Sign up now to join the InSights Group virtual office community. Visit www.insights-group.com or call 810-623-5839.