Instant offices: Today's business solution<\/p>\n
B. Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
To an established company there is nothing extraordinary about
\nhaving a representative office that is strategically located and
\nequipped with sophisticated facilities.<\/p>\n
But it is certainly a problem for a newly operating company
\nwishing to have both a solid organization and an office that is
\nnot only equipped with modern facilities but also strategically
\nlocated.<\/p>\n
Today this is no longer a problem, though. Several companies
\noffer instant offices of various types. You may opt for a virtual
\noffice, which provides basic secretarial services, or a small
\noffice measuring about 12 square meters (for one person only) or
\neven one with an area of some 40 square meters (for five people).<\/p>\n
\"Well, you can take your laptop computer to this office and do
\nyour business,\" said Viera Djawahir, business development manager
\nof The Executive Center, a Jakarta-domiciled company providing
\nserviced offices, virtual offices, business bases and business
\nservices<\/p>\n
The Executive Center is only one of at least five similar
\ncompanies in Jakarta with affiliates in other major cities in the
\nworld. Their presence in Indonesia means a solution to the
\ncountry's newly established companies starting with a small
\nbusiness or to companies that require only a little office space.<\/p>\n
These companies can also help foreign corporations wishing to
\nopen their branch offices in Jakarta. These office lease
\nproviders offer not only office space, like what a building
\nmanagement of an office building does, but they also offer office
\noperational services.<\/p>\n
In this regard, their services are like those provided by
\nbusiness centers in five-star hotels. The advantage for the
\nclients is that they can get office space at a much lower rate
\nbut enjoy equal luxury.<\/p>\n
The office space they offer is always located in Jakarta's CDB
\n(central business district). The Executive Center, for example,
\nis located in Sudirman Square Tower, a modern tall building in
\nJl. Sudirman, which is part of Jakarta's Golden Triangle area.
\nThis company also has its network in most strategic sites in Hong
\nKong, Bulgaria, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney,
\nTokyo and Seoul.<\/p>\n
The rate? For a virtual office service, the rate ranges from
\nRp 500,000 to Rp 1 million a month. If you need an office space,
\nthe rate ranges between Rp 7.5 million and Rp 15.5 million a
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
As the rate is calculated in rupiah, it won't be quite so
\nburdensome to the lessees. Aside from enjoying basic facilities
\nlike a fully furnished office, electricity, air conditioners,
\ntelephone lines, a fax machine and a photocopier, a lessee will
\nalso be provided with a receptionist, an office boy that will be
\nready to serve refreshments and an around-the-clock security
\nsystem. Then there is a lobby where guests are received and a
\nmeeting room for internal meetings or meetings with clients.<\/p>\n
As modern offices shrink in size and their organization is
\ntrimmed, the concept of an office offered by serviced office
\nproviders is in demand today, especially considering the fact
\nthat the payment system is very flexible.<\/p>\n
You can pay the rent monthly and you can also extend the
\noffice lease as long as you wish. The Executive Center, Viera
\nsaid, always has a lot of prospective lessees. The company has 40
\nrooms on lease. They are fully booked almost the entire year.
\nSometimes, some clients are willing to be put on the waiting
\nlist.<\/p>\n
The Executive Center has about 23 companies as its clients
\ntoday. These companies deal in, among other areas, management
\nconsultancy, waste-treatment consultancy, public relations,
\ncosmetics or heavy-duty equipment. About 90 percent of them are
\nmulti-national corporations and the remaining 10 percent are made
\nup of local companies.<\/p>\n
Long before this particular service business became as popular
\nas it is now, Mee Kim, president of CEO Suite, said that her
\ncompany was the pioneer of this business in Jakarta. The company
\nbegan to offer the lease of instant offices with modern
\nfacilities as far back as 1997.<\/p>\n
Today CEO Suite has two buildings to lease, namely in Wisma
\nGKBI (Gabungan Koperasi Batik Indonesia) and BEJ (Bursa Efek
\nJakarta) building in the Semanggi area, Jl. Sudirman, which is
\nknown to be Jakarta's most prestigious area. The rent is
\nflexible, ranging from US$8 per hour to $700 to $5,000 per month.
\n\"Our rent is highly customized: hourly, daily, monthly or yearly.
\nYou name it, you get it,\" said Mee Kim, a Korean woman married to
\nan Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Aside from providing a lessee with standard equipment and
\nfacilities, CEO Suite also provides its clients with, among other
\nservices, ISDN, LAN, unified messaging system, high-speed
\nInternet and teleconference facilities if the clients wish to
\nrent a conference room.<\/p>\n
Besides, CEO Suite, whose motto is \"You only pay for what you
\nuse\", also makes available supporting personnel such as
\nsecretaries and accountants. \"You can calculate yourself the
\ndifference between taking our office lease and renting or
\npurchasing your own office building,\" said Mee Kim. CEO Suite,
\nshe added, now boasts some 700 clients in Jakarta, Singapore,
\nKuala Lumpur and Shanghai.<\/p>\n
Today the concept of an instant office is the prevailing
\ntrend. In a highly globalized era, information technology plays a
\nvital role and takes over the concept of conventional offices.
\nThe concept of an instant office is also the prevailing trend in
\nthe United States.<\/p>\n
In the present digitalized era, a company no longer needs a
\nlarge space and a bulky organization. Bill Gates even started his
\nbusiness in a small office, a trend that was later taken up by
\nother companies, particularly those in the information technology
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the trend of an instant office has developed as
\nmuch as it has in more advanced countries. Mee Kim said, however,
\nthat when companies trimmed down their businesses in search of a
\nhigher efficiency level or when, from the very start, companies
\nwere not designed to be large-scale businesses, the concept of a
\nsmall office or an instant office, or even a virtual office, was
\nan attractive choice.<\/p>\n
She added that the demand for office space showed an increase
\nfrom one year to another, following the greater dynamism in
\nbusiness and in the economy in general. Signs of this increase in
\nthe demand for office space have become increasingly more visible
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
As a result, slowly but surely, the instant office business
\nhas also shown a rise in demand and is growing at a rate of 10
\nto 15 percent annually.<\/p>",
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