Serviced offices

My last full-time, permanent employee was in 2000.  Since then I have been a one-man band.

A few years ago this unsettled some prospective clients.  They worried about doing business with a supplier so small he couldn't even afford a secretary; 'fly-by-night' was often the expression used.  So companies like Regus made (and still make) good money offering a way around this: the virtual office where someone to answers the phone in your name, sorts the mail and hires out meeting rooms by the hour.

Obviously, virtual offices are all about client perception: letting the little guys appear bigger than they really are.  But I feel their worth has diminished greatly over the last few years because absolutely everyone now knows they exist.  When clients in mainland China start asking if your business address is a 'real office' then no one's fooled by a different voice answering your phone any more.

I still use a Regus mailing address because its easier to deal with some government departments and suchlike if mail goes to a corporate address but I gave up the rest years ago.  I hold meetings at the client's office or hotel lobbies, and once your mobile number gets out that's how everyone finds you anyway.

As a small-shop consultant there is a logical consistency to this issue that clients understand if you explain it properly.  You're hiring me because of my personal brand and our one-to-one connection.  If I put people around me that only puts distance between us.