They say that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Well I don’t know about all that but I can tell you that an idle mind spells B.O.R.E.D.O.M. I have historically invested in residential and commercial real estate. Buy low, refurbish, sell high if all goes well. My latest venture, Biltmore Office Plaza, followed suit. However, after refurbishing the property, I found myself wanting to hang on to the building as the upside potential had not yet been fully reached.
Once the decision was made to hold the property, I had to determine who would manage the facility going forward. There really aren’t that many options. You either manage property yourself or you hire a management company to do it for you. Well the natural born control freak in me answered that question fairly quickly. Of course it would be me!
So began the saga of my idle mind. Management of a completely refurbished, 100% occupied building with a dedicated maintenance person takes about an hour and a half per day. I found myself wandering the property everyday looking for things to occupy my time and in the process began to irritate the tenants and the poor maintenance man. They began to find things for me to do so I would leave them alone. Very sad indeed.
Being of an entrepreneurial spirit, I began to explore the possibility of opening my own business on the property. New dilemma…what skills did I possess that could be parlayed into a business venture? I knew for sure that I wanted to steer clear of anything related to my past life as a CPA and accounting department head for a major oil company. Just as depression was about to set in from the realization that my only remaining marketable skill was my yen for buying, refurbishing and selling real estate, a block of space (3,000 contiguous square feet) came available.
Throughout the lease up of the building, it was evident that there was significant demand for temporary space for those who prefer not to be confined to an office 100% of the time. Prospective tenants would inquire about inexpensive, small office suites because they would only be used on a part time basis. I now had a large amount of office space available and a list of clientele that wanted small temporary office suites. Plaza Executive Suites was born!
While the concept of executive suites or business centers have been around for 30 or more years, I believe we have taken what was once affordable only to the big national companies with healthy expense accounts and made it available and affordable for the local entrepreneur. We adopted an on demand, no contract approach to office rental and business services and business has been great. Check out our website at www.PlazaExecutive.com to see our list of services and just how affordable they really are.
And my idle mind? I guess sometimes it helps to slow down for a little bit. Some wonderful ideas have been born from the idle mind. Our clients agree that Plaza Executive Suites is one of them.
Bob Alsbury / General Manager- Plaza Executive Suites
“Keeping up” in business is a whole job within itself. Besides running the business…front office, back office, field, etc., an entrepreneur must keep the product fresh, adapt the marketing plan often, and motivate staff in a hyper active job market. Mountains of written literature exist on a variety of new and “tried and true” approaches to keeping all aspects of your business on the cutting edge, yet somehow nothing seems to compare to a conversation with other business owners. The concept of sharing real life experiences and solutions between two business owners while working in a little marketing at the same time hits home quicker than anything written text has to offer.
We found ourselves fortunate since business owners come to us daily to utilize our office and business services. When the meeting of the day is finished, most are as eager to share their business experiences with us as they are to hear of our own experiences. We’ve found feedback from these conversations to be priceless as we’ve improved our product several times, improved our website’s (www.PlazaExecutive.com) search engine position, and expanded our product line into areas we didn’t even know existed and which took little investment on our part to complete. All of these benefits came as a result of some casual networking.
We are ready to take networking to the next level here at Plaza Executive Suites. Being a purveyor of office and conference space in mid-town Phoenix and being centrally located to the entire Valley of the Sun, we’re currently planning a monthly small business networking group of our own. We’d like to host a monthly group of valley small business leaders who want to get together simply to discuss their experiences from a business perspective. The format and meeting particulars will be determined by the charter group. If you are interested in a monthly gathering of this kind, please call us at 602-424-5700.
We wish everyone the benefits that come with networking in the business world.
Bob Alsbury/General Manager - Plaza Executive Suites
It has been said that the two happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day they buy their boat followed closely by the day they sell their boat. In between these two days are a multitude of joy and tears. I had heard this expression early on in my life and, although I immensely enjoy boating, have never considered buying a boat because of the weight of that statement. Who wants to invite that kind of headache into their life?
Since starting Plaza Executive Suites, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many small business owners that have passed through our doors and it seems that getting a business off the ground to some, is much like the boat owners experience. The excitement of bringing a new idea or service from concept to market sometimes overshadows the amount of commitment, planning and patience (not to mention blood, sweat and tears) required to attain success. Ultimately, for some, the tears outweigh the joy, the spirit and bank account are broke, and the business closes its doors.
Most entrepreneurs have strengths AND weaknesses when it comes to starting a new business. The successful business owner will learn to take advantage of his or her own strengths while engaging others to assist with the areas considered weaker by them or where time constraints don’t allow the necessary level of commitment. Many try to do it all. Some succeed. Some flounder for awhile but ultimately something has to give.
We believe we’ve done a super job of taking the small business owner’s mind from office infrastructure issues providing both a fully functional, professional office environment but more importantly, the time to work on their own areas of strength. Small business owners find temporary/short-term office space advantageous as the number of unknowns are significant early on and success can sometimes be as likely as failure.
Until such time that your budget permits the luxury of shopping for and outfitting office space to suite the specific needs of the business, we’ll be here for you…on-demand, no contract required, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.
Good luck to those of you currently in or contemplating the small business arena. Give us a call if we can help. You’ll be glad you did!
Bob Alsbury / General Manager, Plaza Executive Suites
When I worked in the corporate world, I dreamed about working from home. The idea of no more early morning alarms or bumper-to-bumper rush hours. No more exposure to the thousand of office germs or the office personnel that self-appointed me their best friend. If the opportunity to work from home ever appeared, I was going to jump at the chance.
Fortunately that opportunity never came up because subconsciously my plans involved rolling out of bed in time for lunch and working on all those projects around the house that I couldn’t get to because I was always in the office. Maybe I lacked discipline. Maybe I was lazy (you think?) I don’t feel bad though. If given the opportunity to get the same paycheck for completing half the work, I’m sure most people would sign up too. Anyway you look at it, my career would have been the casualty of such an endeavor.
It’s for people like me that we started Plaza Executives Suites. For those people that primarily work from home but every now and then need some human interaction or space without distractions or a professional environment to meet with clients outside the house, we’ve created the right space for you. With our temporary, on demand, no contract required process, we’re available when you need us and standing by when you don’t. Check out our website for all of the details “www.plazaexecutive.com” or stop by and see us at Biltmore Office Plaza.
As a personal aside, my dreams of working from home were once again squelched upon starting Plaza Executive so guess I’ll have to live vicariously through others. Please feel free to share you’re experiences about working from home. I promise I won’t launch into a jealous rage….at least right away.
Bob Alsbury / General Manager Plaza Executive Suites
Many successful companies have their roots in basements and garages across the country. Countless discussions, business plan revisions, and meetings are conducted with anyone necessary to make a go of the product or service. These arrangements were usually out of necessity rather than choice. Office space can be expensive for a start-up company with rent commitments, furnishings and communication setup costs far beyond the most optimistic of entrepreneur budgets. While hashing out business details at Denny’s has also held some popularity, picking up the tab for business lunches can typically be a pricey office solution as well.
Enter Starbucks and wi-fi and a whole new world of temporary, on-demand office space. Coffee shops have become the new alternative to the garage for start-up companies….mostly out of convenience but the components are there for a successful business discussion. How simple can it be? Start talking over a cup of coffee…pull your laptop out of the briefcase…and your meeting is in high gear!
As with anything new, the rules have to be hashed out and many coffee shops have begun limiting wi-fi access or wall jacks for battery recharge which keeps the new millennium entrepreneurs on their toes looking for the next great “hot spot” to hold their board meeting. Reliability becomes a big factor when to need a spot to hash over agenda items.
Many people don’t realize that the world of temporary, on-demand office space already exists and has existed and probably isn’t far from the Starbucks where they’re currently meeting. When we started Plaza Executive Suites we had the opportunity to pitch our new venture to friends, family and pretty much anyone who would listen. Many believed we had stumbled upon one of the most brilliant ideas of the 21st century.
The reality is that executive suites, serviced offices, business centers or whatever other name you can think of have been around for some time. We just like to think that we’ve stirred the pot a little bit by offering a comparable product that is inexpensive, requires no contract and convenient to schedule, find, and conduct business. While maybe not brilliant…we’re certainly very popular lately.
Bob Alsbury, General Manager - Plaza Executive Suites
A few years back, I was laid off from a corporate job I held for 16 years as a result of a company acquisition and relocation of company headquarters out of state. With a fistful of money from a nice severance package and the lack of desire to continue in the career I had poured my heart and soul into for so long, I decided to search inside of myself for some other talent or marketable skill that I could pursue. How I settled on real estate investment (specifically apartment real estate) I’ll never know.
Over the course of 14 months I bought triplexes and four-plexes and finally stopped when I owned 43 apartment units. Not your everyday, run-of-the-mill apartment units…seedy apartment units in an older part of Phoenix’s working class neighborhoods. Early on I knew that I’d be managing these units alone. I was the leasing agent, maintenance man and the rent collector. I worked from my home office which served my needs just fine. I also knew I didn’t want many of these tenants to know where I lived for fear I’d never get any peace and quiet.
For this reason and that I didn’t need office space for my newly launched LLC, I obtained a PO Box for all matters related to the rental units. While I dreamed of the day I would grow my investment company into a national real estate giant with my own floor in a downtown high rise, I knew then I’d have to make do with what I could afford.
As a new business owner and more importantly a small business owner, I didn’t know I had other options in between a post office box or leasing an office space for my business. I have subsequently found that there is a whole world of virtual office and business identity programs in the office space world which can be very intriguing to someone who is trying to present a professional image with out the dedicated office expense. These programs can be obtained for as little as $25 per month for a prestigious business address or a dedicated phone line with a sophisticated auto attendant.
Take a look at our website to see the variety of business identity programs that we have available and then search for an executive business center in your area and ask them for the same. You will be glad you did.
Oh, and the apartments? I think I was aging a week for every day I self-managed the apartments. Thankfully the 2005 real estate boom couldn’t have come faster. I sold the residential units and purchased commercial office space in the blink of an eye and couldn’t be happier. At least I learned a lot about home repairs. I have no idea what I’m ever gonna do with all of these plumbing tools. Anyone need an electric sewer line rooter?
Bob Alsbury / General Manager www.PlazaExecutive.com
A lot has happened since May 2006 when the idea of Plaza Executive Suites was first bantered around. The administrative side of creating a new company can be fairly tedious but the build out of the new digs at Biltmore Office Plaza has been anything but mundane.
We opened our doors at the end of September 2006 (4 short months after inception) and were quite happy with the positive reception received. Most providers of temporary office space and executive business centers in Phoenix charge an arm and a leg for their services which is all well and good if you work for a large national corporation with a healthy expense account. We found there wasn’t much available to cater to the local Midtown small business and home-based business owners. We know how tough it is to grow a business on a shoe-string budget.
I believe our design and construction team did a great job creating a space that is truly indicative of our surroundings in Mid-town Phoenix. A sophisticated, urban flair amid nicely appointed office surroundings complimented by state-of-the-art telephone and T-1 internet equipment. We’re pretty proud of the space we created and felt it was important to have a virtual tour of the facility which can be seen at Plaza Executive Suites
We also feel its important to thank those who helped to make our dream a reality. Bruce, Antonio & Larry on construction. The teams at Method1 IT and Phones Plus of AZ for putting together a very robust network and phone system. Margarita at 360AZ.com who is the brilliant creator of the virtual tour, Kelly and Chris at Platypus Creations for their beautiful work on our image and website, Ari Clare at Palmcroft Design Group for the amazing work bringing the space to life and last but not least, Mark Pregont of A Gilded Facade Faux Finishes (602-667-3564) whose use of color and wall finishes throughout the space have led to countless compliments on our decor.
Please stop in and say hi to us. We love to give tours of the facility which can be found on 24th Street, 1 block north of Thomas at Pinchot Ave (2942 N 24th St, Ste 114, Phoenix, AZ 85016). If you can’t make it to the office, please take a look at our website and bookmark us for a future visit.
We look forward to seeing you!
Bob Alsbury / General Manager