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<br />and conterence center, a licensed child-care facility, a business
<br />development and training center, 24-hour banking, a fitness center,
<br />and a number of restaurants. "At least 20 percent of our clients left
<br />home offices to come here:' says Executive Office Link spokesper-
<br />son Sharon Notimagle. Considering the many prestigious large
<br />companies that aJso use such facilities, the opportunity to network
<br />is an added advantage to small-business entrepreneurs.
<br />Suites have their limitations, says Sonny Moyers, president of
<br />Management Consultants, Inc., an executive-suite industry consul-
<br />tant. "For power computer users and high-tech companies, execu-
<br />tive suites don't provide the needed high-tech support. Executive
<br />suites should be equaJ to or better than their client base for techni-
<br />cal support." For example, Moyers himself uses a 9000 pro.iection
<br />system tor presentations and a multimedia computer. He networks
<br />with three computers and his system runs substantially faster than
<br />those furnished by most executive suites. "They would have diffi-
<br />culty providi ng that level of service to me:' he says.
<br />Other limitations to executive suites are that they are relatively
<br />expensive and highly dependent upon close proximity to strong
<br />commercial downtown areas. Home workers in rural areas don't
<br />have access to them, and probably never will.
<br />
<br />MARKETING TO DISCONTENT
<br />
<br />No office is perfect. Corporate employees aren't worried about how
<br />to appear professional-it's a given. This doesn't mean they don't
<br />have other concerns, though, such as achieving privacy in the era of
<br />cubicles. Home-office workers worry about how to project a pro-
<br />fessional identity and maintain a semblance of separation between
<br />work and personaJ life. Those in executive suites may have access to
<br />shared reception areas and conference rooms that offer a profes-
<br />sionaJ image, but they're paying for it out of their own entrepre-
<br />neuriaJ pockets.
<br />
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<br />
<br />It's worthwhile to understand
<br />the variety of settmgs .
<br />in.which'fJt.dPlt.wofk,.
<br />
<br />Who's paying the bill affects the relative demand for certain
<br />office-related products and services, but it's not the only criteri-
<br />on. For home-office workers in particular, each purchase is
<br />viewed from a combined perspective of productivity, support,
<br />and image. "One of the most important considerations for entre-
<br />preneurs is not how fast and how powerful computer technology
<br />has become, but how technology can make them more profes-
<br />sional and productive:' according to Nation's Business.
<br />IDC/Link's 1996 Work-at-Home Survey reveals that while price is
<br />a factor in purchasing, "quality/reliability and service/support
<br />are cited more often as key factors by both home-office types
<br />[corporate and self-employed]."
<br />
<br />To some extent, it doesn't matter where people are physically
<br />located. But the same beauty of technology that permits telecom-
<br />muting also creates dift1culty for the business-to-business mar-
<br />keter. It's gotten to the point where a mere company name and
<br />address says little about the specific needs of the business-to-
<br />business customer. Someone affiliated with a big corporation may
<br />be housed in a remote home office. Someone running a solo
<br />entrepreneurial venture may have a corporate-sounding office-
<br />park address.
<br />Even so, it's worthwhile to understand the variety of settings in
<br />which people work. Our ongoing quest for the ideal workplace is
<br />launching opportunities for everything from office furniture that
<br />doesn't look out of place in a home to specialized insurance policies
<br />for home-based businesses.
<br />The home-office market is expected to grow at an annual rate of
<br />7 percent through the year 2000, as more Americans explore alter-
<br />natives to the traditional office. Over the same period of time, mil-
<br />lions may leave by the back door in pursuit of another solution.
<br />Our restless natures will drive an ever-changing and growing mar-
<br />ket for the products and services we need to run our offices, wher-
<br />ever they may be.
<br />
<br />Kathi 5. Allen owns Allen Research & Communications, a corporate communications and
<br />research firm in Issaquah, Washington. Gloria Flynn Moormon owns GFM
<br />Communications, a corporate writing and publications firm housed in the same profes-
<br />sionaloffice building. Ironically, the authors had to prepare this article from makeshift
<br />quarters after their offices were vandalized. Kathi says she ure-experienced the trials and
<br />o few of the pleasures of working from homeR during the temparary displacement.
<br />
<br />TAKING IT FURTHER
<br />COB Research & Consulting Inc. of New York City conducted a November
<br />1996 telephone survey of several hundred adults based on its National
<br />Research Panel. Results were published in the March 1997 issue of Home
<br />Office. Find/SVP published a comprehensive look at the Home Office
<br />Market-U.S. in January 1997; call (800) FINDSVP. The report covers markets
<br />for home computers, multiple phone lines, Internet access, modems, faxes,
<br />and more. It focuses on three distinct segments of home-office workers:
<br />telecommuters, home-based workers, and after-hours workers. IDC/liNK, a
<br />division of International Data Corporation, offers several reports, including
<br />1996 Small Business/Home Office Market Update (which includes the Work-
<br />at-Home Survey); Small Business Market Forecast: 1995-2000; Surging
<br />Demand for Second Phone Line and Call Management Services; 1996 Home
<br />Media Consumer Survey; and U.S. Small Business Forecast: 1996-2001. For
<br />further information, call Janis Dempsey at (508) 935-4145. Management
<br />Consultant Services publishes Executive Suite Industry Perspective, a man-
<br />ual for executive-suite industry insiders that also discusses current and
<br />future trends in officing trends; telephone (972) 248-8212.
<br />Business@Home magazine offers information and advice to home-based
<br />workers; telephone (800) 995-3590. American Demographics addressed the
<br />question "How Many Home Workers?" in May 1996.
<br />
<br />A..,erlcan D...,ographlcs October 1997 61
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