By IRMA ISIP

Need office space in five minutes? Or a temporary swanky address in Makati? Need to juggle tasks but just don't have the time?

The Philippines is yet to catch up with a growing trend in outsourcing - business center and service office operations - now being offered by just two or three operators in Makati City when this concept is almost mature in other Asian markets.

Mee Kim, president of CEO Suite which has been operating its first branch office at the 37th floor of LKG Tower on Ayala avenue the past six months, said there is a huge potential for this business in the Philippines especially for start-up and expanding companies which need to manage their operations in a very cost-efficient manner.

CEO Suite is among the three similar operators offering instant office at half the rent of prime space in Makati at between $1,000 to $2,000 per month and a virtual office as low as $50 a month.

"CEO Suite is in the business of offering a one-stop business solution. We are an outsourcing company for office spaces and office services for any business need in any budget," Kim said.

Under the expanded business concept offered by CEO, client and similar operators, can avail of furnished offices at a respectable address with support services, not necessarily for an extended time.

But she said the biggest challenge in running the business is a price bout triggered by the other industry players. The company requires grade A offices complete with the technological and telecommunication advances required by their discerning clients, mostly multinationals.

Kim said currently, CEO Suite has 30 clients, mostly multinational companies.

She said local companies are more attracted to the virtual office concept, a membership-based service which gives entrepreneurs and small startup companies the professional business identity for as low as P2,000 a month,

One of their clients, Manulife, used CEO Suite's LKG location as a temporary office as they could not find a space in Makati .

Kim said CEO Suite would open other branch offices in other parts of Makati , Fort Bonifacio and Cebu . The company is also eyeing 100 local members.

Kim said CEO Suite has a good mix of clients such as management consultants, financial services executives like those in venture capital, executive recruiters and advertising sales representatives.

Kim said the business center converts the fixed costs of entering into a long-term lease, designing and building space, acquiring telecommunication and computer equipment and hiring a staff into a variable cost for clients who use the offices for short-term renewable periods.

Office spaces are immediately available so clients can move five minutes after the deal is sealed.

"Our company's clients over the years are multinational companies that would like to manage their risks in entering every market, as with using our facilities, we allow them to conserve capital and provide them the flexibility they want," Kim said.

CEO Suite's first business center was established in Jakarta in 1997. It now has 100 centers in a relatively small country like Hong Kong, 50 in Singapore and 500 in Vancouver in Canada .

"This is the fastest growing business concept," she said.