The Virtual Multioffice Firm
A small firm can present an impressive front by using technology to implement a virtual office. Problem: How to maintain several convenient locations for clients while lowering overhead costs. Solution: Switch to a virtual office. Is it possible to operate and be perceived as a multioffice firm when both of the partners actually perform the bulk of the practice's services in their home? One Virginia firm has proven that it is. Brown & Brown is a traditional services firm made up of two partners who are married to each other, plus part-time accounting employees and administrative help who work as needed. The firm performs tax, accounting and audit services. The partners work out of their home but retain two small office locations in downtown business districts. The firm has not notified clients of this change, so they have been completely unaware of the 1996 switch to this virtual office arrangement. The change has enabled the partners to cut overhead substantially and better juggle their personal and professional lives. THE FIRM Steven and Beth Brown opened their own firm in a 1,200-square-foot office in Tysons Corner, Virginia, in 1981. They later bought another practice in Arlington with 1,200 square feet and three staff members. "At that point, we had the two of us as partners and two offices," Steven Brown explains. The partners decided that was too much office space, so an attorney' friend took over the Arlington lease and the firm continues to rent a small office from him and use his secretary in order to retain a presence there. This allows for continuity with clients and offers clients a convenient location to drop off work. When they downsized the Arlington office, the partners also decided they no longer needed the large Tysons Corner suite. "The majority of the rent was going to house file space and underused lobbies and conference rooms," Brown says. The partners closed their existing large office in Tysons Corner and rented space in a shared office suite in the high-rise office building across the street, which has become the firm's official address. The firm has a 150-square-foot office, plus use of three conference rooms. The two partners moved into a finished basement suite in their home in Great Falls, Virginia, and now perform 85% to 90% of their work at home (or at clients' offices). The change has saved more than $2,000 in monthly rent (although the electricity bill at home increased $150 per month). A NEW HOME The firm has made the shared office suite in Tysons Corner its main home away from home. "We do all our tax season meetings at Tysons Corner," bringing client files to that office as needed (all paper files are now stored in the basement home office). The arrangement offers cost savings in several areas. The move from the large suite in Tysons Corner cost under $500. The firm's rent has dropped from around $3,000 to $650 per month for the shared office suite in Tysons Corner and for the shared space in Arlington. In addition, secretarial help is available in the shared suite for under $25 per hour. "We get help as needed; when the secretaries aren't working for us, we don't pay them." All phone calls are routed to Brown's home. The firm has two lines in each location, all connected by a local phone company's Centrex system. If one partner is at a different location--such as the office suite or a client's office--it's easy to set up a conference call with a few keystrokes on the phone pad. If the partners are not home, a voice-mail system picks up after three rings. Both Browns carry pagers and cell phones and are able to return calls in minutes. The partners retrieve their mail from Tysons Corner daily. They have a copier in their house, plus use of the attorney's copier in the Arlington office and of a copy room in Tysons Corner. Brown says the partners don't hide their arrangement from clients, but they don't broadcast it either. …