“Since moving the company to 999 West Broadway in 1994, it has always been my ambition to take over the entire 7^th floor,” says Owner/Manager Karline Mark-Eng.  “Over the years we have been gradually expanding, and now we are happy to announce that this dream has finally become a reality.”

When she purchased the company in 1989, it offered just 8 rental offices. With her office move to 999 West Broadway, Mrs. Mark-Eng expanded to 12 furnished executive offices. As additional space came available on the same floor, she saw her bigger picture coming together, one suite at a time. An expansion in 2000 gave her 5 more offices, and four years later she expanded again by 9 offices, bringing her total number to 26 executive offices.

Then in the summer of 2008 Mrs. Mark-Eng received a phone call from her Landlord to advise that the last remaining suite on her floor would become available. In September she began the construction process to join the three separate 7^th floor units with one common hallway.  The reception area, staff data processing room and boardroom were all relocated to the centre of the floor, capturing the impressive north views overlooking False Creek and the North Shore mountains.

With this expansion, a new state-of-the art VoIP telephone system was installed, complete with new phone sets for every office.  The new telephone software enables the company to offer many new features to greater enhance the flexibility of her telephone answering services, as well as providing cost-saving options to her clients.

At the launch party held on December 17^th, 2009, owner Karline Mark-Eng gave an emotional and heartfelt impromptu speech, thanking her exceptional staff, her husband and sons, her parents, her mentor – Diana Gray, and all past and present clients whom have helped to pave the way for 28 successful years in business. The crowd was large, the food excessive and delicious and the mood was jovial.

This expansion to the entire 7^th floor at 999 West Broadway will allow MPS Executive Suites to better meet and serve the needs of its small business clientele.

Mrs. Mark-Eng proudly looks forward to an exciting 2010 and beyond.

It is surprising how many sales leads are lost unknowingly on a daily basis.  Cleaning business owners can easily spend a couple of hundred dollars a month on their advertising such as flyers, community newspaper ads, Yellow Page listings, etc.  But, when those prospective customers pick up the phone to call your business, what do they hear?  Are they immediately impressed with your professionalism?  Is their call answered promptly and courteously?  If they don’t reach you, are they assured a prompt call-back with a quotation?

Give yourself full marks if this is the case.  However, this is not so with a great number of businesses.  What the prospect instead hears is: A garbled answering machine taped message, background noises of young children and pets demanding attention, the harried voice of someone who is behind schedule and rushing out the door or worse, no answer!  Undoubtedly the first impression received by the prospective customer is not a positive one.  They may assume your company is too small to handle their project.  So, instead of those important sales leads being handled properly, they are mismanaged and the prospect is lost to the next company on their selection process.

Hiring a professional telephone answering service is a very economical way of ensuring your company is presented with a professional image at all times.  The centre may be asked to page you directly with any new sales leads and to hold the rest of the calls until you call in for them in between appointments.  By selecting a company which specializes in “personalized” service, your callers will assume the person answering is your full-time secretary.

One such service which caters to small business clients is MPS Executive Suites. Karline, the owner/manager, is very aware of the importance of handling each call as if it may be your biggest new contract of the year.  She says, “we have a very important responsibility to help our clients’ businesses grow.  If my clients are successful, then we will be too.”  Murray Forbes can attest to the quality of service the association receives from MPS.  “Besides handling our calls, the staff also assists with our other office needs such as typing, copying and even boardroom rentals.  I can trust the staff to add the professional business touches to all aspects of our work.”

When it comes to reviewing your office overhead expenses, having a professional answering service doesn’t necessarily cost more.  If you choose carefully it can generate extra sales leads and extra revenue that more than pays for itself.



When people think of creating a corporate image, they most often think of their advertising material and website.  While these are definitely important items to present well, it doesn’t stop there.  Your corporate image is being “viewed,” either positively or negatively, every time someone calls you.  Do they hear the noise of kids crying in the background, a noisy café or just an answering machine message?

Although there are a lot of worthwhile advantages to working from home and operating without the high cost of a full-time office, it doesn’t have to “look” like you are a small-time business.  For a low monthly fee, your business can have a professional address on your business card.  For a little more, a virtual office package, offered through a professional business centre, can afford you the corporate image of having a staffed office.

Establish instant credibility

Take your home address – or worse, a post office box address – off your business cards.  One tells your potential customer that you have a one-person, perhaps part-time hobby business.  The other says, “I really don’t want you to know where I do business or how long I might be around.”

A business mailing address and virtual office are low-cost services provided by business centres, where reception staff can receive mail and parcels and greet visitors who unexpectedly drop by to see you.  In addition to establishing greater credibility, you will enjoy the efficiency of being able to focus on your work and appointments rather than, for instance, having to wait for a courier to arrive to your home.  A voice mail or e-mail from your “office” will keep you informed of important documents that have been received for you.

If the time comes when your home office is no longer working for you, you can upgrade your virtual office into a full-time office without any of the long-term commitments or high set-up fees and hassle.  Your turn-key completely furnished and equipped office with full support staff awaits you.

First impressions count

How many times has meeting taken place in a coffee shop?  Was it as productive as you had hoped?  Often, the distraction of cellphones ringing, the conversations at the next table, the clatter of coffee cups or a cash register closing is not only frustrating, but takes the focus away from concluding a deal.

Holding the meeting in a professional business environment keeps the concentration and discussions focused.  It also communicates the message that you are serious about your business and respect the other person’s time.  For about the same price as the tab at the coffee shop, you can rent an office or equipped meeting room by the hour or by the day in the business centre where you have established your mailing address.  This not only enhances your image, it also makes your meeting more effective.

Your phone is your lifeline

It today’s highly competitive environment, exceptional customer service is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, to keep your customers happy and informed.  When a prospect receives a garbled answering machine message or is left in a voice-mail maze, it provides the competition an opportunity to offer something better.

Having friendly, informed and helpful receptionist answering your phone adds an extra level of personalized professionalism that speaks to the quality of your business.  It lets your customers know that you care about them and their business, and that you value their time.  Being able to be directly connected with your important callers – while the less urgent matters are screened for later handling – adds to your productivity and time management.

Focus on growth

Many businesses fail because they are too busy working “in” in their business and not “on” their business.  Time is your most limited asset.  The best way to gain more time in your day is to recognize the tasks you are doing that could be done more efficiently and effectively by someone trained in that area.

Gregor Anton, B.C. president of Leader Global Consulting, is a believer in contracting out for business centre support services.  “Having the experienced office staff at the Central Park Business Centre take my calls, handle my seminar registrations and make follow-up calls adds hours to my business day.  They not only save me time, but also reinforce the business message that I teach in my marketing bootcamps, to focus on business growth.”

Business centre staff is available on an hourly basis to book appointments, update databases, prepare professional documentation including contracts and spreadsheets – and more.

Take advantage of the flexibility and variety of services available to ensure you have the tools you need to leave a lasting positive impression on every customer and prospect.

Whether you have a virtual office or a full-time office, a professional business centre can provide you the foundation from which your business can expand to its greatest potential.



Office Business Centres Ready for Growth

The mood at last week’s Office Business Centre Association International’s (OBCAI) Annual Conference in San Diego was positive and uplifting. In keeping with the conference theme of “Evolve and Thrive,” speakers reiterated the fact that business isn’t down, it’s just different. Business owners need to recognize the changes, new trends, and global opportunities, and be able to quickly adapt.  It was predicted that small, flexible, and agile businesses will do well in this economy. There is a stronger than ever need for business efficiency, so those businesses ready with the seamless provision of services and technology across borders will do extremely well.

Office business centres provide the ideal environment for consultants, professionals and small business owners to flourish. These centres serve as an “incubator” for small businesses to grow, and frequently provide the internal opportunities for client acquisition and referrals.

Diana Gray, owner and General Manager of Central Park Business Centre (CPBC), located in Vancouver on the west border of Burnaby, attended the conference along with owners and managers of office business centres from the US, Britain, Mexico, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. As an entrepreneur herself, Gray enjoys working with her clients and seeing them succeed in business. She spontaneously shares her expertise and business network with her clients. Published twice on small business (The Complete Canadian Small Business Guide and Home Inc.: The Home Based Business Guide), Gray has a lot to offer.

Having started in the office business centre industry almost 30 years ago, this is not the first business recession Gray has experienced in Vancouver. In fact, she started her first centre during the real estate crunch of the early 1980s and was ready to service clients who were downsizing from excess and unused leased space.

Providing fully furnished offices inclusive of phones and internet, plus all the administrative and reception staff, Central Park Business Centre has everything ready for small- and mid-sized businesses to move in and start up instantly. Her company is a safety net and one-stop office business centre for her clients. She removes a lot of the stress and financial risk of high overhead costs such as staffing and carrying long term leases. A very familiar statement she hears from her clients is: “Being in the centre saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent managing the office. Now I can concentrate those hours on running and marketing my business.”

Gray feels CPBC is ideally positioned to face the new economy. “We have bundled our service offerings to make it easy for our clients to enjoy a comprehensive, all-inclusive office space solution with many value-added features, for one low competitive price.” She also provides Virtual Offices for those working from home, allowing them to have a business presence in just one or multiple locations through the umbrella organization of Elite Business Centres.

Inspired with new ideas and contacts generated at the conference, Gray is enthusiastic about embracing the change that is in the air, and helping her clients succeed through the changing tides of this economy.

Contact Info:

Diana Gray, Owner and General Manager
Central Park Business Centre
604-435-2500
dgray@executivesuite.ca

Some walls come down, others stay up, says entrepreneur Barr
By: Diane Strandberg – Tri-Cities News

After some 25 years in business and involvement in provincial and local politics, Irene Barr can offer a unique perspective on both worlds.

Women are making great strides in business but only baby-steps in politics, says Irene Barr, a longtime Tri-Cities business woman and provincial Liberal.

In an interview across her polished desk in the elegantly-appointed Headquarters Office Services in Coquitlam, Barr was asked to consider the changes faced by women in businesses since she started her own company 25 years ago.

Like many entrepreneurs, a passion for pursuing challenges prompted her to start a word-processing business out of her home with a $22,000 hybrid between a computer and  typewriter. With previous experience in computer conversions, she soon branched into technology training, starting Headquarters Office Services and moving into a 7,000-square foot space on Lincoln Avenue. A federal contract then enabled her to expand the business to 70 training seats.

She got involved with the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce, became its president in 1988 and made connections that helped her students get jobs.

“It’s about building relationships,” Barr said of her network that grew withher community work.

Throughout the Tri-Cities, Barr said, women are becoming successful by helping each other. They might not do deals on a golf course but they build relationships with other professionals through business exchanges, and community service, through groups such as such as Sunrise Rotary, where Barr was a member.

But breaking into the world of local politics is a bigger challenge. It’s not just her own experience running for office as a Liberal candidate she cites. She tried for years to get more  women involved in politics as the president of the BC Liberal Women’s Commission. Barr said getting nominated is the first stumbling block. She narrowly lost a 1996 bid for the Westwood Plateau/ Port Coquitlam seat and tried twice again, failing to get the nomination each time. (As a north-east Coquitlam resident, she also unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Port Coquitlam.)

“I see it as this barrier stopping us. When we do see women make it, they do a great job. They use their power well,” she says.

“Everyone recognizes we need more women in politics but women have a tough time getting nominated. The local community still has these back-room boys – they call the shots.”

Stalled in her drive to get a seat in the B.C. legislature, Barr focused her attention on her business, which had expanded to include branches on North Road and in PoCo. But even there  she was discouraged. The federal government pulled her contract while it proceeded with other job training models, and Barr had to retrench, firing staff and closing one of three offices.

It took years to rebuild, she said, but the effort was not without a silver lining. Women she met through informal networks came to her aid, some acting as sounding boards for major decisions, others holding her hand through the rough spots.

“That’s when you know who your friends are,” she said.

Capitalizing on the trend toward business incubation in which small start-ups need an office presence but don’t want the hassle and the cost of starting their own, Barr was able to evolve once again, leasing office space and providing communication services to a wide variety of clients. It’s a model that has been successful: Barr has secured a marketing relationship so she can provide even more services to her clients as a division of Elite Headquarters Office Services Inc.

Unlike politics, the business world is much easier for women to enter, Barr says. Women entrepreneurs are more common now than when she first set up shop and more successful than they’ve ever been. It may be a way to get out from under the glass ceiling but, whatever the reason, Barr applauds women’s business success and plans to mentor women entrepreneurs coming up in the ranks.

“I just think there are no barriers [for women],” she said. “They don’t expect barriers and they don’t receive them.”

Photos from Irene Barr’s 25th Anniversary: