Mobility, flexibility and wireless technology may well be the ingredients for the dawning of a new business age, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

By incorporating technology, infrastructure and services into one offering, the new R2,4-million 1 000 m2 facility, known as Habitaz, is a hub for small and start-up businesses.

Situated in Bryanston, Johannesburg, Habitaz offers small businesses a variety of integrated office-support services and the opportunity to start a business without having to lay out a large capital investment.

The digital age of cellphones, wireless networks and broadband Internet has significantly reduced the need for established infrastructure or that of a conventional office, explains Habitaz director Hein Koen.

Traditionally, starting a business involved the cost and risk of setting up an office.

For example, with an office lease one must often commit for a number of years, with the risk of not securing a client base.

Moreover, when looking at an office, one also needs to buy space in advance for future needs, while taking into consideration hidden costs such as furniture and support staff salaries.

Habitaz is the back-office support for a business, offering a variety of workspace and virtual office options to suit various business needs, says Koen.

"Essentially, you are buying an office for when you need it, making this a low-risk and low-cost way of operating. Creating economies of scale is our business," says Koen.

The concept caters mainly for start-up and small businesses, and includes consultants and brokers, sales representatives or ‘mobile workers’ and international visitors.

Increasingly, there seems to be a change in people’s working patterns. The emergence of hotspots, which offer affordable high-speed wireless Internet access is yet another factor contributing to business facilitation and what Koen describes as a ‘virtual office’.

The ‘start-up fever’, currently experienced by many South Africans, is driving the trend for a new way of working and ‘diversified work patterns’.

"Work is a thing you do and not a place you go to," enthuses Koen.

The Habitaz concept was formally conceived in July last year by Koen and Andre Sharpe. Since the establishment of the business centre in January, Habitaz already has 40 clients, who use the facility to run their own businesses.

In total, the centre will accommodate about 150 clients, due to the diversity of their packages, and the flexibility of working times.

Koen anticipates that the centre will be full by June.

However, the entrepreneurs plan to expand their business within the next three months, with the establishment of a sec- ond business centre in Centurion, where development is booming, followed by another in Cape Town.

Ideally, the company would like to establish several hubs across Johannesburg, and then South Africa, with the long-term endeavour of expanding into the rest of Africa, giving South African businesspeople a base in these countries.

The company offers three main packages: the core office or virtual office, work space and a day office.

The core office package includes an established work address, a telephone number and a call-answering service, a ser-viced postbox and mail processing, access to business centre equipment and services.

The work space option enables mobile workers and small businesses to operate more efficiently, by offering access to a business centre, which includes wireless Internet access, explains Koen.

Moreover, the packages also include two different types of open-plan areas, in addition to the innovative café-style working space, which allows for networking and interaction.

The day-office package is ideal for people who fly to Johannesburg for one-day business trips. The centre also has professional meeting rooms that can be booked on an ad hoc basis.