`Virtual offices' allow small-business owners to look like magnates.

Publication: The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2006 The Orlando Sentinel

Byline: Elaine Aradillas

CELEBRATION, Fla. _ When Kirby Ryan meets with clients interested in his medical services, they sit around a polished wooden desk inside a well-appointed executive office in downtown Celebration.

But Ryan must make an appointment to use the office at 215 Celebration Place because he's allotted only 16 hours a month there. Most of his time is spent at his home office 10 blocks away, where a spare room is lined with laptops and file cabinets.

About 150 small businesses share Suite 500 on the fifth floor in a corporate park surrounded by lakes and manicured lawns. Users pay $250 per month for a package that includes an elite mailing address, an answering service and occasional office space.

It's called a "virtual office," and for small-business owners _ who choose not to or cannot pay for expensive and scarce office space _ it's a way to look big-time...

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