Foxhole Business Center on Why Setting Up a Business is Like Going to Battle
Once you visit the website of Foxhole, the first thing you’ll see is this quote from Sylvester Stallone: “People that spend time in a foxhole – they’re never going to find that relationship anywhere else again. Everything else pales next to that. When you think about the WW2 vets, there’s a brotherhood.”
It may seem odd to find a quote about World War II while you’re scouting for serviced office spaces in Makati. But in many ways, setting up a business and carving your own career are like going to battle: you need training, tools, and a strong sense of unity and trust within the team. You also need a good fighting position–you very own foxhole. And that’s exactly what the Foxhole Business Center aims to provide.
But how do they do that? The Foxhole Business Center is known for its five main services: Foxhole: exclusive executive office spaces, Virtual Foxhole: virtual office services, Foxdesk: dedicated individual work stations, Foxtrot: flexible co-working options, and Foxhounds: business support services.
Foxhole: Exclusive Executive Office Spaces
This is for BPOs, startups, and foreign businesses looking for a plug and play solution for their office space needs. If you are still testing the Philippine market, can’t afford bigger cuts, or looking for transitional office spaces for rent as you wait for your office to finish construction, Foxhole is for you. You can enjoy a private and exclusive office space with 24/7 access via, high speed internet via Ethernet cable and Wi-Fi, use of the conference room, use of reception lobby for message taking and mail receiving, and use of all common areas including huddle areas, pantry, and the receiving area. They offer various office suites of different sizes ranging from 4-seater to 15-seater offices, so this is suitable to different team sizes.
Virtual Foxhole: Virtual Office Services
This is perfect for foreigners and freelancers.
If you’re a foreign company wanting to set up business in the Philippines but are restricted because of the law, Virtual Foxhole is your best option. You can have a formal Makati business address which you can use to register your name or business. You can use this when applying for local government permits, barangay permits, BIR, and more.
If you are a professional freelancer, availing of the Virtual Foxhole service allows you to improve your efficiency without having to spend on your own physical office. You get to have formal address for your package and mails. You can also use the same address to register your business. This service also includes mail handling with notification, 10 hours per month use of the conference room, and use of Wi-Fi and common areas when you visit the office space.
Foxdesk: Dedicated Individual Work Stations
Co-working is popular among professional individuals like accountants, lawyers, and graphic designers who don’t have a company but want to register themselves as sole proprietors of their business. Foxdesk allows you to enjoy a dedicated individual workstation, use of the Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable, conference room, and voice line.
Foxtrot: Flexible Coworking Options
If you’re a professional freelancer with tight deadlines to meet and want to work in an office for the day, Foxtrot is for you. Maybe getting a monthly package is a huge commitment for you, and you want to try it out for a few days. They offer daily rates for our co-working spaces.
Foxhounds: Business Support Services
Setting up a business comes with a lot of paperwork and other tasks that you may consider a hassle. Unfortunately, these time-consuming tasks are essential to your business. Foxhound allows you to delegate those tasks to someone else, which gives you more time to focus on your core competency. From accounting services, payroll services, HR recruitment services, to business registration, Securities and Exchange Commission, all the way to BIR, they’ve got you covered.
How It All Started
Franco Alvarez, the president and CEO of Foxhole, saw a need for something like Foxhole when he was conversing with friends and colleagues from abroad.
“The Philippines has such a dynamic and robust economic landscape,” Franco said, “But there always seems to be a fear of setting up a business here in this country.” Some of his friends and colleagues associated the Philippines with the lack of regulations, red tape and bureaucracy, corruption, et cetera. “It saddens me that a lot of money and opportunity do not come our way because of these fears.”
Franco believes that some of these fears aren’t entirely baseless. “But some can be easily addressed just by talking to the right group. A group that can sincerely and honestly help these potential investors by taking care of the basic necessities in putting up an entity in the Philippines, and allowing them to just focus on what they actually do,” he said.
And this is something Franco can relate to, because of his background as an entrepreneur himself.
“I started out as an employee in a small start up back in 2005. It was a group of four who sold technological advertising media solutions to brands and advertisers. From there, I was hired by one of our clients who happened to be the largest OOH Advertising media company in the world, Kinetic Worldwide Media. I had been in Kinetic for around 7 years, and left as their Executive Media Director. When I left the corporate world, I decided to put up my own OOH media boutique agency, Quick Brown Fox. Although my main line of work is really in advertising, I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I am part of the board of directors of a few restaurants (Borough at Podium Mall and NOLITA Pizza at BGC) and have also started a company that dabbles into Solar Energy Street Chargers (GreenergyX).”
But things weren’t always smooth-sailing for Franco. And one of the reasons why he put up Foxhole was to make sure his customers in Foxhole no longer go through the problems and hassles he went through in the past. Because of Franco’s wide range of business experiences, he experienced a lot of roadblocks that gave him a more insightful and practical approach to designing the services behind Foxhole. He cited two things that clients of Foxhole no longer need to go through.
The first is having an accessible office space for a small team. “In start ups, an advantage is really to have a nice formal office in a premiere address such as Makati or BGC. It gives your potential clients somehow a sense of legitimacy and security. However, you can rarely find office space that can customize itself to your needs,” he said. Foxhole is located in Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, and can provide exclusive executive office spaces for teams as small four people.
Franco also added how important a business coach is, a group or a person to tell young entrepreneurs where to start. “The first time I put up my own business, there were just too much information that a green horn might be too overwhelmed to handle. If I had a sort of “business coach”, I would have definitely had been able to save a lot of time and money,” he shared.
Additional Features of Foxhole
Having tried out Foxhole myself, I want to share about some of my personal favorite features of Foxhole.
1.) Internet
Because of the unreliable Internet in the Philippines, I appreciate how Foxhole has high speed Internet through WiFi and Ethernet Cable (per workstation). They don’t just rely on one provider, too! (They use PLDT Fiber and Eastern Telecom.)
2.) The Conference Room
My teammates and I feel so legit when we use this conference room! It’s cozy, convenient, and private.
Apart from meetings, the conference room is also conducive for trainings and seminars.
3.) Accessibility
Commuting and driving to Foxhole is easy. It’s one jeepney ride away from the MRT Magallanes Station and a few minutes away from Greenbelt. It’s also a short walk to the PNR station!
4.) Common Areas
I like how the common areas serve as a more laidback setting for breakout sessions and coffee breaks.
Pantry
Reception Area
If you’re interested to know how Foxhole can assist you in your business or career, you can contact them in the details provided below.
Foxhole Business Center
Website: https://foxholeph.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foxholeph/
Phone: (02) 804 3391
Email: officespace@foxholeph.com
Address: 2/F Molave Building, 2231 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City
