Opening a physical office is very important to operate better and make your business run more smoothly.
But it is very tough too. It has many problems like rental and electricity costs.
It is also a very time-consuming process, like searching for a place and customising it as per the requirements, which gets very expensive.
So, what is Virtual Office Space?
A Virtual Office is a perfect option, not only for startups and business owners but also for a Freelancer. They can register a professional business address and scale their freelancing business.
What is Virtual Office?
As the name suggests, a virtual office means creating an office in your desired location without a physical presence. Let’s make it simpler for you.
Suppose you are running a small business and want to register a business address but don’t want the hassle of infrastructure maintenance, the virtual office can help you.
The virtual office service provider will create an office-like setup. With that setup, your employees can work and interact remotely.
This will save you valuable money, which you’d have to spend on rental and other costs.
But you must be wondering how the employees and employer will communicate? We will discuss this in the next section.
What is the difference between telecommuting, a home office and a virtual office?
The office will use telecommuting to communicate, but what is telecommuting? Telecommuting is a communication technique through calls, chats, video conferencing or E-mails. With telecommunication, employees can work remotely and make updates.
But what is the difference between a Home office and a Virtual one?
In the traditional home office style, you must create every required setup and communicate through phones, laptops or verbally.
But in a virtual office, you don’t need to create a setup for everything, and there will be a receptionist to take calls and greet your customers. Your employees can work remotely. There will be no physical office, so there is no extra cost.
And the traditional office has legal formalities to manage, which is friendly for small business owners, but with the virtual office, things are different. You only have to handle business registration, which makes it friendly and easy.
How can a virtual office help your business?
If we figure out the Industry’s problem when they plan for a new traditional office, we’ll know that companies face three problems mainly when they open an office.
- Opening a home office is very expensive.
- Finding the right office in a suitable location and setting it up is very time taking.
- Bootstrap SMEs find it very tough to open a physical office at every location they operate.
And virtual offices solve this problem very effectively. Let’s understand this with some advantages of a virtual office.
Advantages of virtual office
- No need for your own physical property.
- A virtual office provides flexibility.
- You get a professional business address
- No legal formalities are required.
Virtual offices help out the business by providing three essential solutions to the problem they face while opening an office.
- Cost-saving
- Physical address
- Telecommuting for better communication of the team
- Support staff to manage everything.
But are there any disadvantages?
A virtual office is a good option but has some flaws. This section will discuss the three significant disadvantages of the virtual office.
Disadvantages of Virtual Office
- Difficult to integrate a new employee.
- Distractions while working remotely.
- Lack of social engagement.
- It is difficult to train the newly hired employee.
So, Who Should Choose a Virtual Office?
A virtual office is a very good option for small startups.
But why?
The first thing that is very important for them is Money. After the covid crisis, startups and MNCs have realised that they have to manage their expenditure methodology. But Big MNCs currently do not prefer the virtual office but still, let’s discuss who should choose the virtual office.
Many freelancers are working without an office or from their homes which is definitely not professional. With the help of a virtual office, Freelancers can register a business address for their work. In this way, they can scale their freelancing business.
A buffer study shows that the benefit of working remotely is the flexibility of the schedule. In their survey, they found that 97% of people want more flexibility in their jobs which is why they want to work remotely.
Three types of businesses that should go with the Virtual Office Concept:
- Startup
- Bootstrap startups
- Freelancer
Startups not funded yet should go with them because funds are critical for the startups in their growing phase.
Bootstrap companies are those companies that grow their business on their own. They don’t seek investments, so money management becomes crucial for them.
Freelancers can also use a virtual setup for an office to work. Many freelancers do not have their own offices and not even professional addresses. They are usually in their homes or coffee shops. But with, Virtual office, one can also get their office address and scale their freelancing business to the next level.
Freelancers prefer to work from home, in coffee shops or in offsite locations. However, having your business registered to a specific address helps in scaling the business.
Various Virtual office providers offer services like mailing addresses, meeting spaces, etc. which can work out very well if you are working independently or have just set up a business.
What is needed for a virtual office?
Setting up a successful virtual office is a very easy thing to accomplish. You can contact a service provider or create your setup.
But what strategy should you use when you register for a virtual office? Here’s a guide to all that you’ll require when starting out.
Setup business address and phone system.
Your most important requirement will be a business address. If your customers want to send your product back, they will send it to your virtual business address, and to for smooth functioning you will need a bufferless mode of communication.
Right tools
As I mentioned Tools will be an integral part of the management. Tools like online invoice and billing solutions, File sharing and document management systems, and backup and recovery solutions.
Virtual Assistant
You will require a virtual assistant to answer every call and manage your video conferencing and meetings, although the Virtual office service provider will provide you with support staff to manage things.
High internet speed
High internet speed is essential for a virtual office for better communication and management because you will get every detail via Email or online meetings. And for better communication with your team, high-speed internet will be an essential part.
How much does a virtual office cost?
Virtual office costs very less than traditional offices because they have no extra expenditure.
The prices revolve around $69/month to $309/month. But you may ask, why does a virtual office cost this much?
When buying or renting a physical space for your office, there are many additional charges that you’ll be required to pay including the annual maintenance charge.
Depending upon the expansion of your business, you’ll need to hire more people and that will require you to rent an even bigger space.
You’ll be required to pay for the infrastructure, refreshments, internet connection, water, electricity, stationery and other necessities. Along with this, you’d also be paying for the various tools required by the employees.
However, if your business is based on remote work, then all you’ll be required to pay for is address registration and the various tools that your employees will need to work on and communicate through.
This will lower the total cost of setup to a large extent. A virtual office helps you to expand your business without moving to a larger office.
How can you start a virtual office?
The virtual office business is booming very fast in worldwide locations. There are more than 700 registered virtual offices currently running in the USA.
Let’s explore what is required to start a Virtual office business.
Market Research
To start a virtual office business, first, you will need to research the market, potential customer base, and suitable locations because some virtual office companies should also have Co-working spaces if the employees are not comfortable working remotely.
Business Strategy
You will need a strong business strategy as there are many big players out there. Choose a business niche that’s in demand but has little competition. You’ll need a business strategy that can be brought into effect virtually and does not require a physical space.
Business Registration
Business registration is the first milestone you must achieve after you’ve decided on the strategy. Once you complete the registration, you are a legal business entity ready to start the venture.
Recruitment of the Right Employees
To set up your office, first, you need to hire employees who work remotely in your desired location, this will be very easy because you are not limited to a single state or city, you can hire people from all over the country.
Types of Virtual Offices
The virtual setup allows for flexibility. There are various types of virtual offices, and they are as follows.
Private Office Service
Virtual office services also offer a physical office. You can have an office with a complete setup. The virtual office service providers also provide support staff and a receptionist who will greet your customer and take all the important calls.
Coworking Space
Coworking spaces are very similar to offices, but you just have given them the rent, and they will provide you with a complete set-up space for your team, and you use that as an office. Coworking spaces are a perfect option for small entrepreneurs who are in the starting.
Meeting and Conference Rooms
Virtual office service also provides a fully equipped meeting room which you can take for rent and manage a meeting. The rooms will have complete tools for making a meeting successful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a Virtual Office for Free?
Yes, there are some companies like SpatialChat, iPostal and others that provide a virtual office for free and many small businesses and freelancers are using it too.
There will be limitations to the service these providers offer with the free Virtual Office setup. So do look into these limitations before choosing any Free Virtual Workspaces.
How to set up Virtual Office hours?
There are mainly 4 steps to set up virtual office hours.
– Use better and more reliable software: There is much software in the market which is used for team collaboration and communication.
– Decide how will you have virtual office hours: You will have to plan how frequently you will have virtual office hours because no employee can give 100% of their time.
– Make clear guidelines: make clear guidelines about the time of work and effectivity you can some software which is used to monitor the work report of an employee.
– Create a virtual meeting room: Although these services will be provided by the service provider, you just have to manage your employees reporting to the meeting room so that you take reports of their productivity.
How to get a virtual office address?
For a Virtual Office address, you have to use some companies that provide these services. You will just need to register your company details, and they will provide you with a professional business address.
Steps to get a virtual office:
– Contact a virtual office service provider.
– Provide all the necessary information and files.
– Setup an online location and email handle.
– Setup a virtual assistant.
Why is a virtual office so expensive?
Virtual offices are not that expensive. They have almost no expenses to manage; a virtual office cost around $50 to $100 per month, and this only includes the service cost.
How many people work from a virtual office?
There is no specific data currently, but in May 2021, a Mercer study showed that 70% of their workforce are working remotely and that is why companies want to create a hybrid model.
Microsoft’s work trend index found that 66% of employers are redesigning their workspaces and adopting a hybrid model.
Image Source: Microsoft Work Trend Index Report
How can I add a virtual office to search engines?
When setting up a Virtual Office, don’t forget to add it to the search engines. It is a very important step in gaining the trust of your customers as the first place they look for any company is on a search engine and mostly on Google.
Here is a step-to-step guide on how you can add your business address to Google’s search engine.
– Go on Google My Business.
– Add your business details
– Create a business profile
– Enter your virtual office address
And your virtual office address can be verified on Google and other search engines wherever you’ve entered the details.
Is a Virtual Office a Good Investment for Your Small Business?
Yes, Virtual is a very good investment because, for a business, careful management of time and resources is very important.
A virtual office provides all the resources at a much more affordable price which is needed for small and medium businesses, and that is why a Virtual office will be a better investment in comparison to traditional offices. Here you get all the resources at a very low price.
Key Takeaways: Is a virtual office worth it?
Is Virtual Office worth it? Yes, a virtual office is a very good idea for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) because it helps you to accomplish two important goals.
- Save Money
- Expand your business
Freelancers can also use Virtual office because virtual office provides an address that can be used as a professional address, and generally freelancers either work from home or some cafe.
But using a virtual office they can get a professional business address.
In traditional offices, the major problem is that you cannot hire people from all over the country, the employee has to belong to the region where your office is located, but with a Virtual office, you can hire talent from all over the country.
With Virtual Office, employees can work remotely, allowing the flexibility to hire employees from anywhere. The virtual office has a support staff to manage everything.
Virtual Office is a very good idea, and the businesses which are working with this method are expanding day by day at a remarkable rate.
This method helps in the careful management of time and resources. The main point is that change and evolution are necessary for growth and success, and the business world is transforming itself for better operations and growth.