A few years ago, having a virtual office would have been an alien concept in the corporate world. However, as telecommuting progressed and due to the rise of remote working, businesses have switched their operations from traditional physical locations to virtual offices, especially startups.
The flexibility of virtual office spaces is especially beneficial for startups. It is common for startups to operate on tight budgets and lack the funding for a professional corporate setup. With virtual offices, they can maintain a professional atmosphere without breaking the bank.
What is a virtual office?
Virtual offices aim to provide startups with affordability. It helps with controlling administrative costs and renting overheads. A virtual office is like having a physical office address without a physical space.
You and your employees can work remotely while maintaining a physical presence. It is ideal for small businesses and startups as they give an identity to your business and let you enjoy all the features of an actual office, including admin support, meeting rooms, and technology support.
What are the key features of a virtual office?
Minimizing costs is critical for startups, and the major portion of overheads comes from renting and maintaining an office space. Many successful startups start with humble beginnings from their bedrooms or garages, but the issue with that is a lack of professionalism and other key aspects of a business.
It is where virtual offices provide a solution:
Registered business address: having a virtual office address makes your startup look more professional and prestigious, and you can use the address across business cards, letterheads, and other necessary platforms instead of your home address.
Call handling and forwarding: the idea of a virtual office is to provide all the attributes of a physical office at a fraction of the cost. Therefore, it offers call handling services where a receptionist attends and manages all your calls and transfers them to you or forwards any messages. You have your own phone line with a virtual office registered under your business name.
Post and mail handling: here is another feature of a virtual office that handles all your mail and posts. You can receive all business-related mail at the address. A receptionist will receive and sign the documents on your behalf and forward the contents via email after scanning so your startup remains operational.
Meeting rooms or conference halls: many virtual office spaces provide additional workspace facilities, including a meeting room, a conference hall, and co-working spaces. Despite working remotely, there are times when you need your team in one place, and perhaps you can use such amenities when the need arises.
What are the benefits of using a virtual office?
Saving costs
The first and foremost benefit is saving on costs, which you can use for investing in growing your business. The importance of office space goes beyond just the physical location for startups because big-ticket clients appreciate meetings and conferences at the facility, which is also easy to access.
In the early days of a startup, the funds are limited, so saving money means keeping your business profitable. Virtual offices save you from a lease, standard office costs, and commuting costs and provide the same benefits as a physical office.
Eliminating barriers to grow
When growing your team and hiring new employees, you do not need to invest in an office space or move when you have a virtual office. Similarly, when you save time on minimal or no commute with no administrative responsibilities, you can use your time and efforts to serve clients.
Better work-life balance
One of the perks of having a virtual office and working remotely is flexible work management. You and your employees can better manage the workload and, as a result, have additional time to focus on your personal life.
It allows you to spread out tasks throughout the day and improve efficiency by meeting deadlines regularly. A better work-life balance also keeps employees motivated and empowers them, as they can make their schedule and finish tasks on their own time.
Increased productivity
With a remote working culture, you have access to the best talent available. You can add top talent to your team to improve overall productivity. Besides, a virtual office is desirable for employees as it gives them freedom, minimal supervision, and no workplace drama. It allows them to work from any location that best suits their interest, including a café or a library.
Restrict legal liabilities
It protects your privacy and keeps your home address off public access. Because of a virtual office, you can also limit your legal risks by differentiating personal and business assets and having all the legal correspondence at your virtual business address.
A virtual business address also enables you to register with business directories that are used as a source of information by credit agencies for reviewing your credit application.
Conclusion
Virtual offices are witnessing a rise in popularity because of several benefits. You can portray your business activities at a large scale by utilizing incentives of a virtual business address. It also eliminates multiple business expenses and helps you and your employees focus on business development, increasing productivity.