What Exactly is a Virtual Office?
You don’t need a physical office anymore to operate a business. A virtual office enables you or your employees to work from any location without the need to lease out an office space. Your phone calls can be answered on your behalf, your diary managed for you, and when you need to meet with a client you can do so at professional meeting facilities.
How Can It Benefit Your Small Business?
Save Money
There are a host of benefits to having a virtual office. Perhaps most significantly, you have less overheads and therefore can save money. Without the office lease, utilities and other hardware costs associated with having an office, you can put all the money saved back into the business and your people.
Save Time
That lost time spent getting ready for work and travelling to the office can now be spent working. For those with a long commute, think of the hour or more saved that can be spent increasing the productivity of your business.
More Flexibility and a Chance For Time Out
You have the freedom to work when and where you want. If you don’t have to be in the office at set times to answer the phones then you can arrange work to suit your own schedule. Not to mention the fact you can go on holiday and your business remains operational, which is often a foreign concept for small business owners.
Increase Your Sales and Improve Your Profit
By having your calls always answered in a timely manner by a professional virtual receptionist, no matter where you are and what you are doing is going to assist you to increase your sales. As all your callers will always speak to a person and be treated in a friendly put professional manner.
Increase Efficiency
Next, consider how much more efficient things will be. Every time the phone rings your attention is diverted from the task at hand. Considering each call typically requires follow-up work, this can mean that a one-minute call can turn into half an hour of time. So, to be able to have your phones answered reliably and professionally means you can work time-efficiently and focus on the jobs that need doing.
Great for Start-Ups
Starting up a new business is made a lot easier with a virtual office. You can have all the benefits of an office, the mailing address, phone number, personalized voicemail etc. without the cost of leasing office space. Do you want to avoid using your home address on your business cards? Help legitimise and elevate your business by gaining a professional business address without the big price tag.
The bottom line is, integrating components of a virtual office into your own small business or start-up is good for the budget, gives you peace of mind, and enables you to always remain focused on your core tasks, and not be distracted by those that can be handled by someone else.
