7 scenarios where a Virtual Office can help your business

One of the most significant issues that a small business will contend with – certainly in its early days – is that of office space. If your business is small and only recently started trading then the costs of having a full time office can be extremely prohibitive. With your business in its relative infancy, the last thing you need to think about is the rent costs that come from having a physical office space.

This issue has a solution and this comes in the form of a Virtual Office. According to Investopedia the best way to understand a Virtual Office is that it is something that allows ‘Business owners and employees to work from any location by using technology such as laptop computers, cell phones and internet access.’  The benefits of having a Virtual Office for your business can be truly great. Here at Virtual Offices MadeSimple we have a variety of different packages which cater to all the of the varying needs of a small business.  See here for more information on our various offerings.

How can you directly benefit from this product? The truth is everyone has different needs and wants for their business. However, we will go through 7 plausible scenarios where a Virtual Office can really come in handy.

Take that much needed holiday

One of the toughest things about running a business is switching off. Business owners are often juggling various tasks at one time. For popular business resource Start Up Donut, this can include things such as buying stationery; focusing on core business activities and ‘On top of that, most business owners are struggling with information overload and chronic levels of interruption.’ 

At some point a bit of ‘R and R’ will be needed to recharge the proverbial batteries. This isn’t always easy, and if you are not checking your emails or answering calls then there is a chance you might miss something. Fear not as our Holiday Cover service will help you. Starting at £15 a week this service will ensure all your calls are answered by our team of receptionists.

Use our meeting rooms to impress

If you are looking to grow your business you will at some point have to meet external influencers who may be very important in achieving this growth. This could be suppliers, potential partners or key clients. Whoever this may be, it is important to make a good impression. If your business is based from home this could be a concern.

As the Prowess team state on their website ‘It’s a dreaded scenario: you have your virtual office in a prestigious location, one of your clients is in town and wants to have a meeting, but your real office is in the middle of nowhere’  If you don’t want people travelling to your home then our Meeting Room service is ideal. Our prices start from £25 and you have four rooms to choose from – all with the necessary facilities and amenities.

Utilise our mail forwarding address and get less junk mail

One of the less interesting ‘perks’ of running your own business is having piles of unsolicited mail sent to you. Whether this be to your home or an office space, going through the quantity of mail can often be very time consuming. Wouldn’t it be great to receive less spam and have only important mail sent to you? Here at Virtual Offices MadeSimple we only forward on actual mail. We offer a wide variety of Mail Forwarding services – which start at a nominal price of £14.99; ideal for cutting out junk mail.

Busy and on the move… but never miss a call

Freelancers are often on the move and doing multiple things at once. For Hot Office.com ‘Dealing with a constantly ringing phone is a challenge. When you’re working remotely you won’t have the time or capacity to answer calls from your clients, prospects and tele-sales people. By doing so you would tank your productivity, fall behind schedule and negatively impact your billable time.’  We are here to help with this problem.

Our Phone services offer anyone who is constantly on the go a platform to have their calls captured and answered by our excellent team of receptionists – these are then forwarded to you by email or sms.

Protect your home address by having a prestigious N1 address right in the heart of ‘cool’ East London

The great American author Terry Goodkind once said ‘ Reality is irrelevant; Perception is everything’  Image is more important than ever and people’s perception of your business can be shaped by many things – including where your office is based. Equally, if you work from home you may not want your residential address to be your mail forwarding address. Some people feel uncomfortable with mixing work and home life and would rather use a different address on public records.

We can help you with both of these things: by using Virtual Offices MadeSimple you can use our post code as your mail forwarding address, instead of your home or place of business address. We are located in tech-city – a well known haven for startups and digital innovation. To put it simply, this is a great area to be at the moment.

Save money instead of using a physical office

As suggested, the biggest problem with having an actual office space are costs. Rent prices, as well as business rates from local authorities, mean that office space can come at a cost and if your business is new this cost can be significant. Using a Virtual Office provider, like us, is much more flexible without the drawbacks of having to consider various taxations from local authorities.

Our monthly packages start at £24.99 and include mail and telephone packages, with the option of upgrading if your demands become greater. All the things that can be done in an office can be achieved with us, for a fraction of the price. It’s a no brainer.

You’re abroad and want to give the image that you’re based in the UK

Think Mail Forwarding is for UK residents again? Think again. In today’s interconnected world people are more aware of opportunities than ever before. You might for example have a business in Spain but want to have an office presence in the UK. You may want to branch out your business to the UK market. Again this comes at a cost, but with a London address you can create the impression that you are also based in England.

We will be able to forward your mail to wherever you are – providing that Royal Mail will deliver to your country of residence. If you are not sure if Royal Mail will deliver to you, take a look at the Royal Mail International incidents page.

Interested in finding out more? Visit Virtual Office MadeSimple for more information on how we can help your business thrive.

By David Goulden at MadeSimple– Find David on Google +

Resources
https://www.prowess.org.uk/virtual-office
http://thehotoffice.com/blog/tag/virtual-office/
http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/running-a-business/office-and-home-working/2113853/the-benefits-of-virtual-offices.thtml
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/virtual-office.asp http://www.royalmail.com/service-update/international