Why should you using a virtual office space? See why startups and established businesses are using this setup to provide flexible work hours to employees.
Coffee on your pants. Rush-hour traffic. Realizing your cell phone 2 hours away on your kitchen counter.
These are just three of the problems you’ll leave behind if you trade your brick-and-mortar office building for virtual office space. Not to mention all the time and money you’ll save.
Forbes reports that switching to virtual office space can save 90% of your overhead costs. One business owner saved $9,300 per month switching to a virtual office.
Are you paying too much for a full-size office you don’t even need? Or are you not sure if virtual office space is right for you?
Then check out these top 10 benefits of using virtual office space.
1. Exactly What You Need, As Much As You Need
Sitting where you are, take a mental tour of your current office and ask yourself, “Do I really need all this?”
Most likely, what you do need is:
- Phones, with local area code phone numbers.
- Professional receptionists and/or a voicemail service.
- A corporate mailing address.
- A conference room.
- Employees.
- Fax number, fax machines, printers, computers, WiFi, chairs…
Now the next question is, “Do I need all those things here, in this building?” It’s likely that you don’t. And that’s where virtual office space comes in.
A virtual office can provide you with all these things and more–everything you need to run your business. You’ll still have all the necessary employees and equipment. The difference is that your employees work from their own homes or offices, on their own equipment, managed remotely by you, and at a tenth of the cost.
Plus, in a virtual office, you don’t just have all you need, you have only what you need. You will never have too much or too little of anything. You have direct control over what services you rent.
No more empty rooms or extra office equipment. Your virtual office is always the perfect size to meet your needs.
2. No Need to Relocate or Reorganize, Ever
Your business is always changing. The occasional need for downsizing could leave you with extra office space you don’t need but still have to pay for. And a season of rapid growth may be restricted by too small an office, which can cause an even bigger headache: relocation.
Relocating to a new office is a costly and stressful ordeal. One you will never deal with in a virtual office.
Is your business downsizing or upscaling? No big deal if you have a virtual office. Growing your business to meet demands is as simple as calling your virtual office service provider.
3. You And Your Employees Work From Anywhere
If you own the type of business where everyone sits down and quietly does all their work on their computer, telephone and fax machine, there’s really no reason they can’t do that from home. Or a hotel in Fiji. Or on their laptop during a train ride through Europe.
And that’s how your virtual office employees will work. This is especially helpful if you need employees in specific locations around the world.
For example, let’s say you’re using this virtual office in Dallas for your business needs and you have an interested client in Nashville. You can contact the virtual office company and arrange to meet with the client at a virtual office in Nashville. Or you can even have a remote employee local to Nashville meet them.
Your Dallas-based company can even open a virtual office in in Germany if you need to!
A virtual office also means you can work from anywhere. You can work at home in your pajamas or while traveling.
Plus, if you already work at home, a virtual office can still provide many benefits, including:
- A physical office address without having to rent an expensive office building
- Phone answering service
- A workforce for your growing business
4. No Commute Time
The best part about working from anywhere? No more rush-hour!
You and your office employees may be commuting several hours a day for work. Using virtual office space means no commute, freeing those hours for recreation or a more relaxed work schedule.
Even with a short commute, the cost and pollution of an entire workforce commuting adds up. Eliminating this commute would greatly benefit the environment, and the stress of the daily commute would be a thing of the past
5. Happier Healthier Employees
Speaking of stress, a virtual office provides a much less stressful work routine. The time and stress of the commute and strict work hours are eliminated, giving the employee a more laid-back work structure.
Also, the employee isn’t stuck at the office all day, but free to take breaks in the comfort of their own home or their favorite coffee shop. They’ll also have the added health benefit of being more active throughout the day than they would be in a cubicle.
6. Productivity Increases
A happy worker is a hard worker. A worker with the freedom to move around, work where they want and structure their own workday is going to have a more enjoyable workday than someone trapped in cubicle prison, and they’ll be more productive as a result.
Also, these remote employees work alone in their own, solitary work-spaces. Solitude makes for a distraction-free workday. It also means you will also never have to intervene in workplace drama again since your employees are always miles apart instead of bickering like children.
Happy, healthy and free from workplace distractions–virtual office employees are set up for success to focus on the goals you set for them. And so are you!
In a survey of over 600 small and medium-sized business owners, 59% said they felt more productive working remotely than in an office building. You, too, will be free from office stress, distraction, and rigid work schedule.
And you no longer need to worry about work hours. Except for meetings and conference calls, you won’t need to deal with scheduling employees at certain hours or making sure people arrive on time. You just need to set goals for your employees and they will work as long as they need to get the job done.
7. Better Attendance
A virtual office employee’s flexibility to work how, when and where they want will mean a huge decrease in employee vacation, sick days, and no-shows.
It no longer matters if employees get snowed in or stuck in traffic. Doctor’s appointments and children’s dance recitals no longer require time off work. Remote employees can schedule other engagements whenever they want and work around them.
They can also schedule small vacations around their work goals. As long as they meet their quotas, it won’t matter how many days they work.
No one wants to go to work sick, and you’ll never have to in a virtual office because your work is at home. For that matter, if you or an employee can sit around at home, sick, then you can probably sit at your home computer, sick, and still get some work done.
You and your employees will also not get sick as often as you would sharing a workplace. No more catching a cold that’s been going around the office.
8. Save Money
I already mentioned how virtual office space saves money from rent and commuting. Now let’s take a look at the other ways you can save money with a virtual office.
When you rent a virtual office, you pay:
- $0 for office utility bills.
- $0 for building upkeep.
- $0 for office supplies.
- $0 for office equipment.
- $0 for upgrading office equipment.
- $0 for (remote employees can’t be injured “at work”).
- $0 for snazzy business suits (Who would you need to impress?).
All of these are taken care of by your virtual office provider and your remote employees (excluding those in your home office, of course).
9. Save the Earth
In addition to reducing commuter pollution, a virtual office uses less paper than a traditional office because most of the business is conducted online or on the phone.
10. You Don’t Have to Ditch Your Office
Lastly, it’s true that virtual office space isn’t for everyone. Companies offering hands-on work requiring physical interaction or many employees in the same place will still need a standard office building.
But who says you have to choose one or the other? There are also benefits to adding a virtual office in addition to your current office building.
A virtual office can provide your office extra space if it is filling up or growing too fast. If your office is lacking or deficient in some aspect of business, (not enough phone receptionists, for example) a virtual office can fill the gap. Anytime your business needs a little extra help, a virtual office is there for you.
If you develop clientele far from your current operating location, you can set up a temporary or permanent virtual office closer to your clients to better meet their needs. You can expand your business to other locations without the costly setup of actual office buildings.
How Will Virtual Office Space Benefit You?
No matter who you are or what your business, there are a plethora of ways virtual office space may be of help.
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