A virtual office is a new technology-based workspace model. It has been around for some time but is getting popular these days. The reason is that industries and businesses have learned the benefits of working from home.
Remote working has made starting and running a business less burdensome. Small businesses run from home are encouraged to contribute to small industry growth. Not just for home-run businesses, the virtual office also helps startups and enterprises to scale and cut down overhead expenses.
The new way of working has proven that employees are more productive when working in a comfortable environment and on their timelines. Startup culture has a considerable role to play in this conclusion as well.
The new workspace culture has made us realize that people work better on their terms. We all have our body clocks, some of us are late-nighters while some are the early birds. Working according to our body clocks gets better results and personal satisfaction.
The virtual office has many features that help you achieve your goals efficiently. The biggest reason for the popularity of the virtual is that it sets you free. As a business owner, you don’t have to worry about utility bills, admin staff, office amenities, and office equipment.
You get everything by just subscribing to the service. Everything from utilities to office facilities is handled by the service provider. The virtual office gives you the latest and state-of-the-art facilities for office workspace that is second to none. It takes you to the league of large enterprises through its facilities and interiors.
The Features Of The Virtual Office:
- The first feature that the virtual office gives you is the office address of a popular location commercially relatable to your industry. This address is registered and completely legal to be used on business material and documents.
- Call handling service is the second most popular feature that the virtual office offers. Trained and experienced phone operators handle all your business calls professionally. The caller can not distinguish where the call is taken from. He will get the impression that your business is like other enterprises.
- Another amazing feature of the virtual office is the mail forwarding service. Your urgent and confidential mail is opened discreetly. It is then scanned and emailed to you so you can get important mail wherever you are in the world. Of course, complete privacy and confidentiality are guaranteed.
- It is a given that technology is very important for remote working. Installing and updating the required technology for seamless working. Doing that individually on your own requires money and effort.
If you are short on budget and are not well-versed with technology then updating it will be troublesome. You will need a tech company to guide you and many different apps to make it work. But, with a virtual office, you don’t have to worry about the cost, regular updating, and any technical know-how. - You need to meet physically with your employees and clients even while working remotely. For this purpose, the virtual office gives you completely equipped and furnished meeting rooms. You can organize group meets, conference calls, and conferences in these rooms. They have all the equipment you will need to do so.
- Another prominent feature that impresses your clients and employees alike, is the ambiance of the office. It is decorated and furnished in a professional yet trendy way. The whole environment is designed to cast a good impression.
- All work and no play can make you and your employees dull. The new startup culture is based on the work hard and plays hard strategy. The employees get motivated if they are given the chance to relax a bit. For their recreation, the virtual office offers amenities like swimming pools, game rooms, cafes, and restaurants.
What Are The Fundamental Business Processes And How Does The Virtual Office Helps In Them:
The Core Or Basic Business Processes That Are Part Of Every Business Are:
- Project management
- Human resource management
- Accounting and finances
- Sales and marketing
- Business development
The virtual office offers many features and apps that help you run your business processes smoothly and with minimum difficulty. Let us see point by point how it is done:
- For project management, the virtual offers collaboration tools and secure data sharing. You can manage and collaborate with your team at every step of the project development without any problem.
Other than that you also get access to conference rooms for project planning meets. The virtual office offers you a scheduled use of the office premises and equipment including; phones, Wifi, scanners, printers, fax machines, etc. - Human resource is a big issue for any business but is vital as well. The virtual office takes up most of the load off of your shoulders in this department. All the admin staff and the front desk staff are managed and paid for by the virtual office service provider.
You don’t have to hire, manage, or pay them. You are only responsible for your team. The virtual office makes team management simpler and easier. There are software tools that help you ensure employee attendance and performance. - Accounting and finance require you to keep records of your expenses and earnings regularly. There are many accounting software that can make financial management simple. If you have no understanding of bookkeeping, you need to hire an accountant for that.
You can hire a freelance accountant because it won’t be a complicated task; most of your expenses are covered by the subscription charges. If you have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping then a simple accounting app will be enough. - The next important business process is sales and marketing. The virtual office facilitates you with that as well. It gives you a legal business address that can be used on your marketing materials. It also opens a global market for you.
You get access to markets other than your local market. It gives you customer support through the front desk service. - The most important part of business development is scalability. The virtual office helps you with expanding your business to other regions by simply subscribing. Scaling your business is a tough call for every business, big or small.
The main reason is that opening and managing a new branch in another region is not just difficult but also depletes your funds quickly. Through a virtual office, you get to try out new waters without any major expense or effort.