Over the last decade or so, we have seen an increasing number of people setting up companies from their homes and utilising the services of virtual offices. Here we will explore how a virtual business has a price advantage over traditionally operated businesses.
Building costs
Today many business owners operate from home in order to save on the cost of rent and utilities. Whilst from a cost perspective, this is a great choice; the problem is that many people see ‘home run’ businesses as unprofessional and amateurish. This is why many business owners find it beneficial to utilise the services of a virtual office.
Virtual offices are usually established in prestigious city locations and provide businesses with a wide range of off-site services, including telephone answering and mail forwarding. By using the services of a virtual office, particularly mail forwarding services, businesses can benefit from having a prestigious business address, without having to endure the costs of actually operating from there. Their customers will be unaware of their remoteness, as any mail sent to the virtual office address is simply forwarded to the business owner’s home address.
Whereas in the past, very few small businesses could afford to operate from prestigious business locations like London, today they can appear to operate from there, using a virtual office address, and reap the benefits without having to pay out thousands of pounds in rent.
Staffing costs
Despite the fact that many entrepreneurs like to have full control of their fledgeling businesses, there comes a point when everyone needs an extra helping hand to keep their business operations running successfully. The problem is that many small business owners cannot afford to take on full-time staff. Luckily, virtual offices can provide an affordable solution in the form of reception and admin services.
Rather than having to pay the virtual assistant a salary and provide them with employee benefits, business owners using virtual offices, simply pay a monthly fee for the services they require. This helps them to keep staffing costs to an absolute minimum, whilst still benefiting from having someone to assist them with telephone answering and admin. By outsourcing this work to a virtual office for a low-cost fee, business owners can concentrate on other more important areas of their business.
Transportation costs
Although building costs and staffing costs are the two most significant savings business owners can make by virtualising their companies, they can also save on transportation costs. By running their businesses from home and outsourcing work to a virtual office, they save themselves from having to drive to and from an office every day. Not only that, running a virtual business from home also means they can do their bit for the environment by cutting down their carbon emissions.
Office equipment
Another cost that traditionally operated businesses have to think about is office equipment. When you set up a business you will need to account for the cost of IT equipment, telephone equipment and stationery. By using the services of a virtual office you can save yourself a lot of money as your virtual office will already have everything they need. Rather than paying for the equipment, you will simply pay a small monthly fee for the services provided to you.
Is a virtual business right for my company?
Virtual businesses are well positioned to increase their profits and facilitate expansion as their operating costs are much lower than those of traditionally operated businesses. With so many benefits, it’s no wonder that more and more business owners are choosing the virtual office to better their company on a daily basis.