Tired of bombarding your residential mailbox with deliveries? If you’re providing your home address for business service sign ups but don’t want to lease a physical space, a virtual office could be the perfect next step for you.
According to a recent study conducted by Buffer, 80% of remote workers say their primary remote office location is their home. Setting up the right working environment with a virtual office space can help you maximise your time. Stay productive and keep a professional separation between work and home so you can, grow your operations.
Here’s how a virtual office can help grow your business:
What is a virtual office?
A virtual office is typically a subscription-based service that acts as a front of house for your business. It’s ideal for freelancers, sole traders, entrepreneurs, and consultants working remotely. It can reduce the administrative burden whilst helping to build a more professional brand. It provides the following services without having to lease or commit to a physical space:
- dedicated phone number
- call forwarding
- mail receiving and forwarding and/or scanning
Here’s 5 ways to take advantage of a virtual office to grow your business:
1. Improve business credentials with a virtual office
One of the many benefits of having a virtual office is the ability to register your business with ASIC on Google Maps. Businesses with Google My Business listings are easier to find and rank better in search results. Also, when you setup your business on Google with a home address, you run the risk of getting denied by Google. With a virtual space, you hold a guaranteed address to send potential customers to while increasing the credibility of your business.
2. Create a better work-life balance
An increase in remote work has blurred the lines between work and home. We’re spending more time at home and less time switching off. This can leave people feeling like they have to answer emails and calls after work hours. Setting up a virtual office can give you and your team the flexibility to work from home with a central location to forward business calls, mail, and packages to your new business address. This way, you can feel comfortable to take breaks throughout the day and switch off from work at a reasonable hour.
Ready for a change of scenery? If you’re looking to get out of the house with a dedicated workspace or coworking space, check out these virtual office alternatives.
3. Get your own virtual receptionist
Missing a call when you run your own business is a frustrating experience! When this starts to occur, you need support. A virtual office includes receptionist services such as receiving calls via your dedicated phone line, taking messages and call forwarding. It offers similar services to a virtual assistant, but a virtual office is manned by a real person. That way, you’ll save time by not having to train and correct a virtual assistant. Your customers and callers get a human experience, not a robotic answering machine.
4. Protect your personal details
With so many people working from home, many business owners are using their own personal contact details to sign up to business services. This can include email service providers, domain hosting and business name registrations. As a result, your home address and phone number gets shared on public websites. A virtual office subscription gives you a legitimate physical address for your business to operate from. You will protect your privacy and maintain a separation between personal and business data. With a premium business address, you can rest assured that your payments, suppliers and deliveries will be stored in a designated secure mailroom. You can even have your mail scanned directly to you or forwarded on to you.
5. Pay as you grow
When you operate your business from home, there are times you may need a physical space. It can be helpful for customer or team meetings, workshops or events. High value virtual office spaces include additional services like access to meeting rooms and printers plus perks and premium services like photography and videography studios. Select a package that offers flexibility and helps you scale up and pay for services as you grow. Avoiding unnecessary costs is important when you’re starting out and is essential for long term profitability.
Securing a virtual office can have an immediate impact on your business. You will immediately improve privacy, productivity and peace of mind. Focus your valuable time and energy on your customers and build your business without the significant overheads that come with traditional business models.
