How Business Consultants Can Benefit from Virtual Office Services

Consulting is a big business. In 2016, business consultants worldwide had a revenue of US$133 billion. The figure for management consultants is even higher—it is estimated to be US$295 billion in 2020.

Business consultants are often called “external” consultants, meaning that they provide expertise in a narrow area to multiple clients on a temporary or as-needed basis. There are “internal” consultants who are parked inside a company permanently even though they are not employees, but these are the exception rather than the rule.

There are also big consulting firms that have many employees and large offices around the world. However, most business consultants are individuals running their own businesses and spending time in the offices of others or just working at home in order to provide services. These consultants then spend hours, days, weeks, or months working on projects for others’ companies.

A business consultant is a professional and needs to appear as such. However, since the consultant spends most of his or her time in the office of the client, it would be crazy to pay a sizable long-term rent for trendy office space. The easy solution to this is virtual office services.

The easiest way for the independent consultant to minimize overhead costs and still appear professional is with a serviced virtual office like those that can be provided by Davinci Virtual Office Solutions.

If you’re a business consultant and you’re wondering, “What are the benefits of a virtual office?” We’ll go over some advantages of virtual office services for a business consultant:

1. A physical business address

You may need a physical business address to put on your business paperwork including business cards. Having a physical address will make your business appear more professional and credible. Whether or not you can use your virtual office address on a business license depends on the rules governing your jurisdiction. 

2. Appearance & Reputation

You would have a virtual office address in a reputable part of town. (Davinci has offices in big reputable cities all over the world.) This makes you look serious. It’s also very beneficial if you live in a small town and want the appearance of working in a bigger, well-known town or city.

3. Privacy

Using a virtual office address protects you from revealing your home address publicly. Not only does it offer privacy from unwanted solicitations, but it also provides safety from anyone who might misuse your personal home information.

4. Administrative services and a live receptionist

You could have a live person answering your business phone instead of every call going to voicemail. There are also other administrative services available such as copying, faxing, and scanning that could be handled by a live receptionist.

5. Mail receipt and forwarding

Another benefit of having a virtual office address as a business consultant is the option of having your mail sent to the virtual office and then forwarded to you at your discretion. It will be forwarded around your schedule and will be sorted for you by the live receptionist.

6. Meeting rooms

If you need meeting rooms, we have some readily available for your use. You will have all the outward appearances of a classy and successful business consultant at a fraction of the cost of leasing and furnishing your own office space.

Equally important is that these meeting rooms would not only be furnished, but they would also have all the technical wizardry available for presentations, slideshows, Wi-Fi, or video conferencing. There will be big cost savings if you don’t have to own all this equipment and pay for all the gadgetry.

7. Scale

You decide how many services you need, and you can scale up or scale down accordingly. Your virtual office can grow with you and your business. 

8. Staff

With a virtual office, you don’t have to worry about hiring people and running payroll. You pay the virtual office business, and that business supplies the personnel you need - one less thing to worry about.

9. Productivity

Being a business consultant is busy enough without making time for all the extra parts of running your business. With a virtual office, you will be more productive as a consultant because you don’t have to worry about your office. Your virtual office runs without you, and you use it only when you need it.

10. Eco-friendliness

It’s much more eco-friendly to work at home and commute less. Less commuting means less pollution unless you’re walking or riding your bike to the office.

11. Cost

One of the biggest advantages of a virtual office is the cost savings. There are cost savings all around including overhead, furniture, staffing, commuting, clothing, and technology.

All of these cost savings are particularly applicable to the business consultant’s one-person show.

The consulting industry is becoming more and more competitive. While there are still large management consulting firms, there are increasing numbers of one-person consulting start-ups.

As technology improves, business consultants find it easier and easier to set up a one-person shop and consult from home. Working from home, however, doesn’t mean that you don’t still need an office from time to time.

Virtual offices make running your consulting business much simpler and cheaper by decreasing overhead costs while maintaining your brand and professionalism. Even if you rarely go to your “office”, you can still have a nice address on your business card.

Consider the situation with COVID-19. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was telling all its staff in North America to work from home if possible. Many of us could work quite well at home because of today’s technology. 

However, you still look more professional if you have a real office somewhere, and if you work for yourself instead of for a large company like Google, then a virtual office fills that bill.

Davinci Virtual Office Solutions is a global provider of business addresses and all kinds of office support. If you have any questions about this article or would like to talk to us about any of our virtual office services including office space or meeting rooms, please call us toll-free at (877) 453-3430.

About Cynthia White

Cynthia White is a long-form business writer and editor with 20+ years of experience and a BA in English from NYU. She was formerly a marketing executive and office manager and has helped several people start businesses. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and three special-needs bulldogs. Her website is https://dearcynthia.com