How to Increase Your Business Footprint with a Virtual Office

Running a small business requires time and money. Every entrepreneur knows this well—probably too well. Research data proves out the point. A Gallup study found that 39 percent of small business owners work over 60 hours a week, and many log hours over the weekend and skip vacations.

The cost of running a small business doesn’t come any easier. Average cost of starting a business, according to the Kauffmann Foundation, is pegged somewhere around $30,000. And this is just to get a business off the ground; it takes additional capital to grow the business and to expand it into new locations. Office space can be a real inhibitor. Upwards of 10 percent of small business’ revenue typically goes to cover permanent leased office space. This is just for the company’s primary office; adding satellite offices for remote employees or business expansion can be cost-prohibitive. 

Small Businesses Opting for Virtual Offices

In response, growing numbers of small businesses are electing to forego permanent office space altogether—turning to virtual offices instead. This dramatically reduces office overhead costs while providing the small business with a professional address. The virtual office address can be used to registrar the business, to receive and to send mail, to meet prospects and partners, and much more. Many virtual office locations also come with coworking spaces and rented meeting rooms and day offices. Thus, when a small business needs to hold a team meeting or to meet with a client, it has professional office in which to do so. 

But virtual offices also give small businesses the agility to expand their business footprint. The revenue they might have put into a permanent office space can be used for initiatives that drive additional revenue and enhance customer experiences. The time spent commuting to a permanent office can be redirected to similar activities, plus recalibrating the work-life balance for small business owners and their employees. And for small businesses that use their home addresses to register and manage their companies, a virtual office address can enhance their search engine optimization (SEO) results—and thus traffic to their websites.

Expanding into New Locations Quickly and Easily with Virtual Offices

When a permanent physical address is not required, virtual offices can dramatically lower the entry bar for businesses seeking to expand into new locations. Businesses can set up local office addresses in a matter of a few minutes with services such as Davinci Virtual Offices. Suddenly, a business can go from one office location to 10, 15, or 20. And each of these come with mail forwarding, a lobby directory listing, business entity formation services, and more. 

Choosing a Virtual Office Provider

For small businesses vetting virtual offices solutions, it is important for them to ask a few questions to determine if they are the right fit. Indeed, not every virtual office provider is the same.

• Does the virtual office provider have an established presence across all the locations where the small business seeks to expand? Are the virtual office addresses in multiple city locations (versus only one or two per metropolitan area)?

• Does the virtual office provider also offer coworking, day offices, and rented meeting space? Nearly every small business requires fully equipped office and meeting room space—and it should be available as an additional service from their virtual office provider?

• Does the virtual office provider include a lobby greeter who can assist visitors and answer their questions?

• How easy is it to order a new virtual office address and manage it on an ongoing basis? Is it possible to book rented offices and meeting space from a standard website as well as mobile apps on Android and iOS devices? 

Selecting the wrong virtual office provider can become a huge headache for a small business. Changing one business address is difficult enough. But even a handful could be an excruciating migraine that would consume valuable time and ultimately create confusion with customers and partners. As the adage goes, “It is always best to get it right the first time.”