Why Small Businesses Are Opting to Go from Physical to Virtual Offices

The overhead of leasing physical office space is substantial for small businesses. On average, nearly 10 percent of a small business’ expenditures are on office space (ranking behind only employee wages and inventories).

A Change in Address

Putting this working capital back into the business can make a big difference in terms of product development, hiring better talent, and spending more time building relationships with prospects and customers. But this requires giving up your physical office space.

There are certainly a number of disadvantages associated with leasing physical offices. Some of the more prevalent include:

• Large overhead costs with lease cost, maintenance, equipment, etc.

• Less flexibility for employees with required traveling/commuting

• Higher payroll due to the need to hire a front-office receptionist

• Increased marketing costs as a result of required signage

• Smaller hiring pool due to location requirements

In addition to the above, most small businesses simply do not have the revenue to lease office space in prime locations. And location certainly matters when it comes to making first impressions with prospects and customers. A subpar office address diminishes your brand and your value proposition. Prospects and customers may subconsciously look to other solutions providers. It is no trivial matter.

Going to the Virtual Office

In growing numbers, small businesses are rethinking their physical office spaces and opting for virtual offices. Twenty-two percent of companies using virtual offices today previously had physical offices. These companies are taking the cost savings and putting the capital back into the business, driving more revenue and attracting better talent who welcome the flexibility of a virtual office.

Working 9 to 5 is certainly a thing of the past, and business data serves as corroboration. Companies offering their workers the ability to work where and when they want perform four times better than those that do not. Part of it is that they can recruit and retain top talent with greater ease: 64 percent concur that is the case when they offer workers choice in terms of where and when they work. But there are other factors as well such as higher employee retention and lower employee absenteeism.

These workplace preferences are only going to grow. With nearly 40 million U.S. workers projected to elect some form of self-employment by 2019, the freelance segment of the workforce is exploding. These workers see virtual offices as an opportunity to network with other peers, prospect for new business opportunities, and work from a professional office environment.

6 Recommendations for Going Virtual

So what are the steps you need to take to ensure your move from physical to virtual space is successful? The following are six recommendations:

1. Location.

Location means almost everything when it comes to virtual offices. Make sure your virtual address is in a well-known location that demands respect.

2. Business Services.

Your virtual office needs to come with various business services such as mail receipt and forwarding, registered agent and license hanging, lobby directory listing, among other.

3. Meeting Rooms and Day Offices.

Though you no longer need permanent-physical office space, you still require conference and meeting room space for employee, prospect, and customer meetings as well as day offices for employees when they do need a physical office. Having a virtual office solution that also includes day offices as well as meeting and conference rooms for rent is an important value proposition.

4. Remote Locations.

As small businesses expand and grow their customer base, so do the geographical parameters of their business. This means you likely need virtual offices in other locations. Davinci Meeting Rooms solutions have you covered with 4,000 meeting rooms in 1,100-plus virtual office locations in over 30 countries.

5. Technology Tools.

To connect with other employees and prospects and customers, your employees require the right technologies such as audio and video conferencing, auto and virtual receptionists, as well as project management and communications tools. Rented meeting rooms and day offices also need to include many of these same technologies.

6. Business Policies and Processes.

Employees accustomed to working from a physical office need new policies and business processes for the virtual office such as when and where they should work, communications requirements, what can be expensed, etc.

Davinci Virtual has been helping entrepreneurs and companies of all shapes and sizes to find virtual addresses and offices that fit their business requirements and help them drive down costs while improving productivity and uncovering new business opportunities. For more information on Davinci Virtual Office solutions contact us now.

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn
Website: www.tirocommunications.com