Why Startups should have Virtual Office Space?

The coworking industry has been helping entrepreneurs and enthusiasts around the globe and has become the new way to work in the past few years. The kind of services shared workplaces offer can help any business thrive for they can concentrate better on the main job rather than maintaining the office and utilities. Amongst many reasons, one service that is giving a new dimension to setting up a business and gives it a more corporate feel is the service called \”virtual office\”.

What is a virtual office space?

A virtual office is a business that does not have a fixed place of work or to provide goods or services to its customers and relies majorly on the internet for its operations. Phone calls, documentation, video conferencing and team coordination is all done online and the employees work remotely. This service facilitates remote working while offering a prestigious business address and a professional meeting room whenever required for important face to face discussions.

This pandemic has made many new businesses (startups and small ventures) opt for virtual office services. Every business normally runs from a physical space but the situation today is encouraging people to stay remote and work from home. Individuals can work from the comfort of their places from their laptops or smartphones while ideating and executing their tasks from wherever they are. While the employees work from their desired location, the business would have its own registered address, a receptionist and a meeting room whenever needed.

How does virtual office work?

The Virtual Office is a very simple and interesting concept. As explained above, you work not from a fixed office location but remotely while the space provider will take care of the requirements like taking calls for you, handling your mails, helping you arrange meetings, keep the meeting room reserved and overall uplifting your brand image. If you are a startup or a venture that does not really require an office to operate from and still you need to show your prospects how professional you are, taking up virtual office space can do wonders in showcasing your business.

It is understandable that not all businesses need to be offline and need only occasional meet-ups and team discussions. Such businesses can use this service to create a great impression on their customers and investors without having to invest in a physical space.

What all are the benefits of virtual office services for startups?

This service sure is beneficial for startups, small businesses and freelancers in a lot of ways. Let’s check how both the employees can and employers can benefit from it:

• Premium office address: The most attractive part of the virtual office service is that you can have a premium office address without having to pay for a hefty amount of a fixed space. You can use this address on the paperwork, visiting cards, website and to you call over a very important client for a face to face meeting. For example, you are operating from home in Noida but can still have office address of a prime location with having a virtual office in Noida.
• Business and GST registration: Virtual office space is a very cost effective solution for getting a corporate address that can be used with all necessary documents for various registrations like No Objection Certificate, electricity bill, rent agreement, GST registration for that particular location. For example, you can have a virtual office in Noida and get the GST registration done with that address.
• Low cost and affordability: If there is no physical space, no utility bills, janitor services, furniture and no repairs & maintenance costs, then you save a lot. All this directly impacts your profit margins in the long run. This model is very attractive for startups and small businesses that can’t afford to shell out a lot. Traditional offices are very expensive and this is not the right time for such burnout and hence, switching to virtual office space is great because it doesn’t make a hole in your pocket.
• Avoid travel and save time: An average person spends around 2 to 3 hours every day getting ready and travelling to work. That is a lot of time and could be avoided by opting for the service. An employee can easily increase/improve their productivity if they don’t have to go through the hassle of all that commute and focus on only the job assigned. You can work from wherever you like as long as you have internet access and when you have an important face to face meeting to attend, there is always a meeting room that you can use.
• Better brand image: A company with a proper business address is always attractive and seems more credible than one that has no corporate location to show. Clients and customers like to know that they are dealing with a business that has a website, a logo and a professional address they operate from. Also, when you call over your prospects in an equipped work environment instead of some coffee shop, it tells a lot about your brand has leaves a good impression.
• Happier and more active team: When people don’t feel chained to a desk and chair, they feel free to work. Also, being under constant surveillance of your manager and being micro managed becomes very suffocating and knowing that your work required none of it makes one love their job.
• Better work life balance: Having the flexibility of working from where you want to work saves you hours and energy that you can use in other chores like household stuff or catching up with your friends. There is no stress of getting ready and being punctual when you woke up late for some reason. This way, there is lesser absenteeism and leaves.
• Access to global talent: Another amazing side of virtual office space is that you can now have an access to global talent. You can have a virtual office in Delhi and hire the locals while being in, say, Chennai. The employees can show up a couple of times in the office once a week and this helps both the parties. You can have a virtual office wherever you want to expand your business without actually having to set up a fixed space.
• Save money on assets/technology: As much as working remotely is the new normal, bringing your own technology to work is as well. The employees can prefer the gadgets they have and only they will be responsible to upgrade the technology in hand. The employer doesn’t have to spend for buying or renting the technology and employees can work on what they are most comfortable with.
• Reception service and courier management: Along with the corporate location, you also get the receptionist service to take your calls, messages and attend customer/client queries. There will always be somebody on the landline that is still a very professional way of presenting yourself. Also, having a mailing address means your couriers will be received and handled well for you while you are working remotely and the sender is also satisfied to send parcels at a professional location.
• Minimal commitment: You can start on a month to month basis which means the least commitment and no blockage of funds. This way, you can always withdraw if things are no working as per you plan with a negligible loss and keep upgrading your membership and if everything goes well.
• Efficiency and productivity: As an employer, you don’t have to check every little thing like the punch-in and out time of employees, the desktops/laptops functioning and office maintenance, you can focus on bigger plans and goals while the employees are working on their tasks. There would be least distraction that generally is in an office of gossips and other drama. The employee turnover rate is also less because they are happy not being under constant supervision and work in the comfort of their place. All this adds better efficiency and more productivity.

What is the future of virtual offices?

The global pandemic and lockdowns have shown both the employers and the employees the benefits of remote working and it would be fair to predict that this is not going to fade away any sooner. There has been a significant increase in the clients signing up for the virtual office, especially those who wish to work from their choice of place but still want to be seen as an efficient company with a fixed office infrastructure. Also, not everyone is comfortable publishing their home address on the website and hence, a virtual office comes into action.

Signing up for a virtual office in Delhi, a virtual office in Noida or where your business requires would not just save you costs but has many other perks. This offering of coworking industry has helped numerous new and emerging startups and is definitely here to stay.

Virtual office space is ideal for those you wish to expand without having to spend every time they enter a new location and don’t wish to miss out on talent from diverse locations just because they are not present there. It’s a great option for emerging businesses or a freelancer who are doing fine while operating from home but still need a professional business address to show.

You get all the privacy at work, you can have a nice meeting room when you need, there is no need to travel every day, one can be with one’s family and have better work-life balance, there is a super low financial risk due to minimal lock-in period and it’s always good to start with investing less.

Giving your business a corporate push and testing new geographies was never so easy. If you are interested to start with a virtual office, contact us for more details and a quick setup!