By Guillermo Rotman
Oct. 21, 2010
It’s a classic business archetype – the entrepreneur who starts a business in a spare room, and ends up as a global player. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for example, famously began Google in a garage – complete with hot tub and remote-controlled door (so the story goes).
Such stories sound great in hindsight, but not every garage or kitchen table business does so well. First impressions count. These include your business address, if and how your phone is answered, and where you meet potential customers and investors.
Small business owners know all that; the dilemma is what to do about it. An impressive office, and people to answer phones and greet visitors can make up a very large portion of your budget. How can you ensure those vital first impressions are positive, without saddling yourself with too much overhead?
For many companies, the answer is to go virtual. You assume the presence of a more established company, at a fraction of the price of leasing prestigious office space.
The many reasons to go virtual
Virtual offices allow home-based, start-up and small businesses to project a great image, without the expense of physical office space. For a set monthly price, you gain a professional address, a dedicated business phone number answered by a local receptionist, and mail and call management.
In my experience, people use virtual offices for a variety of reasons. Why they use them governs how they use them, so it’s a good idea to consider which features best suit your business.
1. Many want a prestigious address. For example, some of the most popular virtual office addresses are New York City’s Chrysler Building, London’s Berkeley Square and Sydney’s Citigroup Center. Such an address on your letterhead can work wonders for your image. It sounds more professional than a house in the suburbs, and is an impressive place to meet clients and investors.
2. Some want a more professional image. For home-based companies, the nightmare scenario of a call from a major potential investor being answered by your three-year-old is all too common. And when a key customer calls, do you really want your conversation punctuated by the sound of kids arguing?
3. Some use virtual offices for the flexibility. Many entrepreneurs want to escape the feeling of being chained to the desk. Unfortunately, this feeling is replicated when you sit at your new desk, unable to leave it in case you miss vital calls. With a virtual office, you can run errands or actually take time off, secure that no one will be any the wiser.
4. Others want to lose the distractions. As well as being costly, running an office consumes time. You have to manage support staff; equip and maintain the office - the list goes on. Using a virtual office means someone else does those tasks for you, freeing you to focus on core activities.
5. It’s a way to expand into new markets. Many businesses use a virtual office to establish a presence in another city. It’s a great way to project a presence before you are ready to physically set up shop there.
6. Some use a virtual office as a permanent arrangement; others as a staging post. They may then upgrade to a campus office (a private work area in an open-plan environment) or a serviced office. If you base your virtual office at a location that offers campus or serviced offices, you can grow without having to change your business address or find new premises.
A change that takes just minutes
Setting up a virtual office can often be arranged with just a few clicks of the mouse. The benefits are obvious, but it’s worthwhile to think about which features matter to you. Do you just want mail redirected from your business address to your actual office? Or do you want telephone answering, too? Is a prestigious address in a global business hub important or somewhere closer to home, so you can use workspace, meeting rooms and video-conferencing facilities minutes from where you live?
Virtual offices can cater to all these specific needs – you just need to work out which needs are yours. Then, within a few days, your business’s image and prospects – and the quality of your working life – could be transformed.
Guillermo Rotman is the CEO at Regus Americas and oversees all aspects of Regus in the United States, Canada and Latin America.