12 Reasons Why Your Online Company Needs a Virtual Office

Business Virtual Offices

5 min read

12 Reasons Why Your Online Company Needs a Virtual Office

Let’s face it – running an online company is one of the best ways to do business in 2023. Not only do you save on commercial rent – meaning you have more money to invest upfront and continually into your business – but you can also hire top talent from all over the world, rather than having to restrict yourself to your postcode. But running an online business doesn’t mean you don’t need a business address and some of the benefits that come with it. With a virtual address, you can keep track of business correspondence, benefit from a telephone answering service, and even use physical meeting rooms when the need arises. But is a virtual office worth it? In this blog, we’re going to go over 12 reasons why it’s an absolute must for any budding online entrepreneur – so let’s get started!

Mail redirection

Just because your business operations are carried out digitally, this doesn’t mean that all your correspondence is! You’ll likely receive important letters – whether they be from prospective clients or HMRC – and having these arrive at your home address can create easy mix-ups, especially if you live in a shared flat. With a virtual address, you’ll benefit from mail redirection wherever you are in the world, so you’ll never miss an important notice or invoice.

Privacy

Perhaps one of the most important reasons that online businesses need a virtual office is to help maintain a degree of privacy when it comes to your personal details. As you may already know, all new businesses in the UK are required to list an official business address and phone number with Companies House, and this information becomes public once your business is up and running. To prevent unwanted spam calls, snail mail marketing and even doorstep cold-callers, a virtual address is essential.

Telephone answering service

As any budding entrepreneur already knows, getting a business up and running can be a complicated, stressful and overwhelming time – and you might not always have the time to answer the phone. This can result in missed opportunities and lost clients, so why not simplify things with a telephone answering service? You don’t need to hire your own private secretary for this either – most virtual office services will include telephone answering as part of their package.

Reduced upfront costs

As we already mentioned in the introduction, cutting back costs on commercial rent can do wonders when it comes to investing your turnover back into your business. If you’re an online business thinking about scaling, you don’t need a physical office space to do so – simply invest the money that would have been spent on rent back into your project.

Networking

Virtual offices are used by up-and-coming startups, freelancers, and even venture capitalists – so there’s no shortage of networking opportunities when using one. Get chatting to like-minded individuals in your own virtual office space – you never know, you might find your next collaboration is right around the corner!

Meeting rooms

Another benefit of virtual offices is having access to meeting rooms on an annual quota basis. This can allow you to host important in-person meetings, such as quarterly meetings or annual conferences with your teammates or employees.

Better hiring opportunities

With a virtual office, you’re no longer limited to hiring exclusively within your own postcode; as most of your day-to-day operations are carried out digitally, you can use websites like Fiverr and Upwork to find the best and brightest from all around the world.

Enhanced productivity

With telephone answering tasks and postal admin handled by a third party, you and your team can focus your time and energy on doing what matters most – growing and scaling your business!

Useful meetings

When meetings are few and far between, they tend to be much more productive and effective – by having only limited use of your virtual office’s meeting rooms, you’ll be guaranteed that any rendez-vous you do have with your team will be useful.

Better work-life balance

With a virtual office, you’ll benefit from a better work-life balance in two ways. One, you won’t be spending 8+ hours in the office everyday, meaning you can split your workday into manageable sections to better suit your working style. Secondly, with a telephone answering service included in the package, you won’t need to keep your eyes on your phone at all times. The result? A more balanced, positive home life – without any negative impact on your business.

Professionalism

If you’re offering a service-based business, customers and clients are highly likely to Google your company before investing their money, and many can end up being put-off if they come across a residential address on your Google business profile. Improve your company’s image by opting for a central, commercial address via a virtual office service – you’ll get all the professionalism of a sought-after postcode without the associated costs.

Prime locations

And speaking of postcodes, another benefit of a virtual office is that you can base your business (almost) anywhere you like! Prestigious postcodes such as Mayfair and the City of London can add legitimacy and professionalism to your business, and help you attract the calibre of client or customer that you’re aiming for. And with a virtual address London, you can obtain all this and more at a fraction of the cost of a commercial office.