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What’s right for your business: Virtual office or Serviced office?

There are many reasons why virtual offices are on the rise. Start up’s want to keep costs low, Freelancers don’t always need a physical space and sometimes companies need to downsize. Work is no longer just a place you go 9 – 5, the working life for many goes far beyond that. We have put together a list of pros and cons that you may need to consider when choosing a virtual office over a physical office.  

Advantages

Starting with the obvious, a virtual office is far more cost-effective. A serviced office can come with some unsightly bills but with a virtual provider, your overheads are kept to a minimum. You don’t have multiple bills coming in for a variety of services, instead, you pay the same amount each month. Remote working is a thing of the future with more and more employers offering this as a perk. Running your own business and having your own perks should be no different. Often when your starting out your working all hours of the day to get your brand off the ground, commuting to and from work is valuable time which could be better spent. If your brand is already off the ground having a virtual office offers you an extra hour or 2 in bed, who could say no to that?! Flexibility is something that doesn’t always come with a serviced office. Someone has to be the first person in to open up, someone always brings in that smelly lunch or there’s always one with the window open in the winter. Sometimes, just sometimes we like to have a leisurely lunch, or we need to slip away an hour early for a personal appointment. Staff expect the senior management to put in the same slog and hard work as the rest of the team, a virtual office gives you full flexibility and keeps your reputation with your staff intact. Brand image is everything in 2018. How can a business market it’s self as high end or luxury with a business address in the poorer parts of the country? If a business address is located in Mayfair, you know that instant it is a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, these areas are pricey and unaffordable to most so having a business address registered to a virtual office in these area’s gives your brand that professional and luxury image that you want to market for a fraction of the cost. It’s a win-win!  

Disadvantages

After reading the advantages it’s hard to believe that there may be any disadvantages to using a virtual office, but with every advantage come’s a disadvantage, however, this is dependent on your business goals. Employees that are not on site can be harder to manage. We have all had those crucial moments where we’ve had to shout across the office to an employee in an “emergency” and in a fast-paced environment staff need to pull together and be able to collaborate efficiently in the event of a business crisis. Working remotely can make you feel Isolated. Working by yourself with no one to speak to or run your ideas by can be a real downer for some, fortunately for most remote working is seen as empowering, independent and flexible which are attractive traits in the business realm. Depending on the nature of your business clients expect you to have a physical location. On-site offices build trust and security for clients, we all like to go into the bank to check on our money from time to time right?!  

The Verdict

Times are changing, Technology exceeds our expectations and there is no such thing as a normal working life. Flexibility is required by employees and founders. With virtual office providers offering meeting room hire, mail forwarding services, virtual receptionists and more It’s hard to ignore the advantages of using a virtual office for your small business.