When considering office space the first step is to decide if a virtual office or physical office is the right fit for your business.
The type of business you run will determine which is the right option for you. To make the decision on where to base your office address easier, our guide below helps differentiate these two different working environments.
What is a virtual office?
A virtual office address isn’t just an online location. It exists as a real location within an office building that you use as your business address. You could be working remotely on a daily basis, but your correspondence will reflect an office location.
When it comes to performing practical business activities, you have a registered office address to direct governing bodies to. You can also list it as your registered office on sources like your website, advertising, and so on.
You can even choose add-ons to your virtual office services. These include manned receptions, mail forwarding, and telephone answering services.
What is a physical office?
A physical office is a traditional office space, one where people work every day, if not most. It could be a single rented room within a building or an entire building with meeting rooms.
A physical office space is a great way to have a designated hub for your team if they work best being surrounded by their colleagues day to day. If your team do lots of collaborative work a physical office to gather in may be useful for creative projects.
Virtual offices vs physical offices: what are the differences?
Both physical offices and virtual working spaces are both real locations within real buildings. But what are the differences between these office spaces? What are the benefits of virtual offices to rent rather than physical ones, and vice versa?
We explore these questions, and more, below, and pick what we believe is a clear winner for each consideration.
Costs
A virtual business address is a lower-cost alternative to traditional offices. They provide a genuine address for your business without the associated fees. In this sense, a virtual office looks like the clear winner.
However, there are other factors aside from lower overheads. There are sacrifices in not having a physical office. For example, less in-person day-to-day collaboration.
Of course, you still have the option to rent meeting rooms and office space on a hybrid working basis too.
Best for costs: Virtual office
Commute
There is no commute with a virtual office space. You can work from your home address or from anywhere in the world.
You’ll still have some of the benefits of a brick-and-mortar real estate address. These include a physical presence for your website and marketing materials, as well as a business address for correspondence.
Less commuting time means there is more time to prepare for the working day. However, there are still some drawbacks to the lack of commuting. For example, workers are less likely to have a change of scenery between their workplace and home space, potentially leading to a work-life imbalance.
Best for commute: Virtual office
Technology
Working virtually comes with some technology-based issues that can be avoided by renting a physical office. For example, our offices have high-speed, reliable internet and well-maintained office equipment, such as printers, scanners, and photocopiers.
Homeworking relies upon each employee’s own internet connections and equipment. These are unlikely to be as reliable, even if you pay for costly investments like supplying each worker with equipment.
Best for technology: Physical office
Flexibility
A virtual workspace offers more flexibility if you are still deciding whether a physical office is a good fit for your business. You can test the waters and see if your business will perform well in a new area before committing to physical offices there.
Being flexible with your location can also make you more appealing as an employer. After all, you’ll be able to appeal to potential employees from beyond the set radius of your physical office.
Best for flexibility: Virtual office
Employee collaboration and communication
With the rise of hybrid and remote working, businesses and their employees have increasingly relied on remote communication and video calling. There are certainly advantages to being able to speak to your colleagues from multiple locations, such as inviting collaboration across the world.
However, when it comes to communication, in-person is often preferred. There are fewer distractions from what is happening around you and it’s easier and more natural to discuss things.
Of course, if you don’t have a huge team or if you are the sole worker in your business, this may not be a concern.
There’s always the choice to opt for a virtual office and then use services like booking workspaces to meet in person when needed.
Best for employee collaboration: Physical office
Connecting with clients
If you meet clients regularly, a virtual office address may not be the best solution for you.
Meeting clients in a physical office is always going to look more professional. It gives them a chance to see where you work, learn about your company culture, and view you as a credible business.
It’s also easier to have quiet, private conversations without distractions, and it has a more professional feel.
That’s not to say that renting a virtual office means you can’t connect with clients. You can still book offices on an ad-hoc basis for as little as an hour. Thanks to this, you can still have good client connections with virtual offices, albeit likely not as often.
Best for client connections: Physical office
Environment
Physical offices often rely more heavily on air conditioning, heating, electricity, and lighting. With this in mind, there’s no contest when it comes to which office type is better for the environment.
Renting virtual office space results in less energy consumption and is better for your business's carbon footprint.
Aside from the environmental feel-good factor, being greener can be reflected in your company values. This can be seen positively by customers and may give your business a competitive advantage.
Best for environmental impact: Virtual office
Business image and trustworthiness
Some would argue that having a real address adds credibility to your business.
From an official standpoint, it gives government bodies such as tax offices a place to locate you. From a business standpoint, it creates trust by looking more official than your home address or, worse still, no address.
Of course, remote and hybrid working is absolutely fine. However, from an image perspective, having a tangible business address will always look more professional.
A clear selling point about either physical or virtual offices is that they both give you a tangible business address within a real building. It’s simply a case of whether you are based there or not.
Best for brand image: Virtual and physical offices
Choose a virtual office or a physical office with Regus
When choosing between a virtual office vs a physical office, it ultimately comes down to your business. Each office has its own benefits, which impact differently depending on factors like the size and type of your business.
We can help you find your perfect physical office or set up a virtual office. If you are better suited to a hybrid approach, you might find a membership plan a good option.
Memberships offer flexible terms so that you can adapt as your business grows. We have offices located in all major towns and cities across the world. With a Regus membership, you have access to any of these centres, whether it’s to work in or meet with clients.
Whichever option you choose for your business, whether it’s a virtual office, physical office, or using our membership option, Regus can help you work your way. Simply make an enquiry today to find the best working solution for you and your business.