What is a virtual office? Virtual offices have garnered a lot of popularity in recent years as more businesses realise they are an affordable way to expand into new locations. Virtual offices allow businesses to enjoy the benefits of a prime location business address - anywhere in the world - without actually being there.
With opportunities to expand your business across the globe, you can benefit from a virtual address in a local area - allowing you to build credibility, and work according to your needs.
Things to consider when choosing a virtual office address
In addition, the process of choosing a virtual office through to the initial set up is quick and easy making it a more desirable option when comparing to finding a physical office space to rent. But what exactly makes one virtual office better than another? Before you buy a virtual office, here are some factors you should consider.
Location
While you may not be occupying the physical space, the location of your virtual office is still important. Your business address is directly linked to your brand and helps legitimise your business within the local area. Therefore, it is best to consider the different industrial hubs present in any city or town. This gives businesses of all sizes the opportunity to have a business address on the other side of the planet - no matter where you physically work.
For example, if a law firm wants to establish themselves within a new city, then it would be better for them to rent a virtual office in a location where there are similar businesses surrounding them. It would help improve their credibility and attract more customers than if they were to rent a virtual office in a trendy neighbourhood full of creative businesses.
Similarly, a creative business, such as an influencer agency, could benefit from buying a virtual office in a trendier neighbourhood rather than a financial hub. A virtual office is not only a cost- effective way to utilise a prime location, but also an easy solution to utilise a prestigious and reputable address with minimum overheads.
Flexibility
The virtual office spaces offered by Regus provide great flexibility for businesses, with access to virtual spaces in over 3,500 locations globally. You can scale up or move location, depending on your needs. This means that if there are a few different cities or even countries that you are looking to expand into, a virtual office provides an affordable way in.
By renting a virtual office space in multiple locations, you can see which city would be most beneficial to expand into without the high costs of renting and maintaining a physical location. With the flexible agreements that are available for virtual offices, you can scale your operations as and when the needs of your business change.
With the costs of running a business increasing, virtual office rental provides you with the flexibility to ‘test the water’ in new markets while removing the potentially expensive and limiting factors of a physical workspace.
What else is in the area
Our virtual offices are often based in central locations within major business hubs. This not only adds to the credibility and reputation of your business, but also means many of our locations are just a short distance from public transportation and local amenities, such as coffee shops and bars. These amenities are extremely useful should you ever need to meet with clients in the local area.
Will you have use of a physical office space?
If you have clients that might want to meet with you face to face, then you are going to need to use a physical office space. It’s important to know that you have access to the onsite facilities provided by your virtual office. Knowing how big the meeting rooms are, how often you can book them, and what other amenities are available will help grow the relationship with your client.
At Regus, you can have a virtual address that also includes a physical building that you can utilise. While you may never need to visit the physical office, you could spend as little as two days in the office per month to help boost productivity or use amenities like meeting rooms.
Furthermore, you may start off with a virtual office address and then move into a coworking space or permanent office space further down the line. This is why when choosing a scalable virtual office solution it is so important to understand what facilities are available and how you can best utilise them.
Mailing Services
If your virtual office is in a different location to you then you will need your provider to offer mailing services. A mail forwarding service allows you to have your mail sent from your virtual office address to wherever you may be located. It allows you to receive your important mail however often you would like.
At Regus, we provide daily, weekly, monthly or ad-hoc mail forwarding, depending on your needs, meaning you won’t need to waste time coming into the office to pick up mail. Instead, you will have more time to focus on your clients and growing your business.
Call Answering Services
Customers trust local phone numbers a lot more than any other type of number. In fact, research has shown that people are four times more likely to answer local phone calls. If your business has a local phone number, then people will find you more trustworthy and are thus more likely to consider using your business.
This is why we provide a cost-effective telephone answering service, with a dedicated team of friendly customer service agents available to take calls from your clients. Even if you're on the other side of the world, our virtual receptionists can answer calls in your company name, transfer calls to you, or even take messages on your behalf.
Contract Lengths
Whether you’re looking for a virtual address to improve the local credibility of your business or want an affordable way to expand into new markets, you need to know that the contract for your virtual office space matches the needs of your business.
If you’re testing the waters in a new market, you might not want to get locked into a 3-year contract. Or, if you want to get set up quickly, the speed of setup makes opting for a virtual office a quick and easy solution. Whatever your needs may be, there is a solution to suit your business plans.
Therefore, you can rest assured that the contract terms provided by Regus are flexible and scalable. We offer agreements for as little as a month or for as long as 2 years, meaning you can save more with longer contracts.
Budget
While one of the most appealing aspects of a virtual office is the affordability, an important thing to consider when buying a virtual office is your budget. If you’re looking to impress potential clients, then you can look at some of the more premium virtual offices available within major city centres. With Regus, you will be able to secure a virtual business address within some of the most iconic buildings in the biggest cities in the world.
However, if you have a smaller budget to secure a virtual office space then it would be best to look into quieter areas or the outskirts of wherever you’re looking to expand into. You will still be able to display that you’re in the city on your website and contact details but the monthly costs will be lower.
Local Laws
If you want to find a virtual business address and phone number in another country because you’re expanding into a different market, then it is extremely important to look into the local laws that may be different from the ones in your current country. For example, taxes vary from country to country, so you need to make sure your business knows how much it needs to pay now that it’s operating in a new country.
Speaking to a local virtual office provider will give you a huge amount of local expertise into the location you’re looking to base your business in, as well as information on local amenities and facilities if you needed to drop by for an important meeting.
Ultimately, there are lots of other factors to consider, such as employment laws and competitors, so getting financial and legal advice from professionals within your new market is vital. Once the legal part is out of the way, the virtual office setup is very simple.
Find a virtual office space with Regus and work your way today.