Whilst there are many benefits of working from the comfort of your own home, there are also a number of drawbacks too. One of the main drawbacks is that even in this day and age; people still seem to see home run businesses as being less stable and reliable. With this in mind, many home workers have turned to virtual offices for help. Here we’ve shared five reasons to use a virtual office and how they can benefit your home-based business.
You Won’t have to give Out your Home Address
One of the services provided by virtual offices is mail forwarding, which basically involves having your mail sent to their office address and then forwarded onto your home address. The benefit of this is that instead of having to share your home address with clients (which can feel like an invasion of privacy) you can give them your virtual office’s address instead.
It Will Help to Win Customers
Using your virtual office’s address on your business correspondence and website, instead of your home address, can also help you to win new customers. As we mentioned in the opening paragraph, people often think home run businesses are unprofessional, so by using a prestigious city-based address, you will instantly become more appealing.
Seeing as your mail will get forwarded to your home address anyway, there’s no need for customers to know that you don’t actually operate from the city centre address. As long as you provide your clients with the quality products or services promised, no harm will be done by slightly bending the truth.
You can Concentrate on More Important Tasks
Working for yourself is not easy, especially when you are winning new clients everyday. If your workload has greatly increased and you are struggling to handle everything yourself, you will find it very beneficial to utilise the services of a virtual office.
Most virtual offices will provide you with your very own virtual assistant as part of their package deals. This virtual assistant will answer your calls, forward your mail and take care of general admin tasks on your behalf, giving you more time to concentrate on important tasks that will help you to grow your business and make it a success.
It’s basically like having your very own admin team but at a fraction of the cost!
It’s More Cost Efficient and Eco-friendly than having your Own Office
Although having your own office in the city will make your business look more established and professional, it will also be a huge financial burden. If you can run your business from home and save on the costs, it makes sense to do that instead. There’s no need to worry about looking unprofessional to clients as a virtual office provides the perfect solution. You will simply pay them a monthly fee to use their address and services and your clients will remain none the wiser!
The fact you will be sharing resources and cutting emissions (through not needing to travel to work) makes virtual offices an eco-friendly solution too.
Access to Meeting Rooms and Other Facilities
Hosting meetings over the internet using software like Skype is great but what if your clients want to meet you in person? Even if you are comfortable inviting them to your home, it can be inconvenient (if other people are in) and a little unprofessional. The better option is to use a virtual office’s meeting room instead.
Most virtual offices allow their clients to make use of their meeting rooms and other facilities on a pay-as-you-go basis. This means that home workers can continue to maintain their professional image by making use of dedicated meeting facilities, without incurring the costs associated with running their own building.
Conclusion
Whether you are worried that people won’t take you seriously as you run your business from home or are simply finding it hard to manage all aspects of your business alone, using a virtual office is the answer to all your problems. Not only will you be able to take on their prestigious city-based address as your own (making your business more attractive to customers) but you will also be able to utilise the skills of their virtual assistants, allowing you to use your own time more productively.