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A Virtual Office: What's in it for You?
Nowadays getting a virtual office instead of wasting money on a commercial lease is a no-brainer.
Whether you are:
- working from home
- operating as a sole trader or a freelancer
- a start-up
- busy on the road or on construction sites
- shifting your team to remote working (as many of us are doing these days)
a virtual office may be an ideal solution for you if:
- You are conscious about security and privacy and don't want to use your home address for business purposes
- You want to appear more professional with minimal expenses
- You don't have funds for leasing a physical office (or have a better idea of how to use these funds)
- You need somebody to answer phone calls and take messages
- You need somebody to handle your mail
Not only may it be more convenient, a virtual office can also save you lots of money.
How Much a Virtual Office Can Save You?
I run a boutique digital marketing agency and for nearly 10 years (since 2004) we have been renting a small 3-person office in one of Melbourne most prestigious buildings. We loved everything about it - the location, on-site facilities, customer service, you name it. Every client that walked through the door for the first time would comment on how beautiful the place was.
In August 2013 one of my employees moved to Sydney for six months to support his family and started working remotely. With only two of us left in the office and less and less clients coming through the doors (primarily because of a fundamental shift in the way we communicated with our clients), I started seriously questioning the need for a physical office.
One day, I put together a list of all our monthly expenses related to leasing the office...
we were spending $4,860 a month... $58,320 a year!
Plus 52 hours a month (between two of us) driving to and from work - over 6 full working days a month, 72 days a year!
Our monthly costs before we got a virtual office
Expenses
Cost
Rent
$3,120
Body Corporate Fees
$310
Car parking (x 2)
$660
Telephone & Internet
$220
Coffee
$250 (at least)
Lunch
$300 (just me)
Total
$4,860
The decision to move out and get ourselves a virtual office was pretty much made for me.
The very next day I gave a vacation notice to the landlord and within a month we moved out and signed up for a virtual office. Our business kept the same address and phone number, so our "image" wasn't affected in any way.
Initially we had a custom virtual office package paying a couple of hundred dollars a month, downsizing to a more basic solution later on. Now we are paying less than $60 per month.
So far we have saved over $349,000 - savings which have gone straight to the bottom line!
Joseph Zaritski, Founder, Pro Internet Marketing, Melbourne
