Are you running a home-based business? If so, congratulations – you are one of those who represent the future of how money will be made around the world.
There are many types of businesses operating from trades to ecommerce, right on down to freelancing of all kinds. Just in the U.S. alone, there are 38 million home-based businesses running currently. Many of those businesses are highly successful.
While the future of home-based business is bright, just like any other types of business, it’s not without inherited issues. One of them is the growth issue.
Indeed, since many home businesses are typically one-man show, your income depends on how effective you use your time. If you want to grow past the ‘growth ceiling’ while staying small, you need to leverage the available tools.
For obvious reasons, it isn’t ideal for a growing home-based business to rent an official headquarters independent of the CEO’s home. Not to mention, it really doesn’t make sense to bring employees in to work out of your home with you in many scenarios.
At the same time, only a fool tries to do each and every thing on a to-do list on their own, right? So, what’s the best options for you?
If the thought of hiring a full-time employee/helper/assistant cringe you, then you should consider using virtual office services. Using those, you can definitely speed up that growth.
Do you need to justify your spending on such services? Here’s 4 big reasons you need to use virtual services to help your home-based business run better:
1. You get to determine if the business needs to grow beyond the home
If you’re set on always running your business from home, this reason doesn’t apply to you. For the rest, who aspire to something bigger and better, renting a virtual office, and making use of the many services they offer, allows you to gauge whether the company is truly ready to grow beyond its origins.
This is true for the majority of service-based businesses, and those operating in the digital tech landscape. Maybe your business is ready for an office, maybe not. With commercial lease rates going through the roof in many areas, you don’t want to make a move like this on blind faith, right?
A virtual office service opens the door to seriously consider if your business has a need for an office. Access to virtual employees such as receptionists and other skilled assistants give you the chance to grow the business as quickly as possible, without all the financial and mental headaches that come with traditional employees.
2. Clients will think you’re a real company instead of a garage upstart
The last thing a business owner should aspire to is to have customers coming to their home for meetings or to make purchases. There are obvious implications that can be made, including how poor taste it is to do business at the kitchen table, or the fear of a jilted consumer knowing where you and your family live.
Not to mention, businesses that are operating in industries where perception is everything. Pepsi isn’t going to hire your marketing agency for a $20-million dollar campaign when your upstart agency is running out of a middle-income subdivision!
Make no mistake, it can cost $1000 to $2000 for a (very) small corner-side office in a reputable location. A post office box is cheaper, but how many people do you know who would trust a company who operates under the anonymity which that option offers?
You can rent a virtual office for pennies on the dollar compared to brick-and-mortar leasing costs. Many will have hundreds of locations worldwide to choose from, including the most highly-desired business districts. You can use that address to register your business, receive mail and have calls routed through to your location (via a virtual receptionist).
You can use your virtual office as company headquarters and meet there with clients and business partners. Don’t feel bad that you’re running a business out of your home, but don’t think for a second that you’re not losing out on opportunities because of where you choose to work out of!
3. Working from home can hinder creativity at times
Hey, if you want to spend the majority of your time working from home, all the power to you. That’s great and working from home can really make it easy to raise a family and/or pursue hobbies and passions while earning a living at the same time.
The trouble is, sometimes those hobbies, passions, and ‘life’ obligations have a way of creeping into your daily business. A virtual office isn’t located in cyberspace as the name implies. You can rent a virtual office close to your home business, and use it as a place you can sneak away to when work-related demands outweigh whatever drama may be unfolding around the house.
Forget about street-side cafes with sketchy WiFi when you need to clamp down on an important project. A virtual office offers all the amenities you’ll need including fully equipped desks, virtual reception and assistant services, and more. Some will offer lounges to relax in and ready access to restaurants, entertainment, and even your beloved Starbucks!
4. All your virtual staffing needs are covered
Virtual office services don’t offer access to skilled and unskilled labor (yet!) However, they do offer access to virtual online workers of all shapes, sizes, and skill levels. This option is indispensable when crunch time hits on a big client, or simply when you need regular help to get things done in your day-to-day business dealings.
These online virtual services offer everything from basic data entry to accounting and billing. Almost any of your staffing needs can be achieved in the cloud. People of all skill levels work as freelance VAs, ready to spring into action at your command.
Having this benefit at your fingertips means you never have to scour through ads on Freelancer.com (etc) ever again. Let a service do that work for you and concentrate on getting more sales and growing that business!
Conclusion
Whether you’re set on running your business out of your home indefinitely, or entertain dreams of bigger and better in the future, a virtual office can help you level up the current state of your business.
An office will legitimize your company, leading to a much needed branding boost virtually overnight. Access to other virtual services such as 24/7 reception, toll free phone numbers, call forwarding and ability to source virtual employees quickly, will only lead to bigger and better things for your business.