How a Flexible Office Strategy Can Help Startups Conserve Capital and Focus on Growth
For most businesses in the startup phase, controlling costs is crucial. Even if you have an eager investor and a blank check with your company’s name on it, you still need to spend wisely.
Investors need to know where their money is going. After the events of 2020, the heady days of startups burning through cash while chanting ‘fail fast, fail often’ may well be behind us – for now at least – which means new business owners need to watch their budget, and watch it closely.
That can seem challenging when starting and growing a business.
After all, it’s an expensive venture. Depending on your product and your industry, you may need to invest upfront in stock, storage, office space, multiple business licenses, a competitive marketing strategy, human resources, and so on.
Most businesses view cost-cutting as a necessary evil, but there is often a fine line between cutting costs and cutting corners.
Good news is, one overhead you can cut costs on (but not corners) is office space.
During the pandemic, many business owners learned very quickly that it is possible – and in some cases, preferable – to operate with a remote workforce.
Of course, working from home isn’t a complete solution. It works for some people – but for those with children at home or limited space, it’s less than ideal. That’s where a flexible hybrid approach works best, which enables employees to split their working week between their home or a ‘third place’ (such as a local coworking space) and a centralized office.
Other companies skip the centralized office completely and work remotely nearly all of the time.
They work from wherever they are most productive, and communicate with team members and clients over digital platforms such as Zoom, Slack, Microsoft 365, Trello, Zapier, and more.
Yet, they still have the appearance of a head office – even if they rarely work there.
How?
Some companies use what’s known as a Virtual Office.
A Virtual Office is a combination of physical and virtual services. It’s located at a real office building, and provides all the essentials you’d expect from a physical office – such as a business address and a place to receive mail. The big difference is, companies don’t pay for full-time office space.
They only use the onsite workspace when they need it, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The really important part is the address – not the physical office. The address serves a huge number of business requirements, such as opening a bank account, receiving mail, an address for your email and website footer, registering your business, applying for business licenses, and more.
All these functions are tied to your address. It doesn’t necessarily matter whether you work there or not.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of utilizing a business address:
- Cost effective: It’s essential for new businesses to save money. You’ll need an office address to start and grow a business, but you don’t need to commit to an expensive office lease. A Virtual Office can fulfil many purposes of a regular office, but for a lot less money.
- Build credit: A Virtual Office address can be used to establish credit. You can use it to open a bank account, apply for business licenses, set up an LLC, and other requirements linked to business growth.
- Work flexibly: The workplace is one of the largest cost commitments a business can carry, so it pays to have flexible access to the resources you need, only when you need them.
- Credibility: A commercially recognized address adds credibility to your business and demonstrates that you’re a focused entrepreneur who’s thinking long-term.
- Build a professional image: When working with a new business, are you more likely to trust one that has a commercial address, or one based at home? In business, perception is everything – and a Virtual Office helps your business create an established, professional presence.
A Virtual Office helps startups and small business owners work more flexibly, conserve capital, and achieve long-term sustainable growth. It’s flexible, it’s cost-effective, and it works.
Check out other Virtual Office solutions in our Vendor Network.
For more information and to search plans and pricing, speak to our partner Alliance Virtual Offices to learn more about how a Virtual Office can support your business growth.