It can be quite difficult to justify running a business that just bleeds money willy-nilly, which is why owners and managers always seek new ways to conduct operations in an efficient and prudential manner. One effective way for modern enterprises to enjoy good resource utility is through office virtualization.
A virtual office (VO) is a flexible workspace wherein businesses are afforded services, space, and/or technology without paying for huge capital expenses associated with owning or leasing a traditional office. This concept has gained popularity among small and medium businesses (SMBs) because it’s a scalable and cost-efficient solution to the basic office problem. Despite its proliferation, however, many business owners still resist the change, mainly because the benefits aren’t always clear.
Physical office
Brick-and-mortar offices tend to have an old-school appeal to them because they serve as a concrete place of business that many people consider necessary in growing an enterprise. Also, physical office spaces have several benefits that are missing in virtual offices. For instance, a physical location can store a business’s physical inventories while putting them up for display, and it can serve as a place for interaction between client and service provider, which can help facilitate clear communication and a lingering impression of professionalism.
The main drawback of having a physical location is, of course, cost. A lease for cheap office space can go up to $5,000, depending on the city and surrounding area. Affordably priced office spaces tend to be cheap because the location may have conditions that are not conducive to business operations.
Physical offices also come overhead costs, unlike with virtual offices. For instance, one can expect to spend on electricity, internet, water, heating, and landline costs for a traditional brick-and-mortar office space. Also, physical offices need to have decorations, furniture, and lighting, as well as security measures such as closed-circuit cameras and other theft-deterrent devices. Lastly, physical offices tend to require more employees. With the current labor costs, not many SMBs can afford to hire extra hands, even if they desperately need them.
Virtual office
Virtual offices are much cheaper because they only typically take up server space and a minimum in manpower (one VO administrator can typically handle several accounts / VO spaces at a time). This means that your rental worries will typically be only in the hundreds of dollars, versus physical offices that cost thousands. Furthermore, virtual spaces are often leased out on a monthly basis, not on a fixed term such as half a year or a full year. So if your business is forced to move out or halt operations, you are not tied down to a contract that will just bleed out more money as you wait.
VOs are also overhead cost-cutters; they do not incur heating, water, and — in the case of virtual offices that provide VoIP services — telephony costs. Just based on this alone, you can enjoy hundreds of dollars of savings per month, all while enjoying more flexibility, more scalability, and improved business agility. And because these are managed services, you can have your employees focus on working on revenue-generating projects.
The verdict
Putting it a succinctly as possible, a physical office is a commitment worth tens of thousands of dollars every month. There are simply too many expenses when it comes to physical locations — rent, insurance, overhead, manpower, cleaning/office maintenance services, security, and more. More costs for you typically means less of your revenue ending up as income.
Virtualization is an excellent way to stem that expenditure tide. It doesn’t even require you to fully virtualize all aspects of your business — it is agile enough to adapt to a plethora of business models, so you can keep physical what needs to stay physical. You can run your business efficiently and seamlessly this way.
Arnet Technologies offers all your hardware, software, backup, security, compliance, and IT support needs all in one place — the Arnet EasyNET solutions Virtual Office. This service comes with all your IT and managed services needs, all for one simple monthly fee. Contact us today for a quote!
