More and more companies and workers are choosing to work remotely. It is seen as being productive by at least 67% of all American professionals and is seen as being a perk of a job by nearly 80% of them. The ability to lose the daily commute is seen as one of the big benefits to this arrangement and as many as 14% of workers in the United States went as far as to change their job to lose or shorten their commute. At least 46% of American businesses say they employ telework was a way to prevent attrition. For many companies and professionals, virtual office suites offer the best of both worlds. They get to work from an office when they need it and from somewhere else when they do not.
Virtual office spaces first started popping up around 1994. The Office Business Center Association International (OBCAI) has reported an increase in virtual office suites from 7.8% in 2008 to 18.3% in 2009. Use of virtual office suites is used most often by the financial, legal, consulting, technology, real estate/brokers, healthcare, marketing and advertising, entertainment, retail, and construction industries.
Benefits of Using Virtual Office Suites:
- You get everything you need in your office space. Finding decent office space can be hard. You need to find a space that has the room you need but then you have to deal with all of the other amenities you need to do your business. You need to set up your phone lines, internet connection and get office furniture. This is time consuming and very labor intensive. If you run a small business, looking for office space takes you away from doing the job you were hired to do. When you go with a space in a virtual office space, you have all of that set up when you move in. This can help you really cut down on your overhead costs and improve your bottom line.
- Need a receptionist? Virtual office suites have you covered. Rather than hiring a new staff member, which takes a lot of time and then you have the expense of a salary and benefits, you can move into a virtual office space that has someone who fills that role for you. This is perfect for when you expect deliveries or packages and need someone to sign for them.
- You get a conference room. There are times when meeting with prospective clients, current colleagues and potential customers just cannot happen in a local coffee place. When you rent space in one of the area virtual office suites, you will have access to a conference room that you can reserve the way you would one at a traditional office. This can make your meetings and presentations look and feel as professional as you need them to.
- You get great networking and business development opportunities. Most virtual office suite situations are magnets for like minded people. When you are looking at different virtual office suites, ask what kinds of professionals and businesses use the space now. Many of these work spaces offer a lot of chances for the organizations and professionals who rent space there get together to talk about work issues and collaborate on different projects. This is one of the best perks of working out of virtual office suites. These can also include fun social events and professional development conferences.
- Leave your work at work when you want to. Many professionals find it hard to leave work alone when they work from home. This becomes a lot easier when they have an office space to work out of at least part of the time. This means you can focus all of your energy when you are at your virtual office space and work less.
There are a great number of great perks to using virtual office suites for your space needs. These office solutions give you all of the accoutrements that come along with a traditional office space. The staff at the virtual office space provide the people and companies that use them all of the important office infrastructure that is so important to getting any work done. This helps businesses and workers become more efficient and work smarter, not harder.