Why outsource?

The most prominent reason for outsourcing is to reduce overheads, but it has also come to light in recent times that outsourcing companies can, more often than not, also provide companies with a higher standard of service than what they’re able to achieve in-house.

Whilst traditionally outsourcing was feasible in a limited number of fields, most notably accounting and manufacturing, over the years more and more services have become available and nowadays practically any activity that can be performed in-house can be outsourced, and as mentioned above, often more cost-effectively and to higher standards.

Virtual services: Outsourcing at its most beneficial

The days of traditional offices are numbered it would seem, seeing that more and more businesses around the globe are reducing their dependence upon the traditional administration and receptionist setup and are opting to utilise the services of virtual assistants, or alternatively, companies providing virtual assistance services.

Reducing overheads is one of the most prominent reasons for this behaviour on the part of business entities because they are able to reduce costly overheads in a number of ways.

Firstly there’s no need to hire fulltime staff, and therefore pay fulltime benefits and salaries, secondly they can reduce the amount of office space they hire, further reducing their overheads, and thirdly, they can access administration and receptionist services that are overseen by a company that specialises in the provision of such services and therefore takes care of quality control, training and the infrastructure that makes such services possible in the first place.

What services are available?

As the scope of virtual services expands so too does the pool of services that businesses are able to access. The list of services has now expanded to the point in which listing all the services available would prove exhaustive, so here are a few that are commonly utilised by business entities.

–       Admin and reception services including phone answering and mail forwarding

–       Bookkeeping and accounting services

–       Conference, meeting and travel arrangements

–       Digital services including digital design and marketing

–       Event planning and related promotional activities

Home based businesses, start-ups and virtual services

Some of the most prominent advocates of virtual services and their benefits are home based businesses and start-ups, businesses that are just establishing themselves and are looking at ways to keep their operational costs low until they are able to expand, though having said that, many start-ups continue to utilise virtual services after they have expanded their client base and have greater cash flow to work with.

Virtual offices are a prominent example of virtual services that are utilised by home based businesses and start-ups, for in addition to providing them with the services that they require, most notably admin and receptionist duties, as well as business support services, they’re also able to impart an image of professionalism to their client base by working from an MWB business centre with a prominent business address. This proves very advantageous for home based business and start-ups, for if they provide a residential address as their business address they’re liable to not be taken seriously, and there’s something inherently shady about PO boxes that most businesses understandably try to avoid.

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Every home-based entrepreneur should have a dedicated workspace.

This space should be furnished with office furniture, even if it’s secondhand, and if you have children make it clear that your office is off-limits. Keep your home office orderly, you’ll find that you get more work done, and also invest in all the office equipment you require to work efficiently. Creating a dedicated workspace helps you to focus on work, free of the distractions that prevent many home-based entrepreneurs from not achieving what they set out to achieve.

Every home-based entrepreneur should have a regular meeting space.

This space should not be at your home but rather in a business centre, and as mentioned above, this space can be rented by the hour with discounts afforded to those who join business lounge and related programmes. By meeting with your clients in a professional meeting environment you’re projecting an image of professionalism and this image counts for a lot.

Every home-based entrepreneur should have access to professional business support services.

This is essentially the outsourcing of admin and related duties. This doesn’t refer to mail forwarding and phone answering, as these are included in a virtual office package along with a business address, which is something that every home-based entrepreneur should have, but more so access to services that can be conveniently outsourced like spreadsheeting and word processing. Outsourcing tasks like these provides the entrepreneur with more time to concentrate on bigger things.

Every home-based entrepreneur should have their phone calls answered by a receptionist.

 This also helps home-based entrepreneurs project an image of business professionalism and it’s a great way to make a favourable first impression upon new clients. Virtual office packages are available in the same business centres where an office space rental in Manhattan would be sourced, and in addition to having one’s phone calls answered and forwarded, they can also have their mail sent there too.

Every home-based entrepreneur should have the ability to ‘workshift’.

 ‘Workshifting’, a relatively new term, is the ability of a worker, or in this case an entrepreneur, to work outside the office. This means that they are able to work whilst on the move and therefore work from cafes, hotel lobbies, etc. There are products available that help entrepreneurs to work more effectively when away from their home office, such as business lounge membership packages, and for meetings; conference and meetings rooms, which as mentioned above, can be hired by the hour.

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However, having a physical location also has its benefits, especially when it comes to meeting clients and appearing more professional to potential customers. While working from home is good when you first start out, there will come a time where you need to have a base in a major city centre hub so you look like a serious company.

It’s now possible to get the best of both worlds with a virtual office. These are spaces which you can list as your company address, yet you don’t need to be physically be there to get the benefits they offer.

A real, professional business address:

Listing your home as your business address on your website probably won’t help it to appear as professional as you may want to be perceived. This is especially so now as many people like to Google Map and street view where you are based. With a virtual office you will be given an address within the centre of a city’s business district, making you look like a professional outfit from the outset.

Get your telephone calls answered by a receptionist:

You may not want to constantly be taking phone calls throughout the day, or you may want to find a way to appear more professional when those all-important business phone calls come in. By using a virtual office your calls will be answered by a trained receptionist in any way you wish – even by using your company name at the start of the phone call. Find a good virtual office and you will get receptionists who make an effort to learn about you and your company so they can even answer general queries if needs be, or they can take messages to pass onto you if you are unavailable to take the call.

A hub for your business mail:

If your business address is listed at a virtual office then it’s likely you will received a fair share of mail to it. By paying a certain weekly/monthly fee this mail can be forwarded to your home or other address where you are actually going to be based for the majority of your time. It’s even possible to have mail opened with total honesty and discretion by the virtual office’s staff before being scanned and emailed through to you – meaning no waiting times to receive the important documents you are waiting for!

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