Part I: New Year, New Venture, New Office?

The start of a new year could be the start of a new venture for some people who have chosen the path to start-up a business, expand, diversify or establish branch offices..

Setting-up an office while concentrating on your business is a daunting task that steals valuable time away from your operations specially during this crucial period.  Moreover, setting up an office nowadays needs more than a table and a chair.  Depending on your business, mobility and being technologically savvy will give you a head start.  How about presentability, remember the old adage "first impression matters"?  Although not always applicable, it pays to have a presentable office. Even if people don’t often visit you in your office, your business address says a lot about your company.  To add, having a presentable office and a conjusive work environment makes you more focussed on your work.

A sample business is starting up a marketing consultancy.

Armed with the expertise, knowledge and experience you are now ready to launch your business.  

In this type of business, it is critical that people can easily contact you.  Your office address can influence your type of potential clients.  You need a conducive office environment for meetings, presentations, brainstorming or even just a space where you can think straight while writing your marketing proposals. 

For convenience purposes, you can start your office from home but if you want to have a head start, then you might want to consider the services of a business centre.

Let’s assume that this is just a business that started from scratch for discussion purposes.  Not everyone is financially equipped at the onset of a busines.  But that should not deter you from starting up a business and having a professional image at the same time.

At a reasonable and oftentimes low cost, you can rent a virtual office in a business centre.

A virtual office enables you to use the address of the business centre as if it was your own office address.  You can use this address on your business cards, letter heads and marketing materials.  Its like having an instant professional business address giving your company image a boost. They can manage your mail collection and forwarding. Your mails can be forwarded to your designated address, like your house. 

You can choose to have your own local number to go with your virtual office. Have a professional receptionist answer calls in your business name.  You may also choose to redirect calls to your chosen number.  Some modern business centres have the technology to patch a phone call straight to you, if you chose to receive specific calls right away. You can also have a designated fax number.  They can send and receive fax messages for you and forward it to you.

Moreover, should you need an actual office to work on, you have the option to use a furnished office space, rent their function rooms or whatever facilities they may have depending on your service agreement with them.  Some of these business centres have several locations that enables you to access their facilities.  It could be national offices only  or international locations for the bigger business centres.

Administrative and techincal support is usually provided by most business centres.

The virtual office is not always a virtual office, it can also be an office facility with office staff  on demand depending on your need and the need of your business.