Choose The Best Virtual Office Address : 6 Things to Consider

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Whether you are a start-up, expanding your business globally, or an entrepreneur looking for flexibility, a virtual office is the best option for your business.

A virtual office is affordable, flexible, and scalable, giving your business everything it needs like in a workplace, but without long-term contracts.

In this article, we will discuss what a virtual office is and how to choose the best virtual office provider for your business to thrive.

What is a virtual office?

A virtual office is part of a flexible workspace that gives businesses a physical address and office-related services without the overhead of a long lease and administrative staff.

And who is a virtual office provider? A virtual office provider allows businesses to use their physical addresses and offers additional services such as administrative support and phone services.

Icon Offices provide professional addresses and additional services such as mail handling, call answering, UK virtual mobile numbers, and UK VoIP landlines.
 

What to consider when choosing the best virtual office provider?
 

1. Location, location, location!

Find a Virtual Office provider who can provide you with an address that compliments your business. If you are based in Scotland and servicing customers primarily in London, then getting a virtual address in Scotland for your business may not be the wisest decision. Sometimes customers want a sense of feeling that they are dealing with a business that is close and easily accessible to them.

Icon Offices provides a solution to this problem by providing four different addresses to choose from in London and Essex. Our addresses are spread out over an approximate 20-mile radius and our Virtual Offices Services start from only £0.99 per week.

Be realistic when choosing an address for your business. Time and time again we find small businesses jumping on the “Central London” band wagon for a virtual address. Getting a Central London address for your business may seem glamorous but can sometimes have an adverse effect on it especially if you are a still finding your feet as a business.

Many customers can identify a small business by the way that it operates e.g. your phone is always on voicemail, the same person always answers the phone and emails etc. This can then lead customers to question if you really have an office in expensive part of Central London where rents are sky high.

Sometimes when customers realise that you are not large / established enough to have a Central London office it can lead to loss of trust and confidence as customers can begin to question why you are not using your real address and how they might be able to find you if something goes wrong.

Some clients and suppliers take it a step further and see it as a dishonest act. The unfortunate thing is that you will rarely get this feedback from a customer or supplier when losing that all important deal. However our research tells us that it is a common factor for customers and suppliers to walk away from a deal where a business “claims” to have an office in Central London but actually doesn’t.

Sometimes having an office in the suburbs is a safer bet as potential customers and suppliers are less likely to question your location as a start up / small business operating from the suburbs, than if you claim to be a Central London outfit.

2. A unique address

How many other companies are registered at your virtual office address? Is the address already blacklisted due to another company’s neglectful actions? If the address is blacklisted how is this going to affect your business if a client or supplier does a credit check on your company? What happens if someone else using your address has a bad reputation? Is your brand going to be confused with a culprit company on the basis that you both share the same address? 

These are very important questions that businesses looking for Virtual Office Services forget to ask when choosing a Virtual Office Provider. 

Thankfully we have a solution that overcomes all of the above. We provide every customer with their unique office number at the address of their choice, allowing businesses to have their own unique identity without being associated with other businesses registered at the same address.

3. Attraction

Always try to find a virtual office address that has an attractive property to back it up. Many Virtual Office Providers are Virtual Businesses themselves! This means that the address that they provide you with could be for a post box attached to a shed door. Think of what this could do for your image and reputation if one of your clients/suppliers looks up your address on Google Maps. 

Icon Offices are one of the few Virtual Office Providers that occupy and use their addresses for Virtual Address services. This means that if anybody Googled any of our addresses, they would be presented with attractive, professional office buildings that enhance the image of your business. Also, think of a scenario where a client may wish to meet you at your office. 

Our East Ham, Chadwell Heath, and Hainault Business Centres all have meeting rooms which means meeting your client on-site at your Virtual Office Address to close that important deal, is always possible.

4. Convenience is key.

Always choose a Virtual Office provider that provides you with a convenient way to access your post. Some provide a collection-only process. This is fine if you live locally but such services should be avoided if you need to travel from a distance or are only available to collect mail at irregular times when the Virtual Office Provider’s office is closed.

Always choose an Address Provider that gives you a range of options to choose from and access your mail, including scan to email, and mail forwarding via post. Icon Offices provides all of these services.

5. Look for extra benefits.

There are so many additional services that small and start-up businesses can benefit from. e.g. Company Formation, Bank Account Formation, Business Phone Lines, Professional Call Answering Services, Accountancy Services, Meeting Room Hire. Icon Offices provides all of these services and acts as a one-stop shop for many of your business setup requirements.

6. Cost

Virtual offices are the most affordable work set up a business can ever have. However, being affordable does not mean that you might get the best value from all virtual office providers

Icon Offices’ virtual offices have various packages that can fit start-ups, entrepreneurs, and business owners' budgets.  Some businesses may prefer having an address only, while others may want to have a business support solution to help with calls. Some may choose to try it out for three months, others half a year.

Our packages come with mail handling. For those looking for an affordable virtual office service, our Bronze package offers fantastic value for money.

Our silver gold and platinum packages come with premium features such as a UK Business VoIP landline phone number and mail forwarding via scan to email. They also offer mail forwarding to anywhere in the world via a postal service.

Some of our packages also come with a range of additional benefits such as free UK company formation, a free call answering service, a free company logo creation service, a free UK virtual mobile service, and much more.

Check out our various packages for virtual offices in the UK and experience their flexibility. For more information about virtual offices, contact us at [email protected].

When choosing a virtual office provider, be sure to do your research and ask a lot of questions before settling for one. Make sure that what they offer will suit your business operations and will bring you value for your money.