Do you know that one of the most popular features of Platypus Coworking is our “virtual office”?
What’s a virtual office, I hear you ask?
In a nutshell, it’s a physical address for your business but not a physical address that you need to be at all the time or even any of the time.
Having a virtual office for your business offers you many benefits, let’s explore the top six.
1. Having A Virtual Office Gives Your Business A Professional Edge
For people to do business with you, some may need to have confidence that you’re a reputable business and for some people, an office or other physical location is part of their criteria. It can be a subconscious assumption that if you have an office then your business must be doing well and it’s safe to do engage in business with you.
As an example, have a think about hairdressers. Hairdressers who have a salon are;
a) seen more often as people walk and drive past the salon so more people know about the business
b) hairdressers that have a salon can charge more.
There’s often an underlying assumption that when you go to a hairdresser who works from home, you would pay significantly less than going to a salon. There’s emotional psychology that is built into these assumptions and much of this is based on social conditioning and that if you have a home office, your business isn’t that big, that successful or that trustworthy...yet!
While we’re talking about having a “professional edge”, how does your email signature look?
Boost the professionalism of your email signature by adding a virtual address. Why? Because it screams credibility and professionalism when your business has a physical address, and this may be important to your potential new clients and customers.
2. You Don’t Have To Use Your Home Address
Do you use a CRM (customer relationship management) tool such as Active Campaign, Drip or Zoho? Or maybe you use Mailchimp to send bulk emails to your customers and clients? If you do, you’ll know that you must provide an address in order to use these services. Why? Again, it comes back to being a credible business.
Many businesses, when starting out, will use their home address to fulfil these requirements. This is not the most effective thing to do because as you grow, more and more people will know where you live. It’s not ideal for privacy and is generally advised against doing so.
Some of these CRM’s won’t allow you to use a P.O Box as your address either, again, for credibility, as anyone can rent a PO Box. So, if #1 hasn’t convinced you to use a virtual address, then this second point certainly should.
3. A P.O Box Can Give The Impression That You’re A Micro Business; A Virtual Address Immediately Changes This
P.O Boxes are great when you’re starting out and they can be a cost-effective option for you not to list your address. They’re also very handy if you’re posting physical products and potentially expecting lots of products to be sent back for exchanges (such as clothing).
But if your business isn’t in the game of posting out physical products and expecting returns, a P.O Box says that you’re a mirco business or a new business. This can also sometimes lead to the assumption that people expect you to charge less for your services and products, especially when living in regional areas.
4. You Can Hire The Boardroom And Meeting Rooms
How long has it been since you’ve popped in and had a look at Platypus? As part of your virtual office membership you get a discount when using the boardroom.
If you’re holding a hybrid meeting of physical and virtual, i.e., people are joining via Zoom, we also have facilities to enable high-quality video calls. This is great if you’ve got people calling in from different locations and time zones. Our boardroom facilities are also one of the most cost-effective options in the region at only $27.50 per hour and $165 per day.
Platypus also has options for open meetings for up to 10 people sitting around a table too and this all adds to the perception that your business is physically bigger than it really is.
5. Google My Business Loves A Physical Address
If you’ve got SEO up and running for your website (and we hope you do) then you will no doubt also have a listing for Google My Business.
When you have a virtual address, you can list this on your Google My Business listing and then when potential customers go to Google your website or business name, they’ll see the physical address of your business pop up. Why is this so important...again it’s all about credibility and professionalism!
The emotional psychology of this works wonders as it immediately tells your potential customers that you have an office, therefore you’re a credible business. You’ll also find that customers will ask for meetings at your office and yes, you can absolutely hold your meetings at Platypus!
6. You Get One Free Coworking Pass Per Month And Mail Storage
While you’re organising your office meetings, why not stay for the day and take the chance to get away from your home-working environment?
With every month that you use our virtual office, you get one complimentary day pass to our coworking space.
So, have your meeting and stay and do some work, or why not organise two or three meetings in one day as opposed to going to different cafes around town? You can also make your visitors tea and coffee too at no extra cost! Not having to drive to different locations and spend money on coffee will also save you money.
There’s great natural light in at Platypus Coworking and it has a great feel to it, which many people comment when they first walk in.
You also receive free mail storage (you can have mail delivered here instead of having it left on your front doorstep at home...great when you order special birthday and Christmas presents online) and you’ll receive an email notification as soon as it arrives!
There are many different businesses that use Platypus as a base for their business so you never know who’ll you’ll meet or where a new business relationship can take you!
If you’d like to take up the offer of our virtual office with one free coworking pass per month, plans start from a low $55 per month! So, what are you waiting for? Give your business the professional and credible boost it deserves and step up to playing a bigger business game.