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How To Quickly Set Up A Virtual Office

July 2019 –Virtual office space is an effective way to align functionality with affordability. Most companies that rent virtual office space include a prestigious business address and a professional receptionist in the package. Additional facilities such as meeting rooms for hire and access to free business networking events are usually also included.

First Steps To Setting Up A Virtual Office

Although you won’t need a physical office, there are other facilities that you will need to consider, once you have secured your virtual office. You will need to establish how you to interface with your clients and suppliers, as well as what tools you will be using to do this and to run your business.

Since you will not have a visible premises to showcase your products and possibly few, if any, salespeople performing cold-calling for you, it is imperative that your business has an online presence – in the form of a website and relevant social media accounts, as well as regular blog articles,  for marketing purposes.

1 – Set Up Your Website

Your first priority needs to be the creation of a website, after you have registered an appropriate domain name (i.e. www.yourcompany.com) with a professional hosting service. Professional website builders and content creators can also be contacted via online companies such as Fiverr.com, which is an online marketplace advertising freelance services.

2 – Create Your Social Media Platforms

Once your website, with its Search Engine Optimised content, is live you will need to open relevant social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc., to ensure that your company gets noticed.

3 – Blog Articles

Regular blog articles about your products and services or industry news should be utilised to keep search engines coming back to index your site and keep it visible when clients are searching for your company or products and services.

4 – Communicating With Your Clients

Once you have taken care of your online presence, you will need to examine what types of communication tools you will use. There are conferencing apps like Skype for Business or Webex which allow you to hold voice or video conferences with others anywhere in the world – so long as they have an internet connection. WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger are also very popular tools for instant messaging and image sharing. Instagram is a wonderful platform to use if your product has great visual appeal.

5 – Cloud Storage For Data

On-site servers are expensive and external hard drives are limited in their storage capacity and also susceptible to theft or damage – which creates a risk for your data storage. With DropBox, Office 365’s OneDrive or even GoogleDrive, you can store content in the “cloud” and share it quickly and easily with others.

6 – Getting Your Team Together

As previously mentioned, you may have very few employees – especially when you operate a virtual business. You will reach a stage when you need to outsource some of your work to contractors and freelancers to assist you with some of your projects, IT or accounting issues. Using companies such as People Per Hour or Upwork makes this easy as you will not have to bring a full-time employee onto your books, but simply contract work out to them.

Virtual Office Rentals in Johannesburg or Mauritius

If you are looking to rent virtual offices in Johannesburg or Mauritius, you can buy memberships from The Business Exchange. Read here to find out more about these office spaces and their additional services.

You can also contact The Business Exchange, if you require assistance to set up or maintain your website or social media platforms.

 

How to Home Office from a Virtual Office

When you start a new business, one of the first things that you are going to be searching for is office space in a decent location. However your excitement usually fades quickly when you realise that your budget doesn’t allow you that prime location on a busy road and you accept that you may have to operate from your home office for a lot longer than you expected. So why not make use of a Virtual Office and a Virtual Assistant?

virtual office work from homeAt The Business Exchange, we offer a variety of office solutions which includes cost-effective, flexible virtual office space and help from a Virtual Assistant with your daily office tasks.

With one of our Virtual Office Packages, you will have economical access to:

  • Prime office address
  • Expert Reception Service
  • Add-on Virtual Assistant
  • Stylish, modern meeting rooms

How to Impress Clients on a Budget

Costs have to be strictly managed in the early stages of your business. However, that doesn’t mean that you are limited to meeting clients in coffee shops or from your home office. Even if you are renting a virtual office from us, you will still have access to our fully -equipped meeting rooms at one of our business centres.

Our business centres, which are located in the upmarket areas of Morningside, Rivonia, Sandton and Midrand, allow you to hold private meetings, conferences, presentations or provide training in a professional environment.

How can Virtual Office Space save me money?

By renting virtual office space, entrepreneurs gain all the benefits of a professional office setup, yet without the actual physical facility – enabling you to work from virtually anywhere, without the expensive overheads of office rentals, maintenance, cleaning, etc.

How can a Virtual Assistant save me money?

A Virtual Assistant can help you with the many different daily, and sometimes repetitive, tasks in a very cost-effective manner – as you only pay for the time that you use the assistant. You do not need to provide them with many of the perks that a full-time assistant will require. Office space, office equipment, leave, etc. are all taken care of by The Business Exchange, as well as financial and labour issues.

Other Benefits of Virtual Office Space

With no start-up costs or exorbitant rentals, this virtual office space concept is extremely popular with young businesses.

Each virtual office “tenant” receives a dedicated phone number, answered in your business name by a highly professional receptionist, who will direct your business calls to whichever number you choose, so that you never miss an important call.

You will be able to use our physical street address on your business stationery, to improve the professional image of your business.

Should you need to schedule a meeting with your clients, our modern and stylish meeting rooms, with video conferencing facilities, are available to you at an hourly rate – and you only pay for the time you need it.

Flexible Lease Periods

With, our flexible lease periods from one month and up, you will easily be able to assess if a longer lease is worth your stay or not.

Contact The Business Exchange to find out how we can help you to set up your own virtual office space and how our Virtual Assistant can help you to improve your focus on your core business

BOOK A VIEWING

Contact us to setup a meeting with one of our office managers, view our offices and to secure your office space at The Business Exchange.

The Rise Of The Virtual Office

Office desk with headset laying on keyboard. Call center table. View with copy space

A practice that is gaining popularity with many young entrepreneurs is the use of a virtual office or “hot-desk” which besides being a cost-effective way of gaining stylish office space in a prestigious location, also has a number of other benefits.

The use of virtual office space is an improvement on sitting alone in a dark corner of a coffee shop because it enables entrepreneurs to stay motivated, connected, inspired and to build contacts.

flexible workspace at the business exchangeWho Uses A Virtual Office?

Virtual office space is particularly suited to those people who do not require a full-time office or who perhaps work from home or who are on the road a vast majority of the time.

Creative people in particular love the virtual office concept as it keeps their creative juices flowing when they have the chance to constantly engage with new people – rather than being secluded to their own impersonal office cubicle.

What Is Provided For Me At A Virtual Office?

In a virtual office at The Business Exchange, you will be provided with a desk, chair, dustbin and access to high-speed Wi-Fi through a fibre optic network. You will also have the opportunity to use fully equipped meeting rooms which are rented out on an hourly basis, should you need a professional meeting space. You are permitted to use the business address of our virtual office on all your office stationery to create a more professional impression of your business.

A dedicated telephone number is supplied to you, which is answered and routed by our professional receptionist. All you need to bring with you is your laptop.

Optional Virtual Assistant

The Business Exchange provides you with the optional additional services of a Virtual Assistant who is able to help you with a number of daily office-related chores. The benefits of using a Virtual Assistant from The Business Exchange is that you don’t have to worry about salary, labour issues, leave, etc. All this is taken care of by The Business Exchange.

A Choice Of Virtual Office Space Packages

We have a number of different virtual office space packages to suit your needs, which also include;

  • NO set-up fees.
  • Flexible, monthly lease options.
  • Secure parking.
  • A professionally-staffed reception and welcome area.
  • Digital billboard advertising on Rivonia Road.
  • Free tea and coffee.
  • Invitations to on-site networking events.
  • Access to digital marketing services.
  • Free events space.

If you are not yet convinced, then have a look at our article on Why Small Business Should Be Sharing Office Space or better yet, pop into one of our offices in Morningside or Rivonia and see for yourself. (Sandton and Midrand offices coming soon).

 

BOOK A VIEWING

Contact us to setup a meeting with one of our office managers, view our offices and to secure your office space at The Business Exchange.

Why You Need A Virtual Assistant

Office desk with headset laying on keyboard. Call center table. View with copy space

February 2016 – Has your small business grown to such an extent that 24 hours in a day is just not enough to get all your tasks done? If so, then now may be a good time to consider hiring a Virtual Assistant.

A Virtual Assistant will Improve your Time Management

As an entrepreneur of a growing business, you will probably find yourself fulfilling many different roles; CEO, Financial Manager, Sales Manager, Secretary, Receptionist. A Virtual Assistant is somebody who is able to structure your days so that you are able to focus on your core tasks and meet your deadlines without dropping the ball. They are able to work around your tight schedule, including after hours – and you only pay for the time they spend helping you.

A Virtual Assistant is Cost-Effective

Hiring a Virtual Assistant is extremely cost-effective as you do not need to provide them with a fixed office or office equipment and stationery; they have their own. In addition, they reduce your labour costs as they function as independent contractors, minimising your stress about taxes, sick leave, labour legislation, etc.

A Virtual Assistant has Specialised Skills

Virtual Assistants may also have a set of skills which you do not have time to learn and can fulfil a number of different tasks to ensure that you maintain a work-life balance by outsourcing time-consuming and repetitive tasks such as;

  • Receptionist duties
  • Answering customer service emails
  • Data capturing
  • Updating contact list
  • Tracking deliverables

In addition, a more experienced Virtual Assistant will also be able to assist with some or all of these functions:

  • Appointment making and effective diary management
  • Email management
  • Reminder services
  • Creating and managing spread sheets
  • Preparing PowerPoint presentations
  • Preparing speeches
  • PDF conversions
  • Preparing Agendas and Minutes
  • Creating document templates
  • Basic bookkeeping function
  • Training material preparation
  • Travel arrangements
  • Deliveries and collections
  • Personal errands

Specialised skills of a Virtual Assistant may also include the following services;

  • Content writing for all types of business documentation
  • Proof-reading and editing skills to ensure professional documentation
  • SEO Writing
  • Press Release writing
  • Copywriting
  • Newsletter writing and compilation
  • Social media management
  • Online file storage
  • Online research
  • Email marketing
  • Designing logos, ad banners, infographics
  • Designing websites
  • Website management
  • Site analysis
  • Keyword research
  • Online competitor analysis

The Business Exchange has seen a need for the services of a Virtual Assistant with its tenants and is now able to offer this additional benefit in a variety of packages priced from R500.

Just another way that The Business Exchange looks after its tenants.

Call or e-mail us to find out how, as a tenant of the Business Exchange, we can assist you to grow your business.

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