With London’s rents being at their lowest in a couple years, Londoners who choose to brave the daily commute are still wary about committing to a protracted lease. For young entrepreneurs, particularly, working in London is not as nearly exciting as they thought it would be because the pay may below, but the cost of office space is still more than their meagre salaries can afford. While there are several avenues businesses can take, in this economic environment, many are choosing to adopt alternative office formats. This is often the case for numerous startups in London and the wider UK.
In major cities like London, rents are going to be high regardless of where the office is located. Add in traffic snarls, and working in one of the most historic cities can be a bit of a drag. The virtual office, though, will allow you to manage your business from any location in the country while retaining your London address. A virtual office in London can fit out your business with all of the major technologies needed to run a business while allowing you to reserve space on an as-needed basis.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways the virtual office can be a great fit for your London business and help you to take your operations to the next level.
Cost-Effectiveness
The virtual office can benefit your business by providing you inexpensive access to an internet provider and some of the standard office equipment needed to run your business. Really great providers can provide you with support staff that can take calls when you are away from the office, or at least a messaging system where clients can leave calls. In addition, these providers can fit out your office with world-class software that will allow you to safely conduct business in an online format. Ultimately, your cost-savings is in terms of not having to pay unnecessarily for services that you might not need, and this is especially great for businesses with small budgets.
Online Business Management Tools
Also, very integral to managing a virtual office is having a system to manage the activities of your employees. This software should allow your business to effectively manage payments to contractors, and more importantly, allow you to track earnings. Your employees should be able to communicate with you through a messaging system, should be able to submit work to Dropbox, and should be able to access some record of payments made to them for work they completed.
While file sharing and other apps are great, you want to house a lot of the functions of your business in one place for storage and tracking purposes. In essence, an online management system moves your physical office into the online landscape. Regardless of where your employees are in the world, they can function in the same way they would in a physical office.
Backup And Storage Solutions for Businesses
The leasing company is responsible for providing your company with a safe way to access the internet, but even so, you should make it a priority to ensure that your files are safe and encrypted with professional grade software. While this might seem like common sense, having a system to backup and store files is a must, especially if your business involves sensitive data. No one likes lost information, but in case something goes missing, you have the information in another place.
System For Hiring Employees
When moving into an online format, employees should consider developing a method by which they recruit and hire employees. While there are numerous sites online that you can access, setting up a system where candidates can submit information is one way to easily find top talent from the world. Essentially, while your office is in the online format, it is still an office, and you will find a structured method of hiring top talent can streamline this process, making your work easier.
Traversing The Online Wilderness
Businesses adopting the virtual office will find that really it can be a more organised, effective way to manage work forces. By essentially finding software that can help you function in a physical office, you provide structure to this online infrastructure. In the process, you save time and money.
