It doesn’t have to be packaged nicely with a ribbon for it to be considered a gift. And, if you’re a small business you may be giving business to your competitors without even realizing it – Merry Christmas to them!. If you’re running a small business, chances are that the majority of your workday is spent running the business. But if you can’t be there to take the call, we bet your competition will. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a receptionist who was there when you needed him/her? Well, stop wondering and get your own virtual receptionist.
It’s so simple. How it works is that your virtual receptionist will answer all your calls professionally and promptly. You can choose to send calls to your virtual receptionist as often or as seldom as needed. Your virtual receptionist will take a message for you, and then forward the message to you by either email, or text message right to your phone. Virtual receptionists are a great way to capture that business that you might otherwise lose while you’re away from your desk.
So many small businesses are discovering that virtual receptionists are an ideal solution for fielding after-hours business calls. Your virtual receptionist won’t mind working late and you’ll appreciate the potential new business.
Virtual Receptionist Tip: Did you know that a recent study showed that nearly 70% of people who call to enquire about a business service will not leave a message if they encounter voicemail—this isn’t an issue when you’ve got your virtual receptionist manning the phones.
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Are You Giving Business Away?
What Are Your Indispensable Business Tools?
When you hand out your business cards with contact information on them, rather than the number on the cards going directly to your cell phone (and you have to figure out in a split second before answering: is this business or is this personal?), it’ll instead go through your virtual assistant, who can very often handle the call for you.
What is this virtual assistant we’re talking about? We like ot think of them as just as revolutionary and indispensable business tools as the fax machine, email, Instant Messaging, and cell phones/Blackberries.
Even if you work from a virtual office space, your virtual assistant can hold down a home office for you. Virtual assistants can also take care of business-specific tasks. For instance, if you are a real estate agent and have a househunting client who changes his mind every other day about what he’s looking for, your virtual assistant could pull possible house listings and comps for you, while you’re in-between showings.
Many virtual assistants can be hired on an as-needed basis, so that if your business has a “busy season,” you could easily keep a virtual assistant busy for that timeframe and then transition back to running a solo show when the busy season is over. But we have a feeling that once you try and get used to having a VA to help you, you’ll decide to rethink the DIY approach.
Virtual Assistants Tip: Just as with a “real” assistant that any executive would hire, a virtual assistant often has a myriad of business skills that can be extremely beneficial to a small company.
What Are Your Standards?
A standard is an established norm or requirement. A de facto standard is a standard (formal or informal) that has achieved a dominant and accepted position.
Virtual Offices May Offer Tax Benefits For Your Business
Let’s talk about legal matters and your business. Small businesses considering opening virtual offices may need to also factor in a number of legal issues, particularly if it is decided that employees will work from home.
To begin with, you’ll need to look into the zoning for your or your employees’ homes if you are planning on operating virtual offices through homes. Are they in an area zoned for business? What type of business can you operate from your home? Check out your local zoning ordinances to make sure you don’t have to get any special permits or licensing, or have any restrictions on what you can do from your home.
Another important legal business issue has to do with taxes. If you want to claim your virtual office as a home office, the Internal Revenue Service has tightened the restrictions to the point that you can’t use that space for anything other than your work. So, if you’re working from a table in your breakfast nook then you may not be able to claim a home office deduction. There are some exceptions, so we strongly recommend that a tax accountant or attorney is consulted regarding the law as it pertains to your situation.
Virtual Offices Tip: Your virtual offices can succeed and help foster future virtual businesses through good planning, communication, and outside technical support when needed.
Consider All The Choices Before Signing An Office Lease
So you think you’ve got it all in the bag, huh? You’ve got a fantastic business plan, ample financial backing, a couple of great employees signed on, and a list of potential clients a mile long, but one thing you haven’t yet sorted out about your new small business is the Where. In other words, where should the office space be?
This situation has sunk many businesses before they even get a chance to get off the ground; it’s a veritable minefield of troubles! You could underestimate your business’ space needs and only discover the mistake after signing a costly corporate lease agreement. Equally as damaging could be overestimating your business’ space needs, resulting in wasted office space and high utility bills for heating and cooling an extra ten offices that you wouldn’t be needing for at least five years. Virtual office space could be the ideal solution to the problem.
Instead of getting your company into a long-term lease agreement for the wrong space in the wrong location, you could instead take advantage of the numerous and flexible virtual office plans. In a few months, when you and your company have a better idea of its office space needs, however, don’t be surprised if your employees vote to stay in their virtual office space over moving to a swanky set of offices in a high-rise office building in the city!
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