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Virtual Offices: The Best Solution for Outsourcing
If you own a company and want to dramatically cut costs, your best solution is looking into getting a virtual office. The phrase virtual offices were created by Alf Moufarriage, who was the founder of Servcorp in 1990. It is best described as “everything but the office. A virtual office was first offered to professionals who worked at home.
If you have a home-based business and don’t want your personal address on business correspondence, a virtual office address can gain your business a credible and respected working address. It is also great for business people that travel a lot. Large companies wanting to break into new locations can have a working office address and find a virtual office an excellent option. You can choose a virtual office address to be used on your business cards, stationery, and other business products, and even have your mail collected and signed for.
Solutions provided by having a virtual office include: a live receptionist, real street address, telephone number, answering service for your phones and fax service. A virtual office can also provide meeting and conference rooms, and you can even have your mail forwarded to you. The virtual office solution is an excellent option if you cannot afford expensive office space and furniture or simply want to save money on countless overhead costs. You can choose your virtual setup, with some packages paid by the hour and others offered in group-like options, which include a mailing address, telephone number and a live virtual receptionist.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Have A Conference Wherever You Are
The virtual office solution is the new kid on the block, saving companies thousands if not millions every year in overhead costs. This crafty little conception has transformed the way many businesses handle their day-to-day operations, and is becoming more widely used because of this.
The tasks performed by these new virtual offices are growing limitless and are beginning to mirror those of traditional in-house ones. Arguments can already be made of the efficiency and low operating costs associated with them. But an emerging sector of this bustling exchange is that of conferences, complete with meeting rooms. When you start thinking of the savings of doing business in an online meeting room with clients all over the world, you begin to see just how powerful these types of offices are really becoming.
So what are these meeting rooms” Just think Skype, except a very advanced version of it. Many of these rooms are complete with formal design, conference calling, voice, video, messaging, and even state-of-the-art presentation software to help close any deals. The sky is the limit here.
PROS:
The flexibility alone makes this a viable option. These conferences can be set up anytime and anywhere. Weather you’re in travel, at home, or in your office, you wont’ have to worry about missing a meeting again.
The costs associated with this type of meeting can create enormous savings when you figure in travel expenses, catering, time lost, etc.
CONS:
With many conferences now being available via phone, the excuses to miss those unprepared meetings are dwindling.
And sure, missing out on the free lunches or golf outings by vendors is not much fun. But how many of these are really all that productive anyway”
Times are changing. And even though in-person meetings will always have their place, the virtual office solution has certainly taken a position in businesses today.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
The Virtual Office Solution for Los Angeles Entrepreneurs
If you are a Los Angeles entrepreneur in search of an office for your work, look no further than a Virtual Office Los Angeles provider. A virtual office allows you to reduce traditional office expenses while keeping the professionalism every business needs. A virtual office will service an established building in some of the most prestigious business districts in all of Los Angeles. These offices are top of the line buildings that will give you a real address for your clients while allowing you to save money on a traditional building lease.
Some virtual office solutions allow you to choose from many different features, such as how much telephone assistance you want. If you want an automated answering system or a virtual receptionist answering system, a virtual office can provide what you need, giving you not only a real address for your business, but also real people that are there to help you. Some virtual office businesses also give you shipping benefits such as ship ready prepaid services, which allow you to ship flat-rate prepaid envelopes to any location in the United States with free pickup and no weight limit.
Virtual offices in Los Angeles are amazing buildings that can impress even the pickiest of clients. There is no need to worry about which one spot to set up a business at if you are on the move all the time or are just looking to save money on business expenses. Virtual offices can provide everything your business needs to succeed and flourish into one of the most productive businesses in your industry. A virtual office allows you to put your customers first while saving time and money on a typical office. The benefits of a virtual office greatly outweigh the benefits of a regular business office, with savings in time and money and a worry-free location. If you are an entrepreneur looking for an office for your company, look for a beautiful office space in Los Angeles and start enjoying the amazing benefits it provides.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Why Call Forwarding Services are Priceless
There are many benefits of having a virtual office. There is no expensive overhead, utility bills and staff, which are some of the costly drawbacks of having a traditional office. Being virtual can drastically reduce the operating expenses that some businesses incur by having a standard office space. One of the key benefits of virtual offices is call forwarding.
Call forwarding services with a virtual assistant will give you the luxury of having someone take your calls while you are out of town, on vacation or simply relaxing at home. Virtual Assistants will professionally answer the phone in your company name and write down messages for you. Virtual Assistants, per your request, can also forward urgent calls to a phone number where you want to be contacted. They will also forward mail you receive to your virtual office anywhere you decide you want to receive it.
Having live phone answering services is an affordable option that perfectly sums up the benefits of the virtual office solution. Call forwarding can provide a great advantage over the competition because a lot of business can be lost by someone not being available to take or answer that critical phone call.
Call forwarding services also have options available where you can transfer customers to other employees or partners by adding extensions that are remarkably easy to set up and operate with just the press of a few buttons. Call forwarding services have options that will play music for the customer on the phone while they might be on hold to speak with you. These small things will give your business that professional presence and look without spending too much money to achieve it.
No matter if it is call forwarding services or virtual assistants forwarding your messages, there is no way a business in today’s world can prosper without considering the immense benefits of these very affordable options.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
The Challenges of Starting a Small Business
Starting a business can present numerous but not insurmountable challenges. Becoming knowledgeable through research, learning to heed the advice of successful entrepreneurs, and becoming proactive in all operations will assist small business owners in facing these challenges.
Here are some of the main challenges entrepreneurs face and strategies to effectively deal with them.
- Developing an idea and vision. As Benjamin Franklin once so aptly put it, you must possess the ability to see what others cannot see. Developing a business idea and plan is the first and most important challenge faced by every entrepreneur.
- Raising capital for startup. To overcome the omnipresent challenge of raising capital, you must develop the ability to sell your idea to investors. Note, however, that convincing an investor about something that does not yet exist presents a challenge within itself. You must be persuasive and have a good story backed by a fortified business plan if you wish to attract investors and capitalists.
- Putting together a strong business team. By team, I do not mean employees; I mean a business management team that will meet routinely to brainstorm and discuss the direction of the business, long and short-term goals, and different strategies to expand it. A business team is a vital, yet largely ignored key to raising capital and getting your business on its feet.
- Finding the right employees. Finding ambitious, trustworthy and loyal employees is extremely difficult. Even if you do find individuals who meet your expectations, if they work poorly as a team, it is in vain and will yield nothing but stagnation. Remember, employees are a reflection of your business its values, culture, and ethic. Hire slow and fire fast.
- Overcoming competition. From an outsiders perspective, competition encourages innovation and production of quality products; it’s a benchmark of creativity. Adopting this view, you should embrace competition and use it to stimulate your creative juices, so to speak.
- Unpredictable business challenges and expenses. As the old saying goes, expect the unexpected. If not handled promptly and with care, these can potentially lead to business failure. Some challenges include:
- Lawsuits
- Inability to make payroll
- Unexpected resignation of staff
- Bad customers
- Poor working capital
- Oscillating government policy
- Unpaid bills/taxes
- Keeping up with trends and changes in the industry. Trends can make or break a business. Seasoned entrepreneurs are aware that trends are friends and they swiftly work to adapt to the latest trends in the market. Spotting and then exploiting trends presents a unique challenge business owner must master, and the most successful businesses are the first to twist trends and steer them to their own benefits. Be an industry leader; don’t follow in others footsteps.
The above are several but not all challenges every small business owner must face as they begin their journey as an entrepreneur. Overcoming these challenges is quite literally the difference between success and failure.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Boost Your Home Business with Virtual Office Services
When your business is expanding, it can be pretty hard for one person to do all the necessary tasks to keep that business moving forward. It’s not hard to set up a highly productive work environment in the comfort of your own home, and a lot of people actually prefer to work away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. You’re spending less time in rush hour traffic, more time with your family, and you’re actually getting work done.
However, when you’re looking at expanding your business and hiring a few employees, finding a good office location turns into a necessary hassle that not only takes time out of your day, but completely negates all the perks of working from home. This is why a lot of entrepreneurs and freelance professionals opt for a virtual office service. It completely cuts over-head costs because many of these services offer:
- A physical address for snail mail to get sent to and a 1-800 telephone and fax number.
- Customer services representatives to answers your business calls and chat messages 24/7, known as virtual assistants.
- Redirects any phone call to the sales, accounts & billing, or general inquires department and then sends you an SMS or email about your customer’s call.
- Converts faxes to email, email to fax, and voice messages to email.
- Provides support for teleconferencing with as many people as you want.
- May also provide bookkeeping and general accounting services to help keep your business moving forward.
A virtual office makes it easy for your business to grow and creates a situation wherein you don’t have to deal with labor laws in order to expand. This situation makes it completely ideal for small to medium sized business owners who do not have the time or money for a physical office and who need to focus on the work at hand.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
10 Years Later: A Look at How 911 Changed the Economy
The tragedy of September 11, 2001 was so sudden and devastating that it may be challenging at this point in time to write dispassionately and objectively about its effects on the U.S. economy. Nevertheless, its important to briefly analyze the effects 9/11 had on the economy. The historic attacks on the World Trade Center were the most appalling and debilitating in American history; 2,974 people killed and 24 were still missing as of 2009.
The economic impact of 9/11 sent America into a frenzy, especially after discovering losses of $40 billion in insurance, $14 billion in the private sector, $1.5 billion in state and local government enterprises, $0.7 billion in the US federal government, and $11 billion in the rescue and clean up operations following the attacks.
However, one should not assume that the terrorist attacks hold a direct correlation with the recession America continues to struggle with today. Contrary to popular belief, the recession officially began in the third quarter of 2000, approximately one year before the attacks. America actually embarked on growth during the fourth quarter of 2001, when the anthrax scare arose. This is not to argue that there were no significant economic ramifications from the attacks. Unsurprisingly, the airline and tourism industry suffered major blows following the 9/11 attacks and business confidence was drastically reduced.
Office space is expensive, so people are looking for solutions, like virtual offices, to help fight the added costs. This led to a rise in work-at-home jobs, as people preferred the comfort of their own home to offices and use virtual offices for there remote access thus saving their time and money.
In the end, though, the nation became closer and more unified, and if Americans remember that strength comes through unity, it can get through any crisis and come out on top.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Why Office Rental Space Differs from Area to Area
Setting up a business has always been associated with the rental of office space. As soon as you embark on the adventure of searching for an office space you will realize the perils of it. Renting an office space is an expensive ordeal. Not only is it an expense, it is also an ongoing one, where every month you’re shelling out money for something that may not be as useful to you as you think.
You may wonder why the rent for office spaces differs from area to area. There are various elements that influence the rent for an office space. First and foremost is location. The more upmarket an area is, the more likely will it be that the rent is higher. Fancy areas may seem like a cool place to rent an office, but once the money starts coming out of your pocket it won’t seem so cool anymore.
The size of your office also influences the rent. Large offices are often unnecessarily expensive, but when you need to accommodate a lot you may feel like you have no choice. Some spaces come fully furnished with air-conditioning and the lot. Many offer parking spaces a requirement in this cramped up day and age. But with each and every amenity, the price goes up further and further until the rent is eating into your resources so much that it is an unrequired liability.
If you and your staff are sitting at an office all day, you’re going to need it to be in a convenient area. One where restaurants are nearby, where traffic is not too much, one which is not too far from other industries. All these things need to be taken into consideration when renting an office space, and these are the reasons that the rent for an office space differs from area to area.
But gone are the days where an office must exist in a physical space. Today most transactions and interactions take place through a virtual medium. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs today are working on the move. You’ve got your laptop, you’ve got your phone and you’ve got the internet. All business is taking place through these instruments of technology. Then what’s the point of wasting your important resources on an office space. More importantly, an office space restricts you. It makes you work from one place, and often waste your time traveling from one place to another for meetings and the sort. Why tie yourself down when there are other options available.
The latest, most cutting edge option available is that of a Virtual Office Space. This is an affordable, more efficient alternative in the age of technology. A Virtual Office Space offers you all the benefits of a physical office and more. It allows you to work from wherever you are, without the burden of office rent. With added facilities of virtual receptionists and virtual phone calls, it makes sure you’re always on the top of your game. In today’s age of technology, a virtual office is becoming the ideal solution to all your office related problems.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Get Flexibility at Your Business Through Live Virtual Receptionist
Owning an office space is one of the most expensive aspects of business. The high cost of rental/purchase of land aside, maintenance is another nuisance in itself. While a virtual office space has now become a convenient new idea, the question arises how close to real office can a virtual office space be” Will I be able to manage all the things that I could do at a real office” Will it ‘feel’ as professional?
You might think about all the things that a real office has to offer-what about a receptionist? Well, now you can get a virtual receptionist. But will it be the same? Fact of the matter is- a Virtual Receptionist does everything a real receptionist does and more.
So how does it work? It’s quite simple actually. You are given a personal toll free number which forwards calls to you. This one number connects your voice, fax, and conference calls for easy access. How do you get started? You can either use a default prompt of personalize your greeting and recorded name. Every time you get a voicemail or a fax, you can rest assured that you will be instantly notified.
There is no room for tardiness in any business and you can expect nothing but the best from your Virtual Receptionist. In fact, just to add that extra bit of perfection, your voicemails and faxes also get forwarded to your email account so that you can keep track of every single detail. Make sure you don’t miss out on any important information, and that your virtual office is working for you in every way it can.
For those people who choose to leave you a voicemail, you can call them back with the simple push of a button. In case there is a call that you don’t want to take, you always have call screening to help you filter you calls.
Meetings are an essential part of every business. In today’s world of technology, it is becoming more and more important to accommodate people and companies from around the world into your meeting format, taking into consideration different time zones and what not. Your Virtual Receptionist lets you make conference calls with up to 25 people so that no important client ever has to be left out of the loop.
While choosing a plan for your Virtual Receptionist, make sure you find the one that is most suited to you. Look for the number of Live Minutes and Automated Minutes that is closest to your needs, and make sure the entire packet fits in your budget.
The aim of a Virtual Receptionist is to make your virtual office as efficient and professional as possible. Don’t hesitate to ask question about the plan you have chosen and the services that are offered so that you can have the best virtual receptionist there possibly can be. Look into the details, customize as you go and once you’re set up you won’t have to worry about it ever again.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Virtual office- Low Risk Alternative For Small Business
Renting office space is always a large and worrisome step in the business world. The most successful entrepreneurs have always started out small and then climbed their way up. As any of these fantastic businessmen will tell you, office space has always been an expensive investment that doesnt necessarily give you the right returns, and as time goes by it is getting more and more expensive. Earlier there was no other option but to keep shelling out the dough for it. Today, however, things have changed.
Technology is growing at a never-before rate and you now have the opportunity to get a virtual office space for your upcoming business. The first and most beneficial reason to choose this option is due to its low risk factor. Physical office spaces come with a lot of baggage including lease and rent paperwork, legal tie ups, overheads for electricity, water and what not. More so, with a physical office space you are forced to operate from one place at all times, even if the place is not convenient.
It is only when you start looking into the details of a virtual office space that you will find its many advantages. These days it is proving to be the superior option for most businesses. How else do you get the freedom of running your business from absolutely anywhere in the world” You can board your flight to India knowing full well that your virtual receptionist will handle all your calls while your away giving your clients the information they need, when they need it. You will never have to worry about missing a call, far or email when all of it is delivered to the convenience of your inbox.
The risks in business are unending and you can never be sure as to which one will pay off. Virtual Office Spaces are a low risk investment with benefits that can boost any business on the rise. It is time to change with technology and free yourself from the burdens of physical offices, since you now have a better option.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +