What’s the difference between ‘real reality’ and ‘virtual reality’? Well, these days, not an awful lot, especially in the world of business. Many businesses are finding that they can just do away with the world of buildings, offices, and even post boxes. And this is having tremendous results for start-ups. Companies that start on a shoestring budget can remain on one far longer than was ever possible in the past. And it’s all down to the fact that they can now outsource a lot of their services into the digital space. In fact, this whole movement is undermining the idea that businesses have to have those big, fixed capital costs. More often than not, they don’t. They can get away with lower overall costs simply by using virtual services.
Virtual Secretary
Most businesses need a secretary of some kind. This is a person who directs calls, introduces you to clients and sends email responses to queries. But many businesses don’t need to hire out their own full-time secretary. They simply don’t create the demand for 35 hours of secretarial work internally.
Usually, they would either have had to hire in somebody part-time, or bite the bullet and hire a full-time secretary outright. But the modern world tends to be awfully good at coming up with win-win situations. Virtual secretaries are one such win-win option for companies. They can use these services to buy just the secretarial services they need. No more, no less. In doing so, they save a lot of money and don’t have to incur the costs of hiring their own new member of staff.
Virtual Mailbox
We might live in the age of email and instant messaging, but physical mail is still going strong. There’s a latent demand for physical mail that just doesn’t want to die.
But it creates its own problems. Email is great because you can access it wherever you want. Physical mail is not so great because you can’t exactly check your physical mailbox while you’re out on the road.
Welcome to the world of virtual mailboxes. The idea here is that you set up a physical address with a virtual mailbox company. All your mail is redirected to the new address. Then that company collects up all your mail and scans it to the computer. It can then be delivered to you, wherever you are via your virtual mailbox on your computer or smartphone.
This is perfect for those who have struggled with RV mail in the past or those on long business trips. Now you can stay up to date, even when you’re not in the office.
Virtual Offices
While we’re at it, let’s take on one of the biggest costs for most businesses: office space. Each year companies pay thousands of dollars renting offices, some even spend hundreds of thousands. But do they need to? More often than not, offices are less than fully utilized. And as a result, companies are wasting money.
Virtual offices are like secretaries in the sense that you only pay for the office services you actually need. Granted, you don’t get access to your own office 24/7. But do you really need this level of service? If you don’t, and only use your offices for a few hours a month, virtual offices have got you covered.
Another trend in the world of offices is called ‘Shared Office Space’ or ‘Share Desk’ where you can book an existing company’s office space or a person’s desk when needed. It is like booking a hotel room but for offices and desks and is great if you conduct business in various cities.
Photo Credits: Pixabay
