Virtual Offices - A Way To Starting Your Own Business On Budget

Whoever said that starting a business should be putting in a large sum of money. The first thing you should think about when you are starting on your own is how to cut as much cost as possible on the non crucial things and pump in all your investment and development dollars into the important bits of the business framework.

That is management 101 – the very first thing anyone with a an idea and a means to make it happen should know about is to draw up a corporate plan that ensures every dollar is spent wisely. Money management is the foundation that will build the pyramids and help you reach for the sun. Don’t be foolish – this is the digital age, the age of the virtual office worker, the age of the dot com explosion – and you shouldn’t be left behind. Take a look at your business paradigm, and think whether you actually need to have a solid, physical base of operations. Unless you are in manufacturing or distribution, one of the mistakes of many new business is that they don’t realise that they can move their business online and save thousands of dollars a month not paying rental. The start-up costs alone for setting up even the smallest of business (5 – 15people) can be said to be crippling and can set corporate targets back a few months.

The money that you had originally set aside to pay for setting up the office can be used as a sort of risk capital that should be kept in case of emergencies. If there is a need to pump in more money for the business, or even when you want to downsize, you won’t be floundering around difficult contracts when you need to liquidate your resources and move your business base of operations or start a new direction for the business. The idea of a virtual office is not just an idea that saves you money, it keeps your business free floating, which means that directions can be changes and strategies can be revamped.

The one situation you do not want to be stuck in is setting up your beautiful office and 6 months down the road, you realise that the market is shifting and investments should go elsewhere. If this means an office downsize, or a relocation  or even moving operations offline  - you don’t have to grapple with a difficult landlord, paying the default on your mortgage or rental agreement, rewiring and explaining the move to your client base. Virtual is fluid and fluid means keeping your business afloat.

Most governments in most countries have set up economic laws which make it easier for business to virtualize – although they can get a picky about taxes. The hassle ends there, some paperwork and approval and once you have the first step out of the door, the road to success will get that much clearer. Virtual Offices are a new way of starting your own business, without buring a big hole in your pocket.