When looking to build your brand one of the areas that you should review is your business address. If you’re running a professional business from a home address for example, are you giving the right impression to your customers and prospects? Could your residential address and mobile answering service be putting off potential clients?
You don’t necessarily need to move to a physical office address in order to give a more professional image. There is another option which will be especially appealing to home based companies who are eager to build a strong, professional imagine but are not yet able to justify the cost of a physical five-day-a-week office. It’s the virtual office.
A virtual office? Well not really, it’s a real office in a real building with real people and it really does cost as little as £4.50 a day. The main difference between the virtual office and the traditional physical office is flexibility and affordability.
Virtual offices are the perfect solution for home based, owner managed businesses or companies needing a small regional office. They provide the perfect route for a risk free, gradual transition from a residential address to that of an established, commercial entity.
The beauty of the virtual office is flexibility allowing you the freedom to choose how and when you work. Virtual office providers generally offer a variety of packages from a just a business address and call answering service to use of hot desks other facilities like meeting rooms. This enables growing companies to benefit from the best of both worlds – completely virtual or a low cost presence in a building on an ad hoc basis.
There are many virtual office providers but I would recommend using a local one as this opens up future options for you as your business grows. Try www.thecorporatepod.com. This is a company based in St Paul’s Square, they run a fantastic Grade II listed building and provide both serviced office and virtual office packages.
If you’re a home based company and you need a professional image, my suggestion is go for a virtual office. It’s a perfect, cost effective way to start the gradual transition from home to office and it will make a real difference to improving your brand.
To find out more about building a brand on a budget or virtual offices call me on 0121 232 4656, email clare@initiatemarketing.co.uk or visit our website at www.initiatemarketing.co.uk.
Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of Birmingham based Initiate Marketing Solutions, a specialist company helping growing Midlands business to realise the benefits of strategic marketing.