If you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer, one of the primary challenges you’ve probably faced is establishing a “real office” for yourself and your business.
On one hand, you want clients and potential partners to see you as being credible and “the real deal”; but commercial real estate costs aren’t exactly cheap (especially in New York), and working from home in pajamas doesn’t exactly leave the most professional impression.
So you’re left with a couple options:
Virtual Office
Technology these days has made it thoroughly possible to launch and start a successful business solely through the internet. Today’s top talent is more attracted to positions with flexible schedule policies and remote working capabilities, understandably so.
Virtual office employees have the option to work where they want and even travel while working. Regardless of location, remote workers stay on track and perform important tasks with the same computing power they would have in a traditional brick and mortar office. In fact, virtual teams become more productive by alleviating the dreaded hassle of an infamous NY city commute, while having an easier time juggling work-life balance.
For a business address, you can rent a PO, box, or use a CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency) mailbox service that provides a corporate address and a suite number. Both of these options have the drawback of requiring you to go somewhere that’s not actually your office, to pick up your mail. Post office boxes have the added disadvantage of not allowing you to receive packages because couriers won’t deliver to a P.O. box.
Hot Desk
Depending on what type of virtual business you’re operating, you may also need a physical office in addition to an address – to host meetings, client presentations, and company events. If this sounds like you, consider renting out a hot desk or office in a coworking space—which gives you the option of daily, weekly, or monthly flexible office space for a simple fee.
A hot desk in a different business’s office or a coworking space is a real desk in a real office at a real business address. You can meet clients there, hold team meetings, conferences, and you’ll be seen as a bona fide, legit business on paper with an office address.
Aside from the professional appearance to your prospective clients, renting a hot desk or office in a coworking space means you have less to worry about when it comes to office resources. Take advantage of the community office infrastructure, such as a reliable internet connection, printing, and even networking opportunities.
