Virtual Office Virtual Offices Virtual Office Space

As we usher in 2009, many of my clients are beginning to weigh the pros/cons of moving out of their home offices and into a “real” office space for their business.  For many of these clients, a virtual office would be a better fit for their needs, however, some still do need a permanent operations headquarters that is their own.  Here are some of the benefits of utilizing a virtual office:

• Not having to battle through traffic every day to commute to and from your office space.
• Monetary benefits from savings in gas, wear and tear on your car, business clothing, and lunches out
• Reduced stress (always a good thing)
• Increased opportunities to hire part-time or contract workers

On top of those benefits to you, a virtual office can also offer:

• A prestigious office address you may not be able to otherwise afford– not just a P.O. Box but a permanent address for your business at an office building.
• Professional reception service, without renting a physical office. That means someone will be there to greet your guests for business meetings.
• Meeting and conference rooms that you can use as needed without having to rent out office space full-time.
• All the amenities of a larger office, including fax machines, break rooms, copiers, and other services.
• Mail and package pickup and delivery – you no longer have to rearrange your schedule so you don’t miss the UPS truck.
• Mail Forwarding / Shipping Services

All in all, virtual offices provide a professional presence in a commercial environment, for a fraction of the cost of a permanent office space.  Not a bad deal for small entrepreneurs…

As the holidays approach, many businesses stay open on December 24th, and 26th, even though these are not truly busy working days.  If your company is staying open, one of the best things you can do on these days is to take advantage of the slow days by running your spring cleaning a few months early.

Here are some tips to help you clean up and get organized this holiday season.

• Sort and file all your old paperwork.  If you have files that are not in use or have not been in use for over 30 days, if is time to find them a home.  Start a short-term filing system that will help you stay organized into the new year.
• Move out all of your technology (i.e. phones, computers, laptops, scanners, etc) and wipe down all of your surfaces.  You will be surprised how much dust and dirt collects under all your devices, and if not cleaned properly, it can actually hurt your equipment.
• Clean out your computer files.  Go through all of the files on your computer or laptop and see what can be deleted or filed.  One option is to purchase an external hard drive for your computer - it acts like a digital storage device for computer files.

By cleaning out your office now, instead of waiting until the spring, you can start your year off fresh and clean, and prepared for new business.   Good luck, and Happy Holidays!

I am very excited!  One of my favorite business authors, David Allen, is coming out with his third book, “Making It All Work,” a book that takes his popular “Getting Things Done” model to the next level.  This new book focuses on helping people who fall victim to common organizational “syndromes,” such as the micro-manager, or the person who just does what is necessary to slide by, by offering a full-fledged road map for processing life and work in tandem.

Fast Company calls David “one of the most influential thinkers on productivity,” for his innovative steps to help us excel in dealing with our daily commitments, the unexpected, and the information overload that threatens to drown us.   This new book addresses the following key points:

• How to figure out where you are in life and what you need to succeed
• How to be your own consultant and the CEO of your life
• How to Move from hope to trust in decision-making
• When not to set goals
• Harnessing intuition,spontaneity, and serendipity
• And lastly, why life is like business and business is like life.

David’s last book, “Getting Things Done” has become a international hit, with his system being implemented in many Fortune 500 companies today.  I am excited to read this new book, and once I am finished I will come back to give you all a summary of what has been learned.

With budgets being tight all across corporate America, more and more businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and stay afloat.  One surprising way to save on your budget is to incorporate a little bit “greener” of a work lifestyle into your business.  Going green can save you money, and help promote your business, as more and more customers are turning to environmentally friendly companies.  Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Use environmentally friendly light bulbs at your office.  Energy Star-rated light bulbs and fixtures use two-thirds less energy than regular lighting.
• To help cut down on overall energy use, install timers or motion sensors that automatically shut off lights or electronic equipment when they’re not needed.
• Print on both sides of the paper whenever necessary, buy recyclable printer paper, and before you print, ask yourself “could I read this online?” instead.
• Lastly, purchase recyclable office supplies and furniture.  There are a ton of great options available out there that are still design savvy and .

I was looking online this morning and I found a statistics website that lists out the average cost of office spaces in California and Oregon.  On average, businesses are paying anywhere between $1.57 - $2.09 per sq. foot, per month, so a business operates in a 1,900 sq. foot office (like my own) you would be paying on average anywhere from $2,983 - $3,971 per month on office rent, and that is for a relatively small office.  Wow!  That is a lot of money to spend each month, not to mention the utility bill, insurance costs, and other operational costs that come with running an office.

One alternative to running a physical office, is to open up a Virtual Office, an online service that gives businesses an “office” with all of the necessary equipment and services when they need it without the hassles of actually running an office full time.  With a virtual office, you can work from home or on the road, and then use the office space for client or business meetings.

Some of the benefits that a virtual office provide includes:

• Use of a prestigious office address, not just a P.O. Box, but a permanent address for your business at an office building.
• Professional receptionist services
• Conference rooms for meeting with clients
• Standard office amenities (i.e. fax machines, break rooms, copiers, and other services0
• Mail and package pickup and delivery, and forwarding services

At the end of the day it is important to understand what is critical to spend money on, and where you can save a little bit.  If you can pull back on your operating costs, you can allocate that money elsewhere, potentially to a business-driving budget instead.

As the end of the year draws closer, I find myself preparing for 2009 (getting organized, cleaning up my files, setting all my travel dates and accommodations for the first quarter of next year, etc.)  What I am realizing, is that I am going to be on the road quite a bit from January to March, visiting clients and speaking at various conferences and events.  I am going to running non-stop for three months, and one of the problems this causes is I will be struggling to not fall behind in my basic business admin duties (i.e. payroll, taxes, benefits or insurance, paying bills, etc).

To solve this problem, I am contemplating hiring on a “Virtual” Assistant to help manage my administrative load.  A Virtual assistant is just what the name applies, they assist small businesses by offering many of the administrative services of a larger company, including:

• Creative services
• Managerial services
• Technical services
• Business services
• Office/Administrative services
• Personal support services

One of the things that I find the most helpful, is that by using a virtual assistant, I can provide their services to my clients anywhere in the world.  It can really come in handy!

Have you ever used a virtual assistant?  Share your success stories by sending me a comment!

One big topic the news is talking about lately is the possibility of another automobile bailout.  With times being hard right now, many automobile companies are petitioning congress to appropriate $25 billion in low cost loans authorized in last December’s energy bill.  On top of that, three key players in the industry are petitioning for an additional $25 billion in low interest loans. Currently, a democrat committee is working  on a legislation from will cut away from the $700 billion Wall Street Bailout to for loans to the auto companies, in exchange for government ownership shares in each company.    There are two schools of thought on this matter.  One is that the government shouldn’t help these companies because America is a capitalist society, where the consumer dictates which companies rise and fall, based off of the quality of a company’s products/services, and the way a company manages itself.  The other opinion is that these companies provide valuable jobs for U.S. citizens, and fuels consumer spending, and there for the government should bail them out for the good of the nation.  What is your opinion?  As a small business owner/member?

After polling members of the small business community about what the hardest thing about business travel was, I was a little surprised by the answers. What I found was that no matter the industry, the concerns revolved around one similar topic: Not having an office or around to help them stay organized while they are on the road.

Here are a few of the responses:

• “Scheduling the trip is always a pain.”
• “Keeping myself organized while I am away has always been a challenge.”
• “Expense reports – I hate submitting them.”
• “Setting appointments with clients that have to take place away from my “turf.””
• “Not being “connected” for hours at a time.”
• “Not having an office to work out of.”
• “Having to schedule meetings on the road.”
• “Attempting to work out of airports.”
• “Remembering to bring the right technology with me.

Do you have other travel hardships you would like to share or do you have a potential solution to the list above? Leave a comment, I would love to hear them!

One thing that a lot of small business owners combat every day is the size and reach of their company. In general, small businesses can seem to lack the credibility that large corporations have, even though they usually provide superior service quality & customer dedication. One way to combat this negative stereotype, is to “cast a big shadow” in your industry; make yourself appear larger than life.

In the past, companies I have worked for have done this by opening up virtual offices in cities across the country, located around their key clientele, or potential opportunities. As a result, instead of showing only one location on their website or business cards, they could now boast that they had locations across the country, which made them look like a larger company than they really are.

If you are considering using this technique to help grow your reputation and company reach, here are two things to remember.

• Choose your location strategically. First, determine the type of customer you would like to target or promote your services to. Then, review the top cities where your customers reside and choose the right fit for you. For example, if you are an entertainment-marketing consultant, New York City or Los Angeles are both great options for a virtual office.

• Once you have your location chosen, choose your virtual office carefully. Most vendors offer an array of , like answering and call forwarding services from live receptionists, meeting spaces, conference rooms and all of the amenities of a full office without the day to day operations hassle.

Casting a big shadow is a technique that can help small businesses increase their geographic reach, and change the way they are viewed by both customers and competitors. When done properly, it can be a great option to expand your business, provide better customer service to your current clients, and help push your company in to the league of “big” businesses.

Every day,  around the world stand up in front of potential investors and company shareholders to present their ideas and fight for an opportunity to succeed. Some of them are skilled presenters, who do not get nervous in front of a crowd, but the honest truth is that many entrepreneurs struggle with skill.

You usually only get one chance to pitch your idea or product, so here are some tips to help keep things running smoothly:

• Don’t memorize your presentation. Now don’t get me wrong here, you need to know what you are talking about, just don’t sound like you have rehearsed the lines over and over the night before.
• Try having a controlled conversation with your audience. Engaging them in the presentation will keep their attention focused, and help relax their defensive barriers.
• Use the power of storytelling to help reach your audience. Successful politicians are known for this technique. Integrating stories into your presentation helps put the message into context for your audience, and helps them see things from your perspective. Stories are a great complimentary piece to use when reviewing a large amount of data. A story that takes fifteen seconds to tell can replace tons of dry research data, and get the same message to your audience.
• Have all of your technology lined up ready to go, and don’t underestimate the need for back-up cables, connectors, or the ever-handy memory card to transfer files on to if necessary. You never know when your computer will go dark, and you may need to have a backup copy of the presentation handy.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. No presentation is ever going to be 100% perfect. Slide transitions will go wrong, you will forget a talking point now and then, but don’t let it show to your audience. Breathe, take a few seconds to re-group if necessary, and then confidently move on.

By following these five tips, entrepreneurs around the country can improve their presentations, and increase their chances of success. Stay confident, remember to breathe, know your material, and soon, you will be ready take the boardroom by storm.