In today’s business world, nearly every company out there is taking part in some sort of green initiative. Major corporations are spending millions of dollars each year on programs to reduce their environmental footprint. Becoming environmentally friendly is not just a goal of large businesses – many small companies are also looking for ways to reduce their impact. One option that should be explored by any small business or startup is the virtual office. Virtual offices are located in nearly every large city in the world, and your company does not even need to be located there to rent space from one. These offices provide you with a number of benefits such as mail receiving and scanning (or forwarding), secretary services and even rentable meeting space if you need.
These virtual offices are generally much cheaper than traditional offices because of their design. While not right for every business, they can be a convenient, money saving option for some. For small businesses focused on increasing green initiatives, a virtual office has a number of benefits.
Reduced Resource Consumption through Shared Space
Compared to utilizing a traditional office, virtual offices use just a fraction of the resources. Thanks to the fact that a virtual office’s physical location can be shared amongst numerous other small businesses, the usage of all of the electric, water and other resources are significantly decreased. The most companies that use the virtual office, the more its impact will shrink. While no space is allocated to each company, there is still space that your small business can use if needed. Generally, these areas are rented per hour or per day, and can include common work areas, personal offices and meeting rooms. For green companies, this makes virtual offices a practical option while still reducing consumption.
Cut Down on Transportation Emissions by Remotely Working
If your business is one in which it is feasible to work remotely from an office, then virtual offices make perfect sense. They provide most of the other amenities that one would find in a traditional office, apart from the physical workspace. By avoiding unnecessary traveling for any number of employees would help reduce the carbon footprint left by the drives.
The services offered by virtual offices are numerous, including:
- Secretaries to handle and forward calls directly.
- Complex automated systems for messaging or caller routing.
- A physical address for mail and packages.
- Scanning of mail or forwarding to you if you desire.
Because of these benefits, companies which can work independently from a full-time office space can enjoy most of the benefits of a traditional office for a fraction of the price each month.
Virtual Offices’ Encourage More Electronic Communication
By not being in the same office with your employees or co-workers, it encourages more electronic communication. With the ease of contacting each other in today’s world, it makes little sense to print out paperwork and memos in order to transfer them around the company when e-mailing and services like Dropbox are much simpler if you’re not in the same physical location. Virtual offices help a company maintain its green-friendly goals by making it much more likely for the electronic communication of documents and other paperwork to be used.
As I stated before, virtual offices aren’t for everyone. Companies who need a dedicated office location to stay motivated or businesses who constantly need to meet with clients or suppliers in their own space may not be a good fit for virtual offices. Small companies who are able to operate independently from a central office, however, are great candidates for this type of rental arrangement. Not only will they save you money, but they will also help keep your company on track with its environmentally friendly goals.
Stefan Loewer is a business consultant and writes for virtual offices by pbcenters.com a leading provider of any kind of office space including virtual offices which can help make the world and your business greener.
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