Often, when you are in business there is a degree of attachment to physical spaces. Sometimes business owners can feel that they aren’t ‘official’ somehow if they don’t have a physical business space. That can be an office, or a warehouse, or any other physical business space.
The thing is, sometimes to move forward as a business you need to lose that physical commitment and move towards a more virtual setup. Sometimes it can be to save money, other times it can help a business to grow online and go towards a different way of running things.
If you’ve been thinking about potentially moving away from a physical premises for your business, here are 10 signs it is time to bite the bullet and make a switch:
1. You Need, Or Want To Work From Anywhere
Whether you want to become a true digital nomad, or you need to move around to get a better in-person relationship with suppliers, sometimes a business location needs to be fluid. A physical office or warehouse is not suitable for this kind of situation, in which case, a virtual office makes a lot more sense.
2. You’re Short On Cash
Every business needs to save money, and if you’re seeing running costs bleed out through office or warehouse contracts, this is a good sign you need to move things towards a virtual space. If you do have physical inventory, you can use something more affordable like cheap storage in London, where they often have benefits for businesses like 24/7 reception services who can receive deliveries for you. It’s also a lot more flexible and affordable than an office or warehouse contract.
3. Your Team Want To, Or Are Happy To Go Remote
If you don’t have a team, you can immediately move to a virtual office. However, with a team in place you’ll need to reconfigure how everybody gets their jobs done without having a physical place to visit. If they are happy to go remote, though, this process should be really easy. There are many apps and online tools to help teams to work online.
4. You Are Only In It For The Mailing Address
A physical mailing address can be the main reason a business has a physical office. It lets clients know you are legitimate and you have a premises, rather than say working from home, which can suggest your business is in its infancy and may not be established enough to trust at this stage.
Did you know that virtual offices usually provide a physical mailing address for you to use? This means you can maintain your credibility without having to pay out for a physical office.
5. You Want Office Perks Without The Cost
Lots of virtual offices provide extra perks like meeting room access, answering services and more. You don’t need to have a physical office to enjoy these kinds of benefits. Some budget self storage facilities also offer a wide range of benefits, including pick up and drop off services, climate control and even pay-as-you-go electricity inside the units.
6. Your Business Is 100% Online
If your business has been slowly moving online for the last few years (perhaps more rapidly during Covid-19) then you have every reason to move into virtual office territory. There’s no need to use up money on physical office space when you are 100% online, especially when those costs could be used to enhance your online presence, inevitably helping your business to grow.
7. Your Contract Is Up
If you have a long contract for a physical office and that contract is coming to an end this is a natural time to review the situation and perhaps move online. Do you really want or need to commit to a further six months or a year of a physical office space?
8. You’re Looking To Boost Productivity
Work/ life balance for many went up during Covid-19 because there was no commute, no extra hours in a physical office, no pressure to get work done in a certain way. Instead, people were able to relax into work at home, with lots of more time to enjoy with friends and family (rules permitting). This all resulted in better productivity and happiness within many teams, and that can be replicated now by switching to a virtual setup only. Your team can get just as much done without having a physical office, and are likely to do better because they are more relaxed and have a better work/ life balance.
9. You’re Not Really Using Your Office
Perhaps you have cut down on physical office use because of a good virtual setup, or you’re only dipping in and out for client meetings. Either way, if your office is not really being used, it’s very easy to switch to an online system only. You can still have the physical work address and other benefits of a physical office but you’re not wasting time or money on a physical office that you don’t need.
10. You Want To Future-Proof
Many businesses now want to move online to ensure that they are protected against future pandemics and other instances where they may struggle to maintain a physical space. If you’re already looking to future-proof post-pandemic getting rid of your warehouse or office space and switching to cheap self storage in London and virtual offices instead, makes perfect sense.
Are You Ready To Ditch The Physical Office Space?
The 10 signs above suggest that you’re more than ripe for a switch from a physical office space to a more virtual setup. The time is definitely right to make this kind of move, without the urgency of the pandemic forcing you to have to rush. Instead, you can take your time getting things aligned for this new way of working, which will ultimately save you plenty of money, as well as helping you to support your team and maintain a professional image at the same time.
