Do you have your own home run private business?

Running a private business from your own home can be a great way to earn money without having to pay the expense of having an actual office. But what impact does a lack of a real office have on your business? Do you ever feel like you are missing out on potential sales due to the way your home based business is perceived? Do you feel your business reputation is somehow penalised by its residential address?

In terms of providing a professional appearance to potential customers, there really is no comparison to having your business address in a recognisable business location. Addresses which are based in cities, town centres, retail parks and industrial estates can go a long way to representing your business as an established, professional organisation. But can you afford it? Having to re-locate your business can be a mammoth task and after all, is the risk and the extra rental cost of a real office space definitely going to produce higher profits? You can’t be certain. However, there are other ways of obtaining a professional office space which doesn’t come with the added expense of monthly rental and which doesn’t come with the unnecessary financial risk. In fact, it doesn’t even have to come with an office you need to move into!

By looking online you can find what is known as a virtual office. A virtual office is an office space that you can rent for a small payment each month. This office space is in fact simply a virtual address. For example, if you use plenty of stationary for your business such as letterheads, emails, business cards and signatures etc. Your virtual office address could be used in place of your existing residential address. For a small cost each month all of your new and existing clients and customers will believe your business is located in a premium business area such as London Mayfair or Wimbledon.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to actually re-locate to London and you don’t need to pay an excessive amount either! A virtual office enables businesses such as those that are smaller and run from home to appear as though they are more substantial than they really are. Imagine how much more professional your business can appear by adopting a Mayfair based business address. Any phone calls can be made to a London based phone number and forwarded on to your own private number seamlessly “behind the scenes”. Any mail to your new London based virtual office and your virtual address will then, in turn, be forwarded to your actual private residential address. By paying only a small amount each month your business will operate as it used to, but with a lot more potential. You can also utilise staff in a virtual office if they are trained to answer calls and basic business queries.

In the cut throat business world first impressions count for a lot. If you are trying to attract new customers and new income for your home-run business, don’t run the risk of putting your professionalism and reliability into question by providing a residential address. Even though there should be no issues with where your business and services are operated from, a lot of potential customers are no-doubt influenced by these fickle things. A virtual office address in a professional, well known area can see a massive increase in your custom from new clients and can go a long way to enhancing the way your home-run business is perceived.