Say you work out of your home, or you have an office but it’s not exactly in the prettiest neighborhood, or not in the most glamorous zip code (becaus...
Say you work out of your home,
or you have an office but it’s not exactly in the prettiest neighborhood, or not in the most glamorous zip code (because that’s what you can afford right now). But one day you’d like to move on up and get that office in midtown Manhattan. Not because you’d like a better view, but because having a fancy address can provide your modest business with some added credibility. A corporate address located in Manhattan can put you on another level compared to your mom and pop competitors. So how can you pull this off? The answer could be a temporary or virtual office in New York.
So what’s a virtual office? For a lot of businesses that can’t afford the extremely high rents in Manhattan, one popular option is to use the services of a business center that provides you with not only a Manhattan address, but also some additional office support, which may include a phone system or even temporary office space or conference rooms.
Once you’ve decided whether or not you want to go with a virtual office in New York option, you’ll want to consider a few things, starting with what you think your business might need. Business centers may offer a variety of services and options and it will be important to split what you need versus what you want.
For example, will you ever have a need to be physically located in your Manhattan office? If no, a strictly virtual option will meet your needs. Do you have a phone system or need any remote office staff? You may want to find out all the options available for your needs.
If you will, in fact, need a physical location in a Manhattan office (at least on occasion), business centers that offer temporary office space may have several solutions to meet your specific needs. If, for example, you have important clients that you need to meet with, and you want to impress them with your Manhattan digs, you could have access to a conference room. An option like this will save you an incredible amount of money compared to outright leasing your own office space.
A temporary solution is also ideal if you just need a place to be based out of while you look for your own real estate to purchase or lease. This may alleviate the pressure of finding a place too quickly. A temporary office solution could buy you the time you need to find the right place for the right price, instead of settling for the first place you find.
Another big item you may want to think about if looking at a temporary option is accessibility. What are the hours? Is there support after normal business hours? How difficult is it to book a conference room? Also, what does the office look like? If you’re looking for temporary office space to impress clients, you’ll want to make sure the office space is clean and, if possible, aesthetically pleasing (e.g. marble lobbies, hardwood floors, etc.).
The final point you’ll want to consider when looking for any non-traditional office solution, whether that’s temporary or virtual office in New York, is flexibility. The key word here would be on-demand or scalability. If your business is growing, or if it is seasonal, you’ll need an office provider that can meet your needs so that you don’t have to run around and move your operations every time you add an employee (or downsize for that matter). As you already know, running a business is taxing and time consuming. Using a temporary or virtual solution could be one way to make your life easier and save you some money too.
