Get Virtual:

Ever heard the line ‘presentation is everything’? Well, it’s true. If you want to be taken seriously as an entrepreneur who means business, you need to look the part. And that is not limited to dressing well. Even bootstrappers can get a corporate boost by having an official identity. That would mean getting an office in a central business district… and a secretary, perhaps?

Right about now, you’re probably saying: “Is this guy crazy? That stuff costs hard cash—and loads of it! No bootstrapper would be able to afford that, especially in super expensive cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.”

True, again. But what if I told you that you could get it all at a fraction of the cost, thanks to the concept of virtual offices—a boon to all entrepreneurs who don’t have the moolah for a 24/7 office space, but crave for the credibility that comes with it. In India, this concept is relatively new, but it’s fast catching favor in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As part of a virtual office package, which you can buy from a service provider, you get to use an office address in a major business area on your business cards or letterheads, have a professional receptionist take your calls, and get all your snail mail collected and forwarded to you. All that can start for as low as Rs. 2,000 per month.

What all do you get?

A typical virtual office package offers you all the services in which a physical human interface is not needed. So, you’d get a local business telephone number, which will be answered by a trained bilingual receptionist. If you wish, all your calls can be transferred to a home number or even your mobile number. Yes, you can be at work even while in your bedroom.

In addition, you can advice the receptionist to reject certain unwanted calls. Post working hours, your number will be answered by a voicemail service, which you can access at anytime by phone or e-mail. Some packages also include a fax number. The service provider will collect your faxes and forward to you as and when necessary.

You would also get an office address in a very prominent and central business district, like the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai and Nehru Place in Delhi. You can emboss this address on your business cards and collateral such as letterheads and invoices. The staff at the location will also collect any mail, documents, couriers you receive and forward it across to you.

Depending on how much you can shell out, you could also book and confirm meeting rooms, boardrooms and office suites at your swanky office location—just in case you need to have an actual meeting with someone. This might be over and above your package costs, but will be at a discounted rate. You could also head to the office to use its plug-n-play hotdesks. Most service providers also throw in the facility to book rooms and suites abroad, too.

Cost-effectiveness

Since virtual offices work on a sharing basis, they tend to be more than 40 percent cheaper than owning a real office at the same location. In addition, virtual offices work on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, which gives you complete freedom to cancel your package whenever you want. Also, if you have your own office, you tend to fit it out, which can cost you some serious bucks. Plus, costs for the receptionist, support staff, communications, and incidentals alone usually exceed Rs. 1 lakh, at a minimum. In comparison, if you take a monthly virtual office package at say Mumbai’s BKC complex, you’d end up paying no more than Rs. 30,000 per month, even if you have numerous meetings with clients.

What entrepreneurs think

I spoke with a few entrepreneurs about why they chose a virtual office instead of a home office or a small, rented one. What emerged were the real life benefits of a virtual office—and there were plenty.

“The rent at my Lower Parel office was astronomical, and the place was really bad,” says an entrepreneur, who now has a virtual office service operating for him out of Bandra. “This was a step up [for my business] in the terms of location, and a step down in terms of costs. When I have to meet clients, I book well in advance for meeting rooms or lounges. Otherwise, I am basically working from my study at home.”

Another Delhi-based entrepreneur who works in the financial services sector said what he likes about the service is that he doesn’t have to deal with administrative and technical hang-ups. “This place [his virtual office] is very classy and well-maintained. My clients are always impressed by the classy dig I have whenever I get them to the location for a meeting.”

According to a Mumbai-based bootstrapping architect, who is trying to set up his own practice, virtual offices are a lifesaver. “They take out the major investment, lease terms, productivity loss, restrictive lease terms and the maddening paperwork that can really be a time-waster.”

Not all are impressed, though. One entrepreneur we met up with was not too enthused about the idea: “What happens if somebody finds out that you are running a virtual office? While it may be okay with expats, Indians may not react too positively to it. Wedesis still like the nameplates outside the office door.”

Major players: Regus, Imperial Servcorp, Stylus