The Ultimate Guide To Getting A Virtual Office Space

What is a virtual office space?

A virtual office space is a remote physical space that business owners and individuals can use to conduct administrative work. Typically, the virtual office space serves as the physical address for a business that operates remotely and wants the perks of having a physical location.

With many companies and entrepreneurs choosing to work remotely, virtual offices spaces are becoming a popular way to get physical office space services without the overhead of a full-time staff. Many virtual office spaces offer nearly all the perks of having a physical office space at a fraction of the cost.

There are many virtual office space providers across many major cities across the world. They offer a ton of services that include mail forwarding, call reception, video conferencing tools, customer support and help desk software for every business.

Benefits of a virtual office space

Businesses tend to use a virtual office space for a multitude of reasons. Some of the main reasons include:

Business address: A primary reason that businesses use a virtual office space is to have a business address. A business address is necessary to conduct basically any type of business, regardless of size. I’m personally a freelance writer that works remotely and every client I’ve worked with has asked for my address to send tax documents and for their own documentation.

Even if you provide stellar services remotely, customers, vendors and clients will not take you seriously if you have an apartment number or PO box. A business address gives you the professionalism and branding needed to work with larger clients.

Mailing: Having a mailing address is crucial to running any type of business. The majority of sensitive documents like tax documents will arrive in the mail. If you have your home address set as your mailing address, it’s more likely to get lost in comparison to having a virtual office space.

The virtual office space allows you to have a corporate mailing address and the staff at your virtual office space provider will give you all of your mail. Additionally, some virtual office space providers offer mail forwarding services.

Meetings: Many virtual office space providers give you the flexibility to hold meetings and meet clients at their physical address. This is a huge benefit to using a virtual office space because you can just meetings as needed instead of paying a lease for the entire office space.

Virtual office spaces also offer all the infrastructure you need to conduct a successful meeting. This includes internet, videoconferencing tools, meeting rooms and more. With a virtual office space, you can have everything that a physical office space provides without the cost.

Overhead: A key motivator for businesses to use a virtual office space is to reduce costs and overhead. Many businesses spend tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands per year on having a physical address. In addition to the primary costs like rent and staffing, there are numerous hidden costs like paying for devices, maintenance, upgrades, etc.

With a virtual office space, there are no hardware expenses, utility payments and leases. You only pay a fraction of the cost while getting many of the benefits.

What is the typical cost of a virtual office space?

The average cost of a virtual office space is anywhere between $50-$200 for a basic plan. Some services may cost more or less depending on several factors. Some of the factors that can influence the cost of a virtual office space include:

Brand: The brand of the virtual office space provider can impact the cost of services. Typically, the providers who manage many businesses and have been in operations for many years will cost more than the newer companies. Their services are typically better due to the experience of staff and additional amenities.

Location: The location of your virtual office space provider will impact the cost. If you live in a major metropolitan area, the cost may be much less since you have many providers to choose from. In contrast, if you have one or two providers, the cost may be higher.

Services offered: The plan you sign up for will make impact the cost. Generally, providers offer several plans with different services. The basic plans are cheaper than the other comprehensive plans. Depending on your specific needs, you’ll have to select what works best for you.

How do you set up a virtual office space?

1. Select a provider

The first step to setting up a virtual office space is to select a provider. The provider for your virtual office space will dictate all of the other requirements you need to complete the set up. Make sure to select one that has positive reviews on Google and already has an established client base. I’ve listed some of the best virtual office providers below, check out each one and choose what best works for your business.

2. Select a plan

After you’ve browsed through the providers and chosen one, you need to pick a plan. I’d recommend just getting a basic one and see how it goes. You can always upgrade to a more expensive plan later. Select a plan that meets your basic needs for a virtual office space and you can add the extras later.

3. Prepare documents

Once you are set on a provider and a plan for your business, you’ll likely need to do some paperwork. The primary one you’ll likely need to do is to fill out a US Postal 1583 form. This form is required for the provider to receive mail on your behalf.

You will likely also need your ID and most providers will require a notary for the US Postal 1583 form. You can get it notarized at a local USPS or UPS store.

Best virtual office providers

1. Regus

Regus is one of the most professional virtual office providers. With virtual offices in every major city, you have virtually endless possibilities on how you can use their virtual office services.

Features & Pricing

There are three basic plans with Regus, they are:

Business address plan:

The business address plan allows you to set up a physical location for your business. With this plan, you can:

Use the Regus location for official documentation
Get mailing services

This is the most basic plan that Regus offers, the pricing will vary based on your location.

Virtual office plan

The virtual office plan allows you to build a presence using any of Regus’ international offices. With this plan, you get:

Thousands of locations to choose from
Access to global business lounges
Phone answering services

The pricing will depend on the city you want to set up your virtual office in.

Virtual office plus plan

The virtual office plus plan gives you all the amenities that Regus offers. This includes:

Access to business lounge network
Daily use of meeting rooms
5 days of office or desk space per month

The pricing will depend on the city you want to set up your virtual office in.

2. Davinci

Davinci is a premier virtual office solutions provider. With Davinci, you get access to all of the premium features that virtual office providers have starting at $50.

Features & Pricing

Davinci has one plan for virtual offices with the ability to add additional features. The plans include:

Virtual Office Plan:

This plan is a comprehensive plan that gives you:

A professional business address
Mail forwarding and receiving
Meeting and workspace areas
Entity formation service
A lobby directory listing

3. Alliance Virtual Offices

Alliance Virtual Offices empowers you with all of the virtual office tools to thrive working remotely. With over 1200 virtual offices globally, you can choose the solution that works best for your business starting at $50 per month.

There are two main plans for virtual offices that are offered, they include:

Features & Pricing

Virtual Office Platinum Plan:

With this plan you get:

A recognized business address
Mail receipt and local pickup
Lobby receptionist to greet clients
Thousands of global meeting rooms

Virtual Office Platinum Plus Plan

With this plan you get:

Everything in the virtual office platinum plan
16 hours of private office time or meeting time
75% savings on meeting room rental

The pricing for both of these plans will vary based on the location of your virtual office.

4. Cloud Virtual Office

Cloud Virtual Office is a workplace-as-a-service company and it has comprehensive virtual office solutions for business. With Cloud Virtual Office, you can get a variety of services that will help you work remotely and manage distributed teams.

Cloud Virtual Office offers numerous features that allow you to thrive in a virtual office setting. Their plans include:

Features and pricing:

Cloud Virtual Office has one main plan for virtual office. The features include:

Digital mail: Cloud Virtual Office will allow you to forward, scan, shred and pickup mail. Additionally, you can receive scanned mail directly to your mobile device or desktop.
Package services: Cloud Virtual Office can receive and send your packages directly to you.
Staffed lobby: When your client arrives at your virtual office, they will be greeted with professional staff that will guide them to your meeting room
Phone answering services: The Cloud Virtual Office team are trained professional in answering phone calls for clients. They offer professional phone answering services for free and can direct any calls to you.

The pricing for your virtual office space will largely depend on the location.

5. Rovva

Rovva is a premier virtual office solutions provider that has numerous plans to fit any business need. This company stands out from other providers because they have no long-term commitments and they have transparent pricing.

Rovva is a great virtual solutions provider because they offer a 30-day money back guarantee. If you’re unsatisfied with your service, you can request a refund and you will get your money back with no questions.

Features and pricing:

There are three plans that Rovva has and their features include:

Virtual Office Address

The virtual office address plan provides you with these services at $37/month:

A professional business address that can be used for official documentation
Mail handling services: forwarding, shredding, etc

Virtual Office Mobile

The virtual office mobile plan gives you everything in the virtual office address plan in addition to:

A telephone number with call answering
Unlimited business lounge access
2 hours a day use of a community room

The pricing for this plan is $144/month.

Virtual Office Workspace

The virtual office workspace plan gives you everything in the other two plans in addition to:

A private office for 5 days each month

The pricing for this service is $207/month.

Rovva also offers several other features that can be great add-ons for your virtual office. This includes:

Automated call answering services
Live web chat services
Live call answering services

6. iPostal

iPostal is one of the most cost effective providers for virtual offices. With over 2,000 offices in the U.S. and abroad, businesses can get an address, phone and fax starting at $39.99 per month. iPostal offers 4 plans with ranging prices that provide you with all of the virtual office amenities you need. I included iPostal in this list because it’s one of the cheapest providers.

Features:

Digital mailbox service: The digital mailbox service allows you to manage mail and shipments remotely 24/7. You can forward, discard or shred any mail directly from your phone
Flexibility: iPostal allows you to use your virtual office address to register a business, get a license or insurance
Discounted international forwarding: At several iPostal locations, you have the ability to get disocunted rates on shipments that are forwarded internationally.

Pricing

Virtual mailing address/business address plan ($9.99/mo)

The virtual mailing address/business address plan allows you to set up an address for your business needs. It doesn’t include any additional services, but you can do the basics like mail forwarding and registering a business.

Virtual office plan ($39.99/mo)

The virtual office plan is the standard plan for businesses. With this plan, you get:

Phone and fax services
Address services like forwarding, return to sender, etc
View/manage mail from any remote location