There’s a difference between cheap and inexpensive. Cheap is normally associated with poor quality, whereas inexpensive refers to a fair price or good deal. So, when you are looking to rent a virtual office the ideal situation is not necessarily to find the cheapest option, but to find an inexpensive solution that gives you the best value for your dollar.
Downsides to cheap virtual office space
Location of the virtual offices
Cheap virtual office spaces are not typically located in central downtown locations or even in actual office buildings that one would associate with a business. Some cheap virtual office spaces are no more than post-office-style boxes located in a storefront or an industrial complex.
When you create a Google My Business account using a cheap virtual office address, you will get fewer views on your listing. This is because cheap addresses are not located in busy areas with high volumes of people, so Google will not find your listing as relevant.
Whereas if you have a virtual office address in a high-traffic area, Google will consider your listing relevant to a higher number of people – therefore giving you more viewings.
Professionalism
A cheap virtual office will take a toll on your business’s professional image. For example, let’s say you need to send a client your business address, showing them an address in an unknown low-traffic area will not illustrate your business as top-of-the-line.
Furthermore, when someone searches for your business online, you want to present a prestigious location in a downtown business centre – not a random street that no one has heard about.
Services
When looking into cheap virtual office space, you also have to consider what features are included in the offer, what additional services they have, and how much each extra service will cost. Often the way that some virtual office providers are able to offer their services cheaply is by having hidden costs and charges that you do not find out about until you get your first invoice.
Some virtual office services to look out for include:
- Mail forwarding service
- Virtual phone and answering service
- VoIP virtual office service
Since cheap virtual offices are not located in office buildings, they will not be able to provide you with access to meeting rooms and boardrooms. This means if you ever need to have an in-person meeting, you will be forced to find a third part meeting space.
Whereas when you go with an inexpensive virtual office provider at a business centre like Telsec, you have access to meeting rooms whenever you need them at a reduced price.
Quality virtual office rental for less
Why would you consider a cheap virtual office, when you can have an inexpensive virtual office at a prestigious address in downtown Toronto? Quality office space Toronto providers like Telsec (located at 18 King Street East) offers inexpensive virtual office solutions starting at $30 and with no hidden costs. You are told upfront (before you sign anything) what the extra charges are and what they are for. The most common extra charge is for forwarding your mail, but you can avoid that charge by arranging to pick up your mail during business hours. Unlike a cheap virtual office space solution, a quality virtual office space Toronto provider can even arrange to have courier packages delivered that require a signature.
If a customer shows up unannounced at a cheap virtual office space, they may find a storefront or industrial building with only a row of mailboxes and no one to explain why you are not there. When clients or customers show up at a business centre that also provides virtual office solutions, the professional receptionist will simply explain that you are out of the office, thus maintaining your professional appearance.
It is a big plus to rent a virtual office from a business centre rather than a cheap virtual office space because of the prestigious business address. It is also a big plus to have access to meeting rooms and boardrooms to meet with clients when you need to. An even bigger reason to rent your virtual office at a Toronto office business center is that when you are ready to have a physical Toronto office space, you do not need to change your address or phone number.
Upgrade your business’s online presence with Telsec’s inexpensive virtual office solutions today.