Bay Street is the Hottest Business Address in Toronto

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Bay Street has always been one of the best addresses in Toronto. It is known Globally as the Financial center of Toronto, and all of Canada.

We’ve long been offering the ability for any company, from the newest startups, to the largest corporations to get a virtual address with us at 20 Bay Street, and be recognized amongst industry leaders.

And that’s not just boasting. Microsoft has just announced they will move from their Mississauga Campus here to Bay Street. Right across the street from Scotiabank Arena. All about 3 minutes from us, and the TOWaterfront on foot.

And they’re not the only ones: Amazon, Apple, Google, RBC Cloud, Salesforce, VMware, and many more large companies are all located within a short walk of WaterPark Place, or a quick subway ride.

Your company deserves to be amongst leaders of the industry. So take a look at our available packages, and start today! 

Tips for Working in a Virtual Office

With Virtual Offices becoming a revolution in how we do business from the comfort of our homes, it is important to consider the little things that make working in a remote office a great alternative. Here are four quick tips for working from home.

Finding a Creative Space that will encourage continuous productivity.

Creating a euphoric, zen environment that will make you anxious to get to your home desk each and every day is critical to your productivity. Adding little pieces to the workspace that make it personal and reflective of yourself will help create ambiance and make the desk YOUR perfect working environment. Make sure to turn the lights on and keep the space well lit. Some people prefer to work at night, which is perfectly fine if that’s when the creative juices are flowing. However, don’t force yourself into a dark working environment as this will force you to become tired and less attentive to the task at hand.

Declutter.

Continuing from the first point, there’s nothing that’s going to keep you from rushing to your workspace each and every day like a messy, unorganized desk. Before we go into comparing ourselves to geniuses like Einstein and Twain, let’s consider that for the vast majority of us, a clean desk is an indication of projects and tasks completed. Keep your desk a separate area from your regular domestic setup. Dirty dishes, laundry piles, these are perfectly normal components of any living space but your virtual office or remote desk is your business and should be treated as a different spot altogether.

Establish a schedule for your day.

It can be very easy to procrastinate when you have your own office in your own home and dictate your own schedule. If you find you work best in the mornings, never hit the snooze and don’t be late to your desk. In fact, change out of your pajamas and make yourself ready to tackle your day. If you’re a nighthawk and the most productive times of day come in the evenings, don’t put aside work for a movie or that dinner out with friends. These bad habits will develop and worsen and nothing will help your business prosper than a regulated and predictable schedule where you can deliver consistent results.

Log-Off from Distraction!!

The hardest parts about remaining productive in your virtual office are the same as in our everyday life; shutting down the social media and other online distractors. Training ourselves to regulate our daily social media intake will benefit in the long run and pay off dividends. The next time you feel compelled to spend time on a social media platform, make a game of it. Don’t open the apps that are purely there for fun and try to go as long as you can without indulging in Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. It is estimated that the average person will spend five years of their life on social media. Think what you could do with all that time!

Visit virtualbusinessoffices.com and start your customizable virtual office package today

Cloud Virtual Office

Cloud Virtual Office

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Why do you need the Cloud to get your Virtual Office?

There are certainly advantages when looking at Cloud based system: It’s constantly updated with no need for your input, and it may be more efficient.

But of course, we need to look at the disadvantages as well:

It’s automated, there are no humans in most of the process, so if something goes wrong, it can go really wrong. Bugs in the system can go undiscovered for days or weeks, and some things may just not be possible for an automated system, like they can be for a person.

It also lacks personality. We are all just so sick and tired of speaking to machines all day, and unlike how Google is trying to push Duplex as the future, we think the future will continue to be based on human interaction. It’s just so much more pleasant to get a human on the other side of the phone, rather than a machine. No matter how smart it may be.

Additionally, when setting up a Virtual Office, it is just as if it was on the Cloud anyway. It works for you remotely. But you can rest far more assured that there are people on the other end making sure that everything is running correctly, and that your clients have the best experience possible.

In the end, “the cloud” is a very nebulous term. It has undeniable and positive attributes, and can help businesses grow at an unprecedented rate. But just as any other form of progress, it has it’s drawbacks. You’ll have to decide whether a simple robotic voice can be the thing that helps your business, or if the human touch just can’t be replaced.

When you finally you want your customers to have the best experience when they call in, then take a look at our Virtual Office packages, and don’t leave the future of your business up in the clouds. 

Mailbox

The Virtual Mailbox

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A Virtual Mailbox is exactly what the name implies: A Mailbox that you can redirect your mail to. Whether that may be simple letters or packages, you can trust that they will go to a physical location, where they can be tracked and delivered to.

They go beyond the standard PO box. They have live people collecting and sorting your mail, and notifying you when letters arrive that you need to run your business smoothly and effectively.

Furthermore, the beauty of a Virtual Mailbox service is that they are located Worldwide, and you can use it to establish addresses in any region, to help your local customers reach you more effectively.

Virtual Mailboxes addresses are commonly found in premier addresses, like Bay Street in Toronto. They show the world that you mean business, and that your home address isn’t the place to receive mail and clients.

And of course, as your business grows, that premier address becomes more and more important. Impressions matter a lot, probably more so than they should. But as long as you know that, you can take advantage of that fact.

Make that address the corner stone of your business. Lead your clients and customers to an address they can trust, and more importantly, send their mail to a place they know won’t be neglected. It can be stressful for a client to not know whether their documents or cheques will arrive safely. In a residential address, there is always the risk of theft, not to mention you may not be home to receive and sign for important mail. For a business just starting up, one missing cheque can be the difference between continuous growth, and a shut down. To have all your hard work be for naught just because you decided that your home address was “good enough”.

Thankfully, you don’t have to go through that. Take a look at our virtual plans and get your Virtual Mailbox address on Bay Street in Toronto today! 

Virtual Office

The Anatomy of a Virtual Office

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A Virtual Office is generally considered to be a package that allows the purchaser to use a business centre’s mailing address as if it were their own. These packages frequently also include services like live reception, a local number, and meeting room hours.

What a virtual office really is, though, is globalization writ small. How we conduct business has been fundamentally changed since our parents’ time, and the Virtual Office is a very poignant indicator of that. Companies, depending on the industry, can no longer afford to operate solely in one geographic area. In 2018, this expansion is also fundamentally internationalization, in a way that did not occur in, say, the 1950s – this presents numerous opportunities for firms; however, it also presents challenges. The Virtual Office is a symptom of this internationalization, and it arose in response to perhaps the largest of those challenges. For while, a business can be international and exist in many places at once, especially if it does not sell a physical product, its staff and its offices cannot be.

Enter the Virtual Office. They were first conceived as a way for companies to expand to other regions without having to hire local staff or leasing office space- perfect for branching out quickly into new markets. They’re still used for this today- people like seeing that the company they’re doing business with has a local address and phone number- even if that company is actually based half a world away.

So, Virtual Offices get used by companies who want to have a presence in other markets. But if you’ve heard of a Virtual Office before, it probably wasn’t being used that way. By far, the most frequent users of Virtual Offices are home business owners. With the advent of the internet, you no longer necessarily need a brick-and-mortar location for your business. People work from home much more frequently now than ever before, and Virtual Offices were enthusiastically adopted amongst that demographic.

Home business owners choose to work from home- but they may not want their clients to know that. Virtual Offices are the perfect fit for that sector; the convenience of no commute married to the outward professionalism of having live receptionists and an address that isn’t in a residential area.

Virtual Offices are the natural response to a variety of factors present in today’s business climate- they help new businesses look legitimate (previously very expensive), help others expand to new markets, and demonstrate that the business world’s borders have less and less to do with imaginary lines on a map than ever before.

Virtual Business Address

Why do you need a Virtual Business Address?

What is a virtual business address, anyway?

I’m going to answer a question with a question, so bear with me here: do you work from home, or from a country other than Canada? If so, you probably need a virtual business address. At Virtual Business Offices, a virtual business address means that you use our prestigious Bay Street address, and we collect and forward all of your mail/packages for you.

Your clients need to think that your business is established, and physically present in Canada. Getting mail sent to a P.O. box to be forwarded to another address, whether residential or out-of-country, is hardly the most professional image you can convey. There’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling you get when you see the business card that someone handed you has a P.O. Box address on it. It positively reeks of “amateur hour”, and if your business is primarily from home; well, amateur hour is the last feeling you want your clients to have.

If your business is based in a country other than Canada, then a virtual business address is also necessary, at least until you expand your operations and need an office. It adds legitimacy to your Canadian operations, and allows you to have a much larger presence. Your clients won’t have to deal with the hassle in sending cheques internationally, and you can use your new virtual business address as the ‘home base’ for any Canadian subsidiary that you want to register.

A virtual business address takes most of the headaches out of expanding your business to Canada- and does so for a lot less than renting office space would cost. Similarly, if you’re working from home, you might not need an office to handle your day to day operations- but your clients don’t need to know that.

So take a look at our packages, and sign up for your Virtual Office today!

Virtual Business Answers

Virtual Business Answers

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You have questions, we have answers. We know that sometimes it’s hard to find what you’re looking for, especially in the world of virtual offices. So here at Virtual Business Offices, we’ve decided to provide some quick answers for you.

What is a Virtual Office?

A virtual office is an offsite physical location that offers all the amenities that you need when you’re running your own office. A reception to greet your guests, live reception services that answer your calls in your business’ name, and a physical address to receive and forward your email and packages from.

Why do I need a Virtual Office?

Depending on the type of business you have, it is essential. If your business “runs from a laptop”, a virtual office can give you that permanent physical location that you need to manage that business. You’ll also be able to receive guests, when you’re not available personally.

How does it help my Business?

When you’re starting your business, most of your available capital will have to be re-invested into the business. And as mentioned above, depending on the type of your business, you may not be able to invest in a prime location. The costs of setting up your location, hiring and training reception staff, running Internet, phones, desks, computers. Those costs add up fast, and that eats into your profits as surely as if you were burning money.

A Virtual Office can help save you money by taking care of all those unnecessary costs. You can focus on what’s truly important, growing your business – and re-investing your profits, rather than worrying about early debt.

What services does a Virtual Office offer?

All the services you need to get your business started, and getting it running. Professional staff to answer the phone and give your clients the information they need. Additionally, you’ll need mail reception and forwarding, as well as courier services – we have that covered too. And we personally offer coworking spots and meeting rooms that you can use to meet your clients or take calls anytime you need to. Forget the coffee shop experience, and put a truly professional face on your business!

So take a look at our available packages and start your Virtual Service today!

The Rise Of The Remote Worker

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Even with rising unemployment, the number of remote workers continues to climb according to the Dieringer Research Group Inc.

Demographically…

What does the average teleworker look like? Would you have guessed, 40-years-old and at least a college grad? Half of the teleworkers out there have a college degree, on top of that 25% have a post-graduate degree in addition to college. Teleworkers are mostly knowledge workers. The option to telework is increasingly offered to salaried employees (97%); but is few and far between for workers earning an hourly wage (11%).

“Home” is less Popular

“Home” still tops the list of locations that teleworking occurs, but “satellite center” and “hotels” are on the rise. Unfortunately, teleworking while “on vacation” is on the rise too – a practice that lowers the resiliency of workers, and leaves them tired and less productive when back from their (theoretical) vacation. For the first time “co-working office” was given as an option to where teleworking occurs, 12% of teleworkers confirmed that they use a co-working space.

Teleworking is a Reward

Employers see telework as a benefit to employees, and employees are in agreement viewing the ability to work remotely as a reward. Few companies employ large numbers of full-time remote workers, with the biggest exception being the telemarketing industry. 75 percent of employers admit that these privileges have a positive effect on employee engagement, morale, retention and motivation.

A Virtual Office is really just an extension of the Remote Working model. The ability to work from a laptop anywhere, but still have all your calls answered by a professional secretary, and have all your mail picked up and forwarded makes remote working easy and inexpensive.

The May Scoop is Out!

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May Scoop Cover

Enjoy this month’s Scoop and learn about exciting events happening around Toronto’s Waterfront. If you would like to advertise in our growing newsletter we are always happy to showcase local companies and community partners. For more information on advertising, email marketing@rostiegroup.com

 

And you can download a PDF version here