5 Surprising Perks Of Running A Virtual Business
For many professionals in the business world, the idea of running a virtual business may sound daunting. After years of working in a company surrounded by colleagues, daily meetings, and a strict 9-5 schedule, breaking away from that routine to start a home-based business sounds like the opposite of productive. But what most don’t know is how many benefits there are to virtual, home-based businesses. Virtual offices in a small business environment afford owners, employees, and clients a flexibility and a chance to reach their fullest potential in a way they can’t in a conventional office job.
In this article, we’ll explore the many benefits to running and working in a virtual business to eliminate the stigma that surrounds remote work.
1. Flexibility
When running your own virtual business, you work in your own virtual office. You don’t have to worry about commuting to a job, or working a classic 9-5 work schedule. A virtual business offers you more flexibility when it comes to your working environment. You get to set your own hours, your own goals, and work towards them in your own time. Work from home in your bed, office, or a cowork space. Work at night instead of the morning. Decide what makes you the most productive and do it. This will ensure your virtual business thrives as your employees are working when it’s most productive for them.
2. Cheaper Costs
Another major benefit of running a virtual business is the limited costs you’ll encounter. No more paying rent or leasing out an office space as virtual businesses don’t need a physical business address, simply a virtual business address. No more paying for fancy equipment, electronics or employee perks like a snack counter or quarterly excursions. Not only are the typical costs associated with a business cut, but labor costs are cut as well. Virtual businesses tend to have fewer employees, and come with fewer benefits that your organization needs to pay for. Also, since these employees work remotely from their own home offices, you don’t have to provide them with new devices.
3. Talent Worldwide
Running a virtual business means your employees can be found across the globe. They don’t have to be based in a set city, state, or even company. Your talent can be global! You can pull from an experienced pool of talented individuals without the location constraint. This also means that you can focus solely on their skills and make important business decisions with ease. Also, global talent means global connections and networks which will help your virtual business, and virtually community, grow even more.
4. Increased Productivity
According to an MIT study on managing virtual teams, businesses where employees are located across the globe outperform those where the employees work together in the same office. Remote workers also tend to log more working hours and enjoy the work they accomplish due to the flexibility their virtual job affords them. They aren’t constrained by the 9-5 workday. And in a nationwide survey done by Sure Payroll, 61% of those surveyed said loud colleagues cause unnecessary distractions. 86% prefer to work alone and 40% say impromptu meetings cause them to become less productive. In a virtual business, employees don’t have to worry about distractions like colleagues, social media, and chaotic working environments, meaning they are able to be as productive as possible.
5. Better Work/Home Balance
Working remotely and running a virtual business not only benefits you and your employees from an economic and business standpoint, but it also helps your mental health. In a recent survey done by Microsoft, Work/Home balance was the number one reason employees gave for choosing to work from home. When you can create your own office either virtually, at home, or in a cowork space, you can spend more time around the people you care about most. Not only that, but the flexibility in hours that come with a virtual business also means that you can set your schedule to revolve around your friends, family, and big life events.
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