The Virtual Office - Is It For You?

The Virtual Office - Is It For You?
March 1996

Last month I discussed how to connect two offices using a computer modem and remote access software. In this article, I want to take this discussion a bit further - to explore why you might want to create a virtual office, a business site that doesn’t require a fixed physical location.

I’ll bet that you’ve read and heard more about the Internet than you can stand. Well, here’s one way that you can put the power of the Internet and it’s related technologies to work for you, and put money directly into your pocket.

We assume that to grow a business, whether it’s for profit or not for profit, we must have a physical place of business, with the traditionally recognized accouterments and trappings - Reception area, meeting rooms, kitchen facilities, etc. Home-based businesses have know all along that these facilities don’t have to reside in a commercial space. But, for those businesses owners who have leased or purchased additional commercial space and incurred the overhead expenses of maintaining this space, it’s time to evaluate how business needs to be conducted.

If you’ve visited the offices of technically-savvy companies over the past few years, you’ve seen that most don’t have as much physical space as in the past. Part of this is due to reductions in the number of employees, but it’s also a product of more efficient operations. If we don’t need contiguous physical space for our companies, why have it?

By using technology to help respond more quickly to customer’s requests - emailing proposals, faxing technical documents, and the 90's version of the pet rock, using cellular phones, we’ve all been able to increase our profits.

In our case, we’re conducting all of our national and international business electronically via telephone, facsimile, email, and the World Wide Web. As our ratio of profits increases in favor of wide-area sales, the business plan calls for us to continue to minimize our use of leased commercial space.

DGL already has three satellite offices in addition to our Columbia headquarters. And our expectation is to add at least one additional satellite office each month. These offices don’t have a permanent physical space, it could be a short-term rental, an employee’s home office, or even a salesperson’s car!

The employees at the satellite offices communicate primarily via email. Corporate documents can be attached to an email message and forwarded to an employee at his or her virtual office. DGL associates use the headquarters office as a central meeting place and for management of our in-house training facilities.

For all of us, technology is even changing the type of services that we can offer. At least one insurance agency in Columbia offers quotes via the Internet. A complete application is available online at http://www.mccabeins.com/mccabe/. Charles D. McCabe, President of McCabe Insurance Associates, Inc. says “Internet business is the way of the future.” He adds “It’s good to use it and be comfortable with it now.” McCabe goes on to talk about the improvements to his quality of life by employing technology in his business, “I have access to all my information and files from home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can also share ideas with other Erie Insurance agents who are all around the country via email.” He pauses and then adds “I can send them information for free that will benefit all of us by using electronic mail - I would never think of calling these agents on the [long distance] phone.”

More than one person that I met while preparing this article talked about how technology has improved their quality of life. By creating a home office that’s connected to the main office, business owners are able to leave at a reasonable hour to have dinner with their families and still continue working from home later in the evening.

Remember, after reducing your operating expenses by using virtual offices rather than leasing additional commercial space, guess where that savings goes.

David Stephen Murphy is President and CEO of Damar Group, Ltd. which presents computer training classes, publishes computer learning guides, and helps organizations do business on the Internet. The website is http://dgl.com, and Mr. Murphy may be reached at dave@dgl.com or 410.567.5366.

updated November 2, 1996
http://dgl.com/tbm/tbm9603.html