There are many reasons why some companies may choose to use a virtual office. Some people may conflate it with registered office service. A registered office service alone means that a company uses the office address of a service provider, usually the corporate service provider, to fulfil the statutory requirement that every Singapore registered company requires a local address as a registered office. Virtual office services are offices which allow you to have a local address as a registered office as well as add on services like mail-handling and forwarding, meeting room access and common shared working spaces.

 

So why do companies choose to have a virtual office rather than a physical one?

  1. Flexibility for rent tenure
    Most virtual offices allow clients to rent for a short period of time. Usually for as short as a few weeks. Typically, rental durations for offices would be in duration of years. Hence the company will need to commit to a rent of at least one year. Some start ups may not be willing to commit to such a time frame. Hence the flexibility accorded by virtual offices is attractive to such start ups.
  2. All in one package
    If a company sets up an office of its own, it will need to subscribe to an internet service provider, set up a utilities account, purchase printers and worry about maintaining the office. Virtual offices come with wifi packaged, you do not need to set up a utilities account, usually there is a central printer and there will be cleaners to clean the office.
  3. Meet other business owners
    One of the perks is the ability to interact with other business owners. This is important for start ups. However, some individuals may find this too distracting. The constant interaction in the shared working spaces may come off as an unwelcome distraction from focusing on getting work done.

 

So what should companies look out for when choosing a virtual office?

  1. Location
    For starters, if you are going to pay a hefty monthly fee, the location should be prime. The location of the virtual office should be in Singapore’s central business district (CBD). Do remember that the location should be in a retail space or office as zoned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Virtual offices are not allowed in light industrial areas. When unsure, you can consult a corporate service consultant at Raffles Corporate Services on this matter at [email protected].
  2. Cost
    It should still be cheaper than setting up your own office. Recently, virtual office costs have been rising. In fact, it has been rising at a rate that has made some virtual office prices close to if the company were to rent an office outright. If you are paying a few thousand dollars for a virtual office, you may be better off renting an office outright. This is especially true if your company is established and has the ability to commit to at least a year’s rent.
  3. Meeting rooms
    Virtual office packages should have meeting room access included. There is usually a monthly allowance attached to the virtual office package. This means that a company will be allowed to use the meeting room for a certain number of hours. However, do note that if the virtual office is too crowded, then it will be difficult to book the meeting rooms.
  4. Amenities
    Firstly, high speed internet. Next would be printing services. The typical would be mail-handling and forwarding and operator services. Other bells and whistles include free beverages for both the company as well as its clients.
  5. The ability to scale up or down
    Typically the cost would depend on the number of employees that are using the virtual office on a daily basis. Therefore, if a company needs an additional desk for a new employee, then it will pay for that one additional desk. If an employee leaves, the company should have the flexibility to reduce the amount it pays because one less employee is using the virtual office.

 

We believe that the cost should be the main consideration when a company decides to use a virtual office. If you need advice setting up a dedicated office or would like to get a virtual office, the Raffles Corporate Services business set up team can assist. Do reach out to the Raffles Corporate Services business set up team at [email protected].

 

Yours sincerely,

The editorial team at Raffles Corporate Services