When I read your article the first time, I thought about how one might virtualize a receptionist of staffer. I visualized a reception area with a comfortable chair and a luxurious workstation display. A visitor could approach the workstation and activate it with some obvious means. A virtual staffer could respond and interact with the visitor. Such a staffer could split time between many such clients given that the rate of visitors would probably not be a steady flow. (Otherwise an actual staffer would be indicated, and for that matter it would justify a full office.) It would be very Disney-like to have someone speak to you directly from “inside” the workstation screen. It’s a silly idea, but interesting and possibly workable for someone like me who might have one or two visitors in a day.

No matter what though, it is apt to consider that establishing a traditional office is a significant matter and should be carefully considered before engaging with the expense. The costs can sneak up on you.

My interest in this is that I work one of the top places in the US that suggests itself strongly as a location for a virtual office for a global business. (I consider those places to be New York, Washington, and Silicon Valley. There are a few others, but I think those might be tops.) In pricing such a services, I can see that I could be more aggressive than I previously thought. The value proposition is high, but the potential cost for a traditional office is a consideration and a significant one.

Thank you for engaging this matter. I certainly found value in this conversation.

—v

Vincent Lowe
Managing Director – Schoolhouse Earth

Essentially this is what it comes down to, you do really have to be able to justify the costs associated with an of office. It is a major cost to just about any business. The biggest cost is the lease i guess, however this also needs to be taken in perspective.

If you consider the other costs over the long term, then the lease may be much smaller in comparison. For example the general idea that if you have an office you are more likely to have additional staff to what you would really need. The actual cost of extra staff could potentially dwarf the cost of the lease itself.

This is just one consideration, another that extends from my post above is that this is just a fairly basic cost estimate. Based on a fairly small space, I did have the specific size, but it is somewhere between 30-50sqm not even in the major CBD area. Also some of the other costs could potentially be under what the true cost may end up being.

So yes it really does mean you have to be more sure then anything you can imagine that you do actually need an office.

In considering the equation as part of a choice between having a fixed office or using a home/mobile office, I found however that some of the costs are present on both sides. The technology and services are required for either approach.

Obviously the question about staff is a critical one, and again one that I think is independent of the fixed or mobile question.

So for me, this article says that I’d look at about $26,000 as a cost for a fixed office with no staff and presuming that I’d buy rather than lease the furniture. (The lease may be equivalent to the cost of purchase however.) Add a virtual receptionist and it’s a little more.

Clearly, one should see a burning need to have a fixed office to justify that overhead.

—v