If you're an entrepreneur, the idea of running your start-up from your home likely seems appealing. You might be watching every penny, and the idea of not having to worry about a pricey office lease (especially in and around DC) could come as an enormous relief. While you might be singing the praises of your no-cost, pajama-friendly workplace setting at first, you'll soon come to see that there are significant downsides to not having a professional business address -- and many benefits to having one.
That doesn't mean, however, that you need to waste hard-earned money on a long-term office lease. Instead, consider a virtual-office space provider. Only you will know that you didn't spend lavishly. Need even more reasons to go virtual? Below, we outline the top three.
Professional image
Those who are familiar with the national-capital region can tell a top DC business address on sight. And location image matters. At Metro Offices, we've got nine such DC addresses, including locations in Farragut Square (mere blocks from the White House), Metro Center, and the historic Dupont Circle.
Let your new business cards do the talking when you put one of these addresses on them. Your business, though new, will seem established, successful, and polished, and you, as the founder of the business, will seem savvy for headquartering it at such a central spot. Bottom line: Your business cards and email signature will impress immediately, and that could go a long way toward getting you new clients.
Privacy
If the idea of people looking up your home address and viewing images of your house online makes you uncomfortable, that is reason enough to go with a virtual office-space provider. After all, the best-case scenario is that all your prospecting emails, calls, and networking-event business-card handouts generate enough interest to get your new enterprise looked up online, at the very least.
Apart from not looking terribly professional, broadcasting the specific location where you live by using your home address as your business base makes you vulnerable to crime, including mail and identity theft. When you use Metro Offices virtual-office services, you don't have to worry about any of that.
Mail and phone services
When you have Metro Offices' mail and phone services, you up the aforementioned professionalism quotient by having trained office personnel answer your dedicated business line and collect your mail and packages. You also continue to protect your privacy by having all business-related mail sent to an office, not to your residence.
With our "Classic" phone service, you get a local, dedicated phone line that will never go to voicemail during business hours (it will always be answered with a personalized greeting by one of our concierge staff members) and a voicemail-to-email offering for just $100 a month.
If you're about to start your own business (or already have) and you are thinking about working from home, consider Metro Offices' virtual-office offerings. You will save over a traditional lease, protect your privacy, and impress your new clients.
Browse Metro Offices' nine prime DC and DC-area locations today!