Coworking Space or Virtual Office - What is the Best Option For You?

Over the last ten years, a lot has changed about the way we work, with many people preferring to work from coworking spaces, while many others, including e-commerce startups opt to work from home while utilizing virtual office facilities. In this post, we will be looking at the respective benefits of these two options to help you determine which is the best choice for you and your business.

The Difference Between A Virtual Office and A Coworking Space

A virtual office is an office arrangement that exists primarily in the digital space while a coworking space involves a physical office arrangement. In a coworking space arrangement, you pay to use the physical space of a flexible workspace provider for all day-to-day business. Such arrangements allow coworkers a certain level of flexibility and offer most of the essential amenities required for running a business. In a nutshell, a coworking space offers all the perks of a traditional office (and even more) but in this case, you share the office with other people (coworkers).For a virtual space, you do not have a physical office to work in, but a monthly fee means you can access some important business amenities like a physical business address, mail and fax handling, call answering and reception services .

Services Standards

As stated earlier, the main difference between a virtual office and a coworking space lies in the physical space you have to work in. But when it comes to the amenities, it really depends on the service provider you have chosen.A typical virtual office package will provide you with business amenities and services such as a prestigious business address, parcel receiving, and voicemail service. A coworking space, on the other hand, will provide you with amenities and services such as a dedicated hot desk to work from, high-speed internet access, an open collaboration space, community lounge, administrative support services and office equipment like fax machines, copiers, and so on.

Rental Cost

One of the benefits of flexible workspace settings over their more traditional counterpart is the cost savings potential. While monthly costs for virtual office and coworking space vary from region to region, the actual cost is also dependent on the service provider.In the Middle East, the average cost of setting up a virtual office hovers around the $500 range and varies depending on the amenities and services offered by the provider. For a coworking space, you can expect to pay between $600 to $750 per month.

How To Choose

From experience, we have found that work-from-home consultants, freelancers and e-commerce operators who need telephone services and physical addresses for mailing and parcel receipt utilize virtual spaces the most. These entrepreneurs also utilize their service provider’s meeting rooms when the need arises. Having a prestigious physical address helps virtual office users to establish a meaningful presence and real legitimacy.Similarly, coworking spaces are often utilized by freelancers, remote workers and startup founders who require physical space to carry out their day-to-day business but do not wish to pay huge sums of money for traditional office space. It is important to note that coworking offers all the perks of a virtual office with the additional benefit of having access to a modern office space.

The Verdict

The aim of this post is to provide you with all the information you might need about coworking and virtual office packages so that you can make the decision about what works best for your business. Looking for a virtual office or coworking space? The Executive Centre offers luxurious and affordable office spaces and virtual office services . Call us today or book a tour to learn more about our office spaces and services.