For businesses that do not need a physical office, having a virtual office Bangkok gives you the needed amenities and business support for your team, without having to operate an actual office. It also gives your business a professional image.
If your business needs a virtual office space or address in Bangkok, there are many options to choose from. However, just like many office initiatives, you won’t find a ‘one size fits all’ for a virtual office.
To help you decide when choosing a virtual office in Bangkok, we have rounded up 11 useful and practical tips
What is a Virtual Office
If you need an actual address or a satellite office so that you can process your work permit, VAT registration and company registration among others, a virtual or online office space might be the perfect solution for you.
This type of office setup is a low-cost solution that is useful for many types of businesses. A contract agreement typically includes access to services such as a business address, mail forwarding address, access to meeting and podcasting/video rooms, access to day desks, access to a business lounge, and phone answering services among others.
For startups or businesses that run most of their operations virtually, this type of office helps keep overheads low while giving your brand a professional image.
Over the past years, many businesses in Thailand use a virtual office Bangkok. And with the increasing popularity of online offices, more and more providers join the bandwagon.
If your company needs this type of office, you can easily narrow down your choices when looking for a provider if you consider these tips.
Mint Worklounge Serviced Office Thonglor Soi 13
11 Virtual Office Tips
Choose a Virtual Office Space in BKK That Benefits Productivity
1. Assess what services your business or team needs
Many providers have a network of spaces for rent and they offer different types of services or packages.
Generally, services may include a business address, access to a mail forwarding address and access to receptionist support. More often, their services also include free access to a meeting room or a business lounge.
Depending on your needs, an online office may or may not be the best fit for your company. That is why, before you even start looking for a provider, you need to make a full assessment if this setup is really the right option.
When assessing your needs, consider what you need a virtual office for. Do you want to give your company a professional image? Do you need to access business tools such as business lounge, conference or meeting rooms? Do you need an address to receive mails or entertain customers? Or do you need a business address to build confidence among your clients?
Sometimes, a company needs more than an office that is based virtually, but a serviced office or coworking office. There’s a big difference between these types of offices.
With a serviced office, it works like traditional offices except that it is managed by an office provider. A serviced office is fully equipped and more often also fully furnished to operate. On the other hand, there is also a coworking office. A coworking office is very similar to serviced office but with little privacy or private workstations.
In Bangkok, Thailand, you can find providers that offer online offices, serviced offices and coworking offices.
2. Consider what the business address tells your customers
Location, location location. Location is always an important factor to consider when it comes to choosing a physical or virtual workspace especially in Bangkok 10110. What does the virtual office business address say about your company?
If you are considering adding your virtual workspace address to your website, business cards, VAT registration, Google My Business account and so on, all the more you should think twice before picking a virtual office in Bangkok 10110.
Some address adds prestige to your brand especially if it is located in the heart of the city or within the business district. There are locations that are considered second-rate. There are also addresses that are associated with certain industries or services. You would want to pick an address that is also associated with the kind of product or services you offer.
The last thing you want to happen is to pick an address that does not reflect your brand, forcing you to move to another location and re-establish your address from scratch.
3. Choose an established virtual office provider in Bangkok
Most businesses use the virtual workspace address for company registration, VAT registration and other legal purposes. This is also the same address they use on their website, social medial accounts, business cards and so on. If you plan to do the same, you should only trust providers that are licensed and established to provide this type of service.
Imagine the hassle if the provider stops providing their virtual office services and you have to find another provider and establish an address from scratch. That’s too much of a hassle and is also counterproductive.
While there is no 100-percent guarantee that an established business will last longer than those that are new in the industry, there is a greater chance they will be.
4. Think about flexible plans
Imagine what your business will be like one year or a few years down the line. Will your virtual office in Bangkok be able to adapt to the change or growth? If so, then that is a good move.
An ideal virtual office should be flexible enough to accommodate your business growth. For example, you may not need a dedicated telephone support service or a dedicated virtual receptionist service now, but as you gain more clients, you may in the future. Will your provider be able to offer these solutions?
5. Check if the services offered to match your company needs
In Bangkok virtual offices come with a variety of service features. For example, at Mint Worklounge, our virtual offices may cover post handling service, automatic call transfer service and meeting rooms. We also offer several virtual office packages such as office address only package, office address plus company registration package, and office address plus company registration plus VAT registration package.
It’s important to get a provider that offers services that match your needs. This way, you can have the assurance that what you get supports how your business operates.
6. Consider how the virtual office can help your customers
Do the virtual office features align with your business goals? If so, how can the prospect virtual office serve your clients and customers?
These are important questions that you need to answer before picking a provider. As a business, you want to ensure that the virtual office you are getting has systems in place to serve your customers and help facilitate business success.
One good example of the virtual office services that may benefit your customers includes dedicated telephone support and a dedicated virtual receptionist. With these two virtual office services, you can ensure that customers can easily get in touch with your company for their concerns.
7. Choose an office in Bangkok that is budget-friendly
Prices for virtual offices greatly vary depending on the inclusions. For example, if meeting rooms are included, you can almost expect that it is more expensive than virtual offices without meeting rooms.
Wherever your virtual office hunt will take you, it’s important to stick to your budget or to only consider budget-friendly packages. The cheapest packages aren’t always the best as they may entail spending additional costs on top of the monthly fee.
To ensure that the cost is budget-friendly, check what’s included in the package.
8. Find out which businesses are also using the same office address
It is also worth checking with the provider which companies also use the same address as yours. Office providers normally rent spaces with a wide variety of companies. This means that another company could be sharing the same business address as you, although maybe on a different floor or suite.
Why this factor matter has to do with branding or company image. You don’t want to be associated with an address that a company with a bad image is also using. So before you say yes, don’t forget to check who your neighbors will be.
9. Watch out for traps in the contract
It’s easy to agree to a contract especially if is within your budget and it has the features you are looking for. But have you really read the rental agreement? If not, you have not fully done your assignment yet.
Check for traps in the rental agreement. For example, are there penalties in case you end the contract earlier than should be?
It can be hard to predict your business needs, and the last thing you want to happen is to be trapped in a long rental contract with no flexibility. The ideal virtual spaces are those that give you wiggle room in case there are changes in your business operations, or in case you change your mind about the address.
10. Know the perks and opportunities involved
Business lounge, free use of a meeting room, free use of virtual receptionist, dedicated telephone support, dedicated security, free post handling – there are a lot of other perks to think of. The question is, are they being offered by your provider?
Think of the perks that matter to you. It could be the free use of a meeting room once in a while, or free handling of posts, and so on. If they aren’t offered for free, are they available as an option?
Moreover, one of the biggest perks of renting a virtual office is cost savings. Having minimal overhead is for sure. Over time, these savings could add up to a lot of money that you could then use for your business. The more perks and opportunities you can enjoy, the better it is for your company.
11. Trust your guts
Given that you already did all of the above tips, everything will now depend on your guts or intuitions. Yes, your guts also matter.
Some things just go beyond tangible things. So it is okay to say no to nice office space or to an attractive deal if you feel like it is not for you. Maybe it’s the environment that you don’t like, the negative customer reviews and the image of the company that manages the office. These can give you intuitions that can either make or break a prospective lease contract.
FAQs
Yes, it is legal in Bangkok, Thailand. In fact, many companies in Bangkok including those with a global network are already using this solution to run their business. This set-up is acknowledged by the Revenue Department, DBD and SSO in Bangkok.
In Bangkok, Thailand, the cost varies depending on the included services. If you will rent a serviced office from us at Mint Work Worklounge, our MINT WORKLOUNGE SOI 13 located at 8th floor, soi Sukhumvit 55 (Thonglor 13), Klongtan Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 costs THB 1,900 / sqm. This is inclusive of utilities, reliable high speed internet, maintenance, reception services and furnished with ergonomic chairs.
This setup may be worth it for some companies but it may not work for others. So it really depends on the nature of your business as well as your specific needs.
Companies that use this type of office setup enjoy a number of benefits which include no commute time for employees, flexibility in working hours, less overhead as you don’t operate a physical office and more.
Just like any other office setup holding an office virtually also has some associated drawbacks. One of the things you need to contend with is potential conflicts with scheduling access to a meeting room or business lounge if that is included in your contract. There’s also a lack of social interaction among employees, hence it is harder to build strong team bonds. You may also experience unforeseen technical difficulties.
