Italiano

Used to be if you wanted to run a business, you needed a reasonably large staff of employees to handle a wide range of activities, from billing and sending invoices, to dealing with correspondence and communications, and everything in between. There was a lot of overhead and admin to consider. And all of that ate into profits.

The Internet and related software has changed the face of today’s business. Multimillion dollar companies no longer need complex offices to work from, and I know of several that are running very efficiently and quite profitably without a physical office at all — and have staff located around the world. Their secret? Using the Internet effectively.

By this I mean they are taking advantage of communicating using tools such as VoIP, sharing files and information, holding staff meetings in cyberspace, preparing and editing reports, e-mailing, and generally working as a team, even though some of their associates might be on different continents. Their physical location is irrelevant. Getting the job done is all that matters.

Not only can this virtual office work efficiently, in many instances this set-up can also cut costs. Using the right Internet software can save a substantial amount of time — think e-mail — and many of these great tools are free to use or very inexpensive.

A virtual office provides a lot in the way of flexibility. You’ve got a wider range of talent to choose from and are not stuck with an employee or paying their benefits package. They can work from their own location yet interface with the rest of the group.