The Key To A Productive Virtual Office Is Your Own Ability To Stay Focused.

Many of today’s entrepreneurs and consultants work from a virtual office.  Regardless of what technology they decide to use, the one common trait that impacts the success rate of the business the most is an ability to stay focused.  A virtual office is useful only as long as you can get work done well in it.  For seasoned businesspeople the success rate they enjoy usually includes a few specific choices that make their office support them in staying on track. 

The first aspect of a virtual office that makes a difference is technology.  Get a good laptop, a PDA cell phone, and a portable printer/scanner.  Those three things make sure that you’re not standing in line at Kinko’s waiting to scan a signed contract to email it back to a new client.  Get an online fax number that drops the faxes into your email in-bin, and scan whatever hard copy documents you need to send back to others.  Make sure you’ve got a PDA that links to your laptop and invest in the phone software that can route your calls though your laptop if you’re working so that you don’t have to juggle the phone and headset to deal with calls.   You can set up in a Starbucks in five minutes and get a few hours of work done easily if you’re not constantly interrupting yourself to run to the printers or stopping work to input a new contact’s info into your computer. 

Consider hiring a virtual receptionist for calls after hours or meeting times.  Most virtual office users don’t consider what they’re losing when they don’t have a receptionist. Someone answering the phone live and managing calls as well as scheduling appointments can be remarkably effective when you’re running a business. However, when the cost of maintaining an employee is added to the time needed to manage them having a receptionist can seem pointless when your aim is to streamline overhead and keep your business thriving.  Think about using a virtual receptionist for your virtual office and cut down on the missed calls and disruptions. 

The best tip for staying focused is to handle the distractions before they even occur.  No one can keep their mind on their work when work in their office consists of a series of interruptions and missing technology.  Get yourself some solid tools and some logistical support and watch your business thrive!