Small business owners running their business from home not only benefit from the productivity, wellbeing and flexibility perks it brings: it can also save you a lot of money and time. Commuting is no longer an issue and you do not have to pay out for business premises, the staff to run them or the cost of setting up telecommunications and networks. Using a virtual office service, such as ours, is a fantastic way to have the benefits of these services without the costs.

Working from home does come with its own problems, though, so being aware of them and planning ahead will make working from home work better for you!

Some of the most common problems

• Working without supervision.

This can be a really tough one for people. Even if you are the owner or manager of a business there will always be some type of supervision or deadline for work. Other people will know if you get behind. We are used to working in this way, starting all the way back in primary school, so finding yourself in a position where what and when you do things are entirely down to you can be daunting. It can make it easy to let work slide, to procrastinate and allow yourself to be distracted! Getting past this hurdle is simply accomplished by planning well, setting yourself strict deadlines and using your time the way you would in any other working environment.

There is a huge plus side to this situation too. You get to work when you work best. Some people are night owls, others are freshest first thing – we all know when we are most productive so use this to your advantage.

• Never ‘leaving’ work.

When you work from home you are, technically, always at work. You don’t get to stand up at 6pm and leave your paperwork in a pile for the next day. This can mean that you do not mentally switch off from what you need to get done and this leads to a distorted work/life balance.

It is essential that you set yourself boundaries. Make one space in your home the ‘work space’ and do not allow yourself to go there when it is your personal time. Use a virtual office to screen your calls so that you aren’t tempted back into work mode during your down time. People all too easily burn out when they don’t allow themselves time to wind down, you will be much more productive if you are happy.

• No social interaction

Work colleagues – love them or hate them it is nice to be around people. To talk through a work problem or simply having a chat about your weekend can be a huge boost at times. Some colleagues will naturally become friends so the idea of working by yourself, all the time, can feel isolating. Humans are social creatures, we need to interact with others to some extent.

Working from home does not mean that you will be lonely though. Schedule regular time to spend with your friends, use your break times to chat with people over social media, get to know other small business owners in your area. You may find that you start to enjoy your time with others more because you have planned the time with them. If you do network with other business owners, then you will be getting to know more people who happen to share a common interest.

The bottom line is really this: plan your working time carefully, be strict about when you should be working and when you should be resting and do not allow your home business to take control of your home.

Work is important but so are you. Use the tools and services available to make sure that you are living a balanced life.

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So, aside from spending time with actual people, what can you do to try and curb the loneliness that can come from working from home?

Have some background noise              

If you are in the middle of a task and you are feeling lonely and sorry for yourself, then there is one great quick fix that you can try. This is to turn on the radio or the TV and using it as background noise. The trick with this is to have something that isn’t going to distract you too much, as otherwise you could draw your focus away from your work.

Use social media

When you work from home you are going to quickly realise that social media is your friend. Social media is going to help you to feel that little bit less alone in the world. Best of all, you don’t always have to post on there, sometimes you can just read through your newsfeed, soaking up all the great things that your friends, family, loved ones and people you have randomly met along the way are up to.

Go for a walk in a busy place

Sometimes, the best way to stop feeling isolated is to leave your work and head out for a walk. Simply being out of the house is often enough to stop those feelings of being alone. If you really want to feel like a functioning member of society, then we highly recommend going for a walk in a busy or social space such as a park or where there are plenty of shops. This way you are going to feel much more connected to the real world.

Arrange for regular meetings with your other work from home friends

Do you have other friends who work from home? If you do, then it might be a good idea to find time that you can all come together and have a catch up. Not only will this help with any feelings of loneliness that you might have, but it can also be great for sharing business ideas and coming together as one creative mind. Stuck for a venue, why not take a look at some of your local virtual offices which will often have meeting spaces that you can hire?

Being lonely is often part and parcel of working from home, despite this, there are things that you can do to make sure that you don’t feel it too often and instead feel all of the positives that can come with working for yourself.

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Running your own business isn’t always an easy ride. There are going to be some challenges and drawbacks along the way. So, what it is that keeps people not only starting their own business, but plugging away for some time on it?

Well, the main reason behind this is that there are a wealth of amazing things that come with running your own business. To help inspire you to try and make the leap, we have put together some of the main reasons that people decide to start up for themselves.

It feels great

If you ask someone who runs their own business what one of the best parts of it is, then they are likely to tell you that it is the way it makes them feel. There is no greater satisfaction then knowing that the work you do is all down to you. Even if you have staff that you work alongside, the driving force, the idea the head of it all, is you!

You can achieve your dreams

Do you have a dream? Something that you have always wanted to achieve and work towards? If you have then this is the perfect reason to start your own business and then to carry on working on it. It is going to take some hard work and a whole lot of focus, but in the long run you are likely to find that you can get one (or a few more) step closer to achieving exactly what is in your heart.

You can work it around your family

A huge reason that many people start up their own business is because they want to run it around their family. There are plenty of ways that you can work a business around your children, however, you should always remember that you need to focus on it and this will take plenty of your time up.  You may find yourself working early in the morning before everyone gets up, or perhaps late into the night when everyone has gone to bed. But, what matters is that, in the most part you can choose when to work and make sure that you spend time with the most important people in your life.

There is lots of help out there

Some time ago, it wasn’t always easy to work for yourself. There was not the same support out there that there is today and it could feel that you were alone in the world. Nowadays, things are much easier. Not only are there plenty of websites out there designed to offer support to those working for themselves with hand advice articles and networking forums, but there are also companies out there offering services such as call handling and virtual office spaces, all designed to make working from home or for yourself, that little bit easier.

So, what are you waiting for, now you know just how great it can be working for yourself, there is no better reason to take the plunge and see if you love it just as much as others do!

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It’s a very good idea for any small business or startup to opt for a virtual office instead of a traditional one. It’s easier to handle the total business costs, not to mention you can still have a presence in the desired city as well. But what happens to the business mail that you receive on a day to day basis. There are 2 options in this regard, you can either go to the company that hosts your virtual office to pick it up, or you can use a mail forwarding service.

How does the mail forwarding service work?

Simply put, the virtual office provider will receive the mail, and then the mail forwarding service will be used to redirect all mail to your desired location. You can feel free to send it to your own home, at another office outside the city or anywhere you want. The mail forwarding service makes sure that you can easily receive your mail during the same day it arrives at the virtual office service provider.

In addition, the entire system is secure, and it offers you a much better way to access your mail without having to visit the virtual office provider’s location on a daily basis. This helps save a lot of time, and it makes the entire experience a whole lot easier.

You also get to reply to your mail or see the content of each package you received very fast. This means you will find it a lot easier to talk with your customers, and the return on investment can be more than impressive in the end.

Is the mail forwarding service secure?

Yes, because it’s fast, convenient and it can be a part of the virtual office package if you want to. The entire process of using a mail forwarding service is simple and convenient, plus you get to redirect your email to any location you want. It helps you a lot, and it can provide you with a much simpler way to manage your business.

The fact that you can get immediate access to your mail without having to worry about it is really helpful. Also, you can easily track the location of your mail and figure out where you can place it.

When it comes to security, the entire mail forwarding service is very secure, and you are in control of it at all times. You can easily change the address you want the mail forwarded to, and the results can be amazing that way. It’s one of the best methods you can use to get faster email processing, complete forward shipment control and so on.

In the end, it’s extremely important to try and give the mail forwarding service a shot. It’s the best service you can use if you opted for a virtual office and want to obtain the best results on the market. Thanks to the mail forwarding service, you can get your mail delivered quickly, and that means you will have less business hassle to deal with on a day to day basis!

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A lot of startups and small companies find it really hard to choose a good office location in their city. Most of the time the problem comes from their financial constraints. Purchasing or renting an office is extremely expensive, and that limits the amount of places that you can afford as a business owner. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If you use a Virtual Office service, it will be easier for you to create and run your business.

The Virtual Office will handle all your calls and physical mail, and they can even redirect your mail to you. But the benefit here is that you get to have a dedicated office in the middle of a large city, and you won’t have to pay the rent for it. Your employees can easily work online, and the Virtual Office will be able to handle every legal stuff or customer inquiries that a regular office would do.

Is the Virtual Office service expensive?

As you can imagine, it all comes down to where you live and what company you work with. Each one of the Virtual Office services will differ in price based on a variety of factors. You have multiple choices, so you are free to pick whatever service suits your needs.

Our company offers some of the most affordable Virtual Office on the market. If you want to get a good Virtual Office in London, we can help you without any problem. And the prices aren’t high either. All you have to do is to get in touch with our team, and we will provide you with a custom quote based on your needs.

You can select only a regular Virtual Office service, or you can add things like the address package or communications package. It all comes down to your needs. Once you contact us, we will assess your needs and figure out what package works really well for you. This way you can obtain the best results and not worry about any new package that you need to acquire at this point.

You don’t have to pay a lot of money to get a good Virtual Office. We will provide you with the best possible package according to your needs. All you have to do is to call us right away, and we will be more than happy to assist.

Pick the best Virtual Office for your business

Let’s face it; if your customers find out that you have an office in the middle of their city, they are bound to trust you a lot more. And that’s why our Virtual Office service is very handy. Your customers and potential business partners will be able to connect with you via the virtual office, yet you won’t have to support the massive costs of running a physical business. Despite all of that, you can still run your business online, and that can bring in front some amazing benefits. Make the most out of this offer and give the Virtual Office a try. It’s one of the best investments you can make right now, and it can help you bring your business to the next level!

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Then you have a look at how much commercial space in London is… and, let’s face it, things start to look a bit bleak. You’ve seen the damp infested basements, the offices small enough to qualify as a time capsule, and you’ve decided that natural light isn’t, after all, something that you really need (but damn, would have been nice…).

So, you look at a few industrial parks out in Zone 6 so you can have a bit more space, but you feel disconnected from the city. You feel like you need to get a train out of London in order to go to work. Things are looking more and more challenging.

Suddenly you hear about London Virtual Offices (Editor’s note: shameless, I know) and how you can have a Central London business presence for a fraction of the price! Suddenly all of London is your office. The café on the corner that you love to sit in and work, that park bench that gives you a front row view of all of your upcoming customers walking by, even the long bus journey where you find your mind frantically kicking into 5th gear. This is your new workplace.

Why? Because your professional address is taken care of. Your business correspondence is being delivered and sorted in one of our professionally maintained prestigious boutique office centres. Our receptionist is taking your calls and transferring them to you wherever you are, or taking a message and emailing the details to you for you to come back to at a later time.

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We are able to provide small businesses with virtual receptionist services, taking all the hassle out of organising your office admin. Our virtual receptionist service will answer your calls and so much more: we will also take care of your mail forwarding from London and enable you to present an impressive and professional front to your potential clients with our London business address being presented as your own. We can arrange your bookings, schedule appointments, and do everything you would expect your own personal receptionist to do, but without the long term commitment.

Our virtual receptionist services are professional, courteous, and we are proud of the high standard that we are able to deliver to all of our clients. Your satisfaction is our main concern. We only hire the very best receptionists available, so that you have the peace of mind of knowing that your business is being represented by the best team on the market and as if you have a permanent office address in London.

We work hard to ensure that each and every one of our customers is 100 percent satisfied with the high level of service and care that we provide. Our virtual office services go above and beyond those of other providers, which is why we have positioned ourselves as market leaders, providing the best virtual office space in London. When you choose to work with London Virtual Offices your business will truly thrive.

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