How not to choose a virtual office? Some advice for prospective clients.

Large selection and competition in the market

Virtual offices are springing up like mushrooms in the market. We dedicate this blog post to people who are wondering which virtual office to use.

On the one hand, it is good for prospective clients that more and more virtual offices are being established. There is more competition, there is more to choose from and the virtual offices themselves need to compete on price and improve the quality and range of services provided.

However, clients looking for a virtual office should think twice before trusting a particular company, as the wrong choice can have serious consequences.

We invite you to read the guide below.

1. how long has the virtual office been in business?

A business can be set up in a matter of minutes... and it can also be closed in a matter of minutes, leaving its few customers with nothing - the need to change the business address, which, especially for companies, can take up to several weeks.

The disappearance of an office from the market also potentially means that a number of other changes need to be made - to the US, ZUS, CEIDG or KRS, the website, business cards, bank(s), leases, all contractors may also need to be informed.

It is therefore better to choose virtual offices that have been on the market for several years or more, rather than those that have just been established.

The business under which Virtual Office31 Poznań operates was registered in 2014 - that's 10 years of company activity - while the virtual office itself has been running in Poznań since 2020, with 2024 marking a major investment in the prestigious new headquartersand the office itself is growing and we are opening further branches - outside of Poznań it is Warsaw, Wroclawand in a moment other major provincial cities.

(2) Does the virtual office actually provide premises in which to work or hold a meeting?

Surprisingly, virtual offices have appeared on the market that do not provide such premises.

It is huge risk for companiesas this can spell trouble for the owner of such a company in the event of any inspection, e.g. by the tax authorities.

A company registered at a virtual office address should be able to conduct business at that address.

In the case of companies, e.g. limited liability companies or S.A. / PSA we are talking about the possibility of holding a meeting of the company's board of directors on the premises of the virtual office, so that the address declared as the company's address can be used to make key decisions for the company.

If the authorities find that the company is unable to operate at the address indicated, the company may be struck off the registers and the owners may face the cancellation of, for example, tax refunds and the need to return the funds with penalty interest.

3. what does the virtual office premises look like?

It is worth verifying at least in gallery images or Google maps what the virtual office premises look like.

Let you judge for yourself whether what you see can or should be your company's calling card in the eyes of contractors and business partners.

The appearance of our Poznań office can be seen in photo gallery or at Google business card.

4 Does the virtual office have the necessary IT facilities?

Our office is distinguished above all by its very attractive price the services proposed and 24/7 availability - it is about access to the office premises, where you can collect your correspondence or hold a meeting, or simply do some work.

In addition, the contract with us is concluded in 100% online - no printing, signing or scanning.

We are transparent, we do not waste our clients' time - the model contract itself is made available on our website office31.pl, in sections FAQ and detailed offer we describe how we operate and what services we provide.

You can also conclude a new contract online 24/7 via the link newclient.biuro31.pl and you do not have to wait for anything or anyone to start using our services right away (e.g. by registering your company at our virtual office address).

We are able to offer very attractive prices for our services through far-reaching automation behind which are IT technologies and programmers who have developed and continue to develop the proprietary software used by our virtual office for several years.

It is thanks to their work that it all works, you get access to a dedicated client panel to manage the virtual office services.

In most situations, the existing automation and customer panel mean that you do not have to communicate with us, rely on our availability and wonder when you will receive an email response and the action you have requested will be performed.

This is a very big added value, since the beginning of our business it has been very important to us to run it in such a way that using our services is as simple as possible for you, even invisible, so that you can focus all your attention on developing your own business.

5. does the virtual office have adequate staff facilities?

As of today, we receive your correspondence in Poznań 3 times a week, and in the future, as the number of customers increases, this will be 4-5 times.

Immediately upon receipt, you will receive an e-mail notification with a photo of the letter envelope or advice note.

In our case in Poznań, the virtual office Biuro31 is operated by three people who appear regularly in the office at the ul. Szamarzewskiego 21 lok. 2.

It is their work that enables you to be instantly informed of new correspondence for collection.

The three people who work for us are a guarantee for you that no fortuitous situation such as illness, an unforeseen event in life or a simple holiday will cause the service to cease and the existence of your company to be forgotten.

Are you waiting for an important letter? We suggest you don't even entrust perhaps the future of your business to small local virtual offices, which can disappear as quickly as they came into being.

6 Is the virtual office expanding? Does it have multiple branches?

If a company is standing still and there is no development in sight - it means it is going backwards, and this does not bode well for the stability of such a place and the possibility of long-term cooperation.

Our virtual office has always aimed globally - not only are we expanding the functionality of the office itself, we are adding new services, including a functional customer panel, a dedicated place to work or meet in Poznan, automatic reservation system.

We opened a branch in Poznan, then in Warsaw, and in a short while more cities will follow.

We advise you to consider whether it is worth trusting and contracting with a virtual office that only has one location.

Of course, it is true that you have to start somewhere, everyone started that way, but the customers, entrepreneurs, freelancers and influencers who use your services on a daily basis have higher demands and expectations in 2024, and they need to be able to scale their services and use more and more locations for their companies or brands or websites.

With us, it is as possible.

7. Year-on-year price stability

We started providing our services in 2020 offering a virtual office service for 295.20£ gross / year (i.e. 240£ net, so per month 20£ net).

We are in 2024, and how much does our service cost now? The same!

Our price is not some short-lived promotion, something that is about to run out and you will be faced with a fait accompli - accept an increase or move your business somewhere else, which is also costly and time-consuming.

Prices of all services and products around us have gone up, over these few years even by 100% - with us nothing has changed, we have taken the increase in the cost of doing business on ourselves, and we still offer you probably the best price in Poland for a virtual office service that is professionally run.

Can competitors say the same about themselves?

Many virtual offices have raised their prices or have been operating for such a short time in the market that they cannot be said to keep their prices constant year on year, as they have been operating for less than a year.

8. copying of ideas and misrepresentation

Is it wrong or illegal to copy ideas?

Illegal it is not, but we believe it is at the very least unethical, especially if you are not able to propose something new from yourself, some innovation or improvement, something in addition to what was already on the market.

Our office has been operating in Poznań since 2020 and its genesis was a desire to provide a gap in the virtual office market, which we detail in the this article.

At the same time, at the end of 2023, a new virtual office appeared, which copied our idea, the content from our website, only to eventually claim that it was starting up, operating in a similar way to ours (but without all the facilities, infrastructure, know-how) and trying to bend reality, telling potential clients that it was established because there was a gap in the market, which we had noticed three years earlier and, by providing a virtual office service in Poznań, an address for registering a company or correspondence, had closed.

Summary

To sum up, if a virtual office offers you its services for the price of one coffee, tea or other biscuit per month - we suggest, however, to stay with that coffee, tea and/or biscuit in the city and use our services at the same time.

We offer a professional virtual office service in Poznan and Warsaw, with more cities to follow soon.

Our goal for the next five years is to be present in 10 major Polish cities and have 10,000 active customers.

We provide our services at the best possible prices, bearing in mind that we operate legally, pay taxes and employ people on the basis of contracts that are taxable - ZUS/USA.

Our customers are gaining new functionalities every month, which we implement in the customer panel, among other things.

Continuous development is our priority.

Finally, we would like to salute our not-so-honest competitors, who I am sure are reading this post, as they are keeping a close eye on our website by copying not only ideas but also entire content from the biuro31.co.uk website.

We would also like to inform you that the law firm servicing our office is keeping a close eye on developments and that we will refer any further unlawful actions to the courts.

We wish the competition success, their own ideas and innovations, and all those looking for a virtual office to make the right and informed decisions.

We invite you to make use of our services.

Yours sincerely,

The virtual office team Biuro31