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Why Are Serviced Offices Growing Increasingly Popular?

Over the last few years we have seen the serviced office market quite literally explode in the UK. Although the UK has seemingly come quite late into the serviced office market, with them having been a prominent fixture in the USA for well over 30 years, it seems to be something we are now welcoming with open arms, despite the economic climate.

What is a serviced office?

A serviced office is one such office which is already fully equipped for individuals or businesses to move into. The office is managed by an Operator who is in charge of all services to the office building. For instance services can range from anything like office equipment and internet access through to telephone answering services and reception or secretarial support.

These offices are an extremely attractive proposition for businesses since they do not require any capital investment in terms of buying technical equipment or even office furniture. Individuals and companies can quite literally move into their office and have it fully furnished and ready to receive customers from the word go.

How expensive is it to run a serviced office?

People are often put off by the initial price of a serviced office. However, what many people do not realise is that the rental cost of most serviced offices includes everything you would normally pay on top of renting an office in the traditional manner. Serviced office packages tend to include everything from heating and cooling, electricity, security and maintenance through to furniture cleaning and insurance.

In this way, once you have paid the rent for the serviced office, there is nothing more to pay other than being charged the standard rates for telephone and internet usage, as well as the cost of occasionally hiring meeting room. What is also worth keeping in mind is that most serviced offices will offer short term leases so you are not tied into a contract for months or even years, which is an obvious financial benefit.

What kind of business use serviced offices?

Services offices are used by all kinds of businesses, from small companies run by a few individuals to large corporations. If you have not yet had the experience of using or visiting a serviced office, you are probably under the misconception they are only used by small business who cannot afford their own property. However, this is quite simply not the case.

So many companies, especially in the current economic climate, want flexibility when it comes to their offices. They do not want to be stuck into long-term contracts when they are unable to comfortably foresee what their financial state is going to be in the future. Therefore using serviced offices enable them to expand or shrink as and when needed and at short notice too.

It seems the take up of these offices is growing ever more common as months go by and with good reason. With those in the serviced offices in Milton Keynes freed up from having to manage IT systems, reception duties, answering the telephone and even spending money on furniture, they are free to do their actual job.

About the Author: James writes for Cranfield University. When not writing, he can often be found looking for another office.

Why Creating Your Own Corporate Training Videos Can Save Time And Money

Keeping your staff trained can be a very demanding thing. Whether it is a new piece of software you are rolling out or some new equipment, or training on a new policy, finding the resources to do it and then scheduling training for everyone who needs it can be a mammoth project. Even for a relatively small business, it will result in a costly lack of productivity while everybody sits through the training and picks up the new skills, and then of course there are the logistical demands of finding a place suitable to deliver it all.

If you have a training need in your company, there is often a lot to be gained by producing a training video instead of delivering training in the usual, classroom style way. Here are some of the benefits to making a video to fill your training gap:

You Can Outsource Production

Even if the training is very specific to your company, there is no reason why you can’t hire a video production company to make it for you. This means that you don’t need to tie up your own resources more than necessary to get the training done. You can meet with a production company, explain your requirements and review and approve the script using far less of your own people’s time than devising a classroom training course, sorting out the logistics and scheduling and having one of your own people deliver it. Professional video production may not be as expensive as you might think, and if you balance out the cost in terms of man hours saved you will find it to be very cost effective if your demands aren’t too complex.

You Can Let Staff View It However They Want To

Some people learn faster than others, and by making the video available and mandatory, you can let people watch it more than once if they don’t pick up on the details the first time. This makes things a lot less stressful for staff who find it hard to keep up in classroom training courses and worry they won’t come away with enough knowledge, and will make it less frustrating for fast learners or those already familiar with the content as they won’t be held back by others asking for things to be explained again.

No Logistical Issues!

Simply tell staff that they have to watch the video at least once within a certain time frame and let them fit it into their own working day, at their own desks! No finding times that suit different groups, no looking for suitable meeting rooms that are free, and no breaking up people’s flow of work and reducing productivity. If you are worried about verifying that everyone actually has watched the video, there are ways of checking this when it is posted on your intranet. You can even have someone in your web team create a quick quiz people have to fill out at the end to prove they have learned the salient points from the film.

Corporate video production for training can be a real time and money saver, and can also be more appealing to trainees, so next time you are faced with a training need, consider it as an alternative to a major program of classroom sessions!

About the Author: Phil Raymonds, an online marketing professional, prefers using the latest software and medium to get his ideas across. He is passionate about video photography and editing.

Important Reasons to Guard Your Domain Registration Information

Everyone in the modern-day world understands the serious need for privacy, and website owners are usually well aware of this since they often keep their customers’ information on file. What many don’t realize, however, is that keeping their domain registration information private is important as well. The mailing address, email address and phone numbers of most website owners are available on the WHOIS Internet directory, but there are several benefits to preventing this information from getting on that public domain.

Reduced Spam

As stated, part of the domain registration process includes sharing an email address on the WHOIS directory. Sadly, there are people out there who are sometimes called WHOIS miners that do nothing except go through the database and seek out the contact information of website owners. They can then use this information to flood a company’s email address with spam and unsolicited offers. Private registration services hide a website owner’s email and ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Domain Name Safety

One of the biggest fears with using private domain registration services has always been the possibility of losing access to a domain if the service goes out of business. This was a huge issue with the former company RegisterFly. Luckily, since customers had difficulties accessing their domains when RegisterFly went bankrupt, rules have changed to prevent this from occurring again. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, now requires these private registration services to keep all of their clients’ contact information in an escrow.

More Control

Whether it’s in the business world or on the reality show Survivor: control is everything. Since private domain registration services prevent all of the aforementioned information from being publicly available, it’s the website owner who can pick and choose what to release to the public. If an individual wants their organization’s phone number available but not their address, they can make it happen. Any information that gets out to the public will only do so because the website owner chooses to let it.

Personal Protection

One of the scariest aspects of having a domain registration that isn’t private is the fact that most of the information registered on the WHOIS database can be traced back to an individual person. The Internet makes it easily possible to use an address or a phone number to find contact information on a private citizen who just so happens to own a website. This can be a huge annoyance, and in some cases, it can even be dangerous.

Depending on what type of website a person runs, there’s little doubt that there are those out there who would harass the website owners. Just imagine if private contact information was available from those who ran controversial political or religious websites. The point is that it is much safer to have this information kept private. Even if a person doesn’t run an especially hot-button issue website, it’s probably not a good idea to let an angry customer find personal contact information either.

It’s a sad fact that it can be annoying and even detrimental for a person’s or organization’s information to get out into the public. More and more, people are starting to realize that this holds true for domain registration information as well. Luckily, there are companies whose sole purpose is to keep this information private, and if a website owner decides to work with them, they’ll be on the right side of all of the aforementioned benefits.

About the Author: Researcher Shelby Warden shares this information to help small business owners protect themselves. Business owners who decide to register their own domain for the highest level of protection can find the latest updates on domain registrars here. Domain Raccoon is a well-known database of domain registrars that provides users with unbiased, fact-based information.

Women Entrepreneurs: Keeping Business Professional on Payday

Making it in the business world can be very difficult for any small business owner. Unfortunately, many women who own a business experience the additional issue of being taken less seriously than their male counterparts. In order to rise above all of the unfair generalizations about female business owners, it is important to take every step necessary to present yourself in a professional light. Although it is not fair that you might find yourself in a situation where you have to work harder to prove your worth, it is still an unfortunate aspect of life in the business world for many women. Therefore, it is best to accept this disparity for what it is and make sure that you do not inadvertently do anything that exacerbates the issue.

Importance of Payday

Regardless of how small your company is, you need to make sure that you adhere to certain guidelines if you want to be taken seriously as a business owner. For example, it is never acceptable to give your employees cash in lieu of printing paper checks. Even though some people would probably prefer this approach, it will make you look very unprofessional. It is also vital to ensure that you never miss a payday. After all, if your employees are forced to wait for even just one day longer than usual to get paid, the word is going to spread, and it will make you look like you do not have the necessary skills to make it in the business world.

Proper Tax Practices

The most important aspect of payday, besides actually making sure that your employees are paid on time, is to make sure that everyone is taxed correctly. Unfortunately, many companies opt to use an employee who has no previous payroll training as a way to cut costs, and this can lead to huge issues down the line. For example, if your payroll coordinator has not been properly trained, they might make a simple mistake at the beginning of the year that causes every employee to be under-taxed. When tax time comes, your employees will be very upset if they discover that they owe money because their payroll was not properly handled.

External Payroll Companies

If you want to ensure that payroll always goes smoothly, you should strongly consider using an external payroll company. These services will make your company look more professional, and they will also ensure that each employee is taxed correctly. Additionally, payroll companies will have the ability to cut paper checks and offer direct deposit. Most employees prefer to have their money placed into their bank account for them, so the direct deposit option is definitely a nice benefit of working with an external payroll company.

Taking the necessary steps to make sure that each payday happens without any problems is a major component of building a professional image. Therefore, you should definitely place a large emphasis on the payroll process. Working with an external company is a great option to help you meet this goal, especially if you do not have enough room in your budget to hire an experienced payroll coordinator.

A small business owner, Ann Bailey urges hiring payroll companies for any businesses with employees. Deluxe Checks is an outsourced payroll company that takes complete oversight of the payroll process and offers full service for mistake-free paydays.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/7315190192/

Why Your Internet Business Needs a Human Voice On the Line

The Internet has brought about many changes to the way a company can conduct business. One of the most significant changes is the change from brick and mortar to laptop offices. A business no longer needs to have a physical presence to conduct business. They can purchase from suppliers, contact remote employees, interact with their customers and ship their products all from their virtual location.

“This seems like the ultimate way to conduct a business!”

In most ways, this statement is true. You have reduced operating expenses, you can work from anywhere and you can produce a product or service with little effort.

However, consumers are starting to grow tired of computer generated customer service. They want to “connect” with a real person when they have a question or an issue. They want to know that the company they are dealing with is “real.” They are becoming disenchanted with live chat options and want to talk to a human being.

Is This The End For Internet Based Businesses?

Of course not, internet businesses are here to stay, they only need to adapt to their consumers. Any business that wishes to meet the needs of their clients will prosper, and Internet based companies can meet this need by investing in a virtual office.

An online solution like a virtual office from ring central(dot)com provides that personal touch that laptop businesses often lack. They have “real” receptionists to take your calls and interact with your clients. The receptionist will be assigned to your company and you can interact with them as you would an answering service.

This one feature alone can set you apart from other online businesses that only provide online contact. It will also give your company live support for any time of the day, meeting the needs of your clients in different time zones.

Can You Still Keep Operating Expenses Low?

The additional benefits of using a virtual office are that you do not have to rent office space, pay for electricity, or pay employee related expenses. You will not be obligated to pay payroll tax, carry workers compensation insurance, or worry about someone calling off from work. Your virtual office will always be there and operating, increasing your business and profit margin.

The Internet has become a large part of everyday life. More people turn to the Internet now for information, advice, and shopping than ever before. It has become a tool that helps people find what they want, regardless of distance, and make connections with people all over the world.

As much as this technology has helped advance the world, the desire to communicate with a real human still remains. People want to place a voice behind their transaction to make sure that it is real. They want to hear sympathy when they are upset with a product or service, and they want to hear a calm voice when they are angry. By providing a point-of-contact for your clients by using a virtual office, you are providing them with that voice they desire to hear. This will increase your business while still giving you the freedom to operate your Internet based business on your own terms.

A small business operator, Ann Bailey presents these tips for new ways to save and succeed in the office. Having a virtual office from ringcentral.com is an easy way to provide all of the old fashioned charm of a typical store front office while only paying for the sleek, new streamlined business model of internet enterprises.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwichary/2398196800/