So you have decided on the legal form of your business. Next step is choosing a business address, which every entrepreneur requires. Starting out you probably don’t want to invest into office space until you are sure that your business is profitable. In this article, as a part of our “Starting a business” series, we are talking about real and virtual business address.
There are two ways to register your business: using your home address or a virtual business address. Virtual business address is a place, where you don’t have an actual office. However it is on your legal documents, in the legal registers, business cards, used as a postal address and so on. Virtual business addresses in general are ‘lucrative’ properties, which should be representative and, in certain cases, would have a significant positive effect on the business. At the same time, using a virtual address eliminates theoretical danger of your business address being your actual home one. Moreover, low rent can help you “survive” in the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. Another unusual benefit of arranging a virtual headquarters in a larger city is that you are less likely to receive an inspection from the state authorities.
Setting up a virtual business address
The process is simple: just google “virtual business adress” to see the list of possibilities and be able to choose according to your requirements or drop us a message.The decisive factor is, of course, the price, but sometimes it is fine if the offer includes additional services. The most common of them are:
- receiving post
- shipment notifications via e-mail
- scanning and sending of the documents
- receiving fax
- conference room availability.
Where would I really work from?
Now we get to the practical part. We should have a virtual address, but where would we work? Yes, one of the options is to work from your home or cafe with a Wi-Fi connection. Working from home is the cheapest solution, but often inefficient as you are isolated from the rest of the world. You are not socializing, you are rarely motivated, you are influenced by many disturbing elements of your home. And often it is hard to separate the work from your private space. A much better solution is to use a coworking center. You haven’t heard of it yet? Let’s fix it!
Coworking is an arrangement in which several workers from different companies share an office space, allowing cost saving and convenience through the use of common infrastructure, such as equipment, utilities, receptionist and custodial services and, in some cases, refreshments and parcel acceptance services. Additionally, coworking helps workers avoid the isolation they may experience while telecommuting, traveling, or working at home,while also eliminating distractions. Some coworking spaces charge membership dues. (source: Wikipedia.org)
A coworking center basically gives you working place for the small amount of money (usually desk and chair, internet, printer and space to meet clients). There is plenty of them in Prague. Coworking is originally intended for freelancers, but could be also used by smaller companies and you will find different types of people there. This will have a great impact not only on your psyche and performance, but also on your network of contacts and future recruitment. You can share advice and experience and you will certainly find valuable information there. Coworking space is commonly accessed on weekdays. However nights and weekends are also available for those who are interested in the non-regular workshifts. What else does a startup entrepreneur want?