The 2020 Gartner CFO Survey talks about how profound the impact of the pandemic has been. Over 74% of employers surveyed talked about how they were looking to shift to a remote workforce permanently.

Work from home was a growing trend even before the pandemic, with an American Community Survey noting that there was an increase of over 173% in the number of hours people worked from home between 2005-2018.

Today, employers are turning to cloud apps to run their businesses virtually. You don’t have to look to run back to your office to get a work printout.

A virtual office is your way forward, and if you’re looking to set up one, here is what you need to know.

Make a business plan that defines the company, what you are going to offer, what your financial projections look like, and your management structure. Based on this, you will be able to identify further needs; for example, what are the tools that your employees need. Zoom is an excellent tool for meetings. Asana is another tool that helps you with project and task management.

Hiring a virtual assistant will help you delegate tasks and take a significant load off your shoulders. They can take care of basic tasks like ordering supplies, organizing documents and tasks, scheduling meetings etc. With the smaller things taken care of, you can focus on the bigger picture. If need be, you can also hire a virtual assistant with specific skills like managing your social media. You can get one from Asksunday or Time etc.

If your business has to look legitimate, you must have a business address. It is also a requisite for business correspondence. Sometimes the law may not allow you to use your residential address as a business address.

Moreover, there is always a security risk with that. You can also go a step further and add on a virtual mailbox service that scans your mail and sends you digital copies.

Another add-on can be a co-working space with basic office necessities, like printers and meeting rooms.

No matter what your business is, you need a phone to communicate with clients and customers. You can acquire a virtual phone system so that your team can collaborate and communicate no matter where they are. They will also be able to send voicemails and faxes.

A virtual phone system can help you record a customized greeting and add departments and employees. You will also need an emailing system like Outlook, Lotus Notes or Gmail. There are more specialized collaboration tools like Slack and Yammer, which you can look into if your business needs them.

With your business being virtual, you will need to move all your data to the cloud. It helps with having everything in one place to keep track of it and access it as and when required. Plus, it offers a lot of security and prevents data loss.

Virtual offices are positively changing the employment landscape, and it has its advantages. However, like any other business, you need to stay organized and available. With the right tools, your virtual office can also be a success.