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GH in the news- @Grasshopper
- Find some of the GH Labs crew & @Chargify at #SXSW http://bit.ly/aGLNUC
- @picobits - We have no immediate plans to implement a softphone feature.
- RT @OPENForum: 4 Employee Benefits at Little (or Zero) Cost. http://www.bit.ly/a42ABx
virtual office Archive
Save $$$ with a Virtual Office
A virtual office can be a great asset for any small business. It can be even more valuable for an entrepreneur just getting a company up and running. With the economy still struggling and everyone working hard to stay profitable, cost-cutting measures are vital.
A virtual office can help you save money in three main areas:
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Office Space
Whether you are working from home, a coffee shop or a co-working space, you can save a lot of money by not leasing out a big office. There are no costs for rent, furniture, office equipment or utilities.
Even more importantly, if you find yourself traveling a lot, working from home or just not spending much time in the office, you are not locked into a lease.
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Travel Expenses
With the average cost of commuting ranging from $110-$648 a month, traveling to work can be expensive. You have gas, maintenance and for some, tolls.
Featured Entrepreneur: Allan Branch of LessAccounting
This week we are featuring Allan Branch. He’s the co-founder of LessAccounting and also a Grasshopper customer.
Could you explain the philosophy of Less?
We believe business software should easy. It should get out of your way, allowing you to get back to work and make money. Being a business owner is hard enough without having your software make it harder.
I’d love to hear more about your path to entrepreneurship. What were you guys doing before you started Less?
I was a freelance designer and Steve was a contractor doing software engineering. We both were looking for each other we just didn’t realize it at the time.
I’d like to focus on LessAccounting for a second. In college, I had to take this awful accounting class where we learned Peachtree accounting software. After this experience, I vowed to stay as far away from accounting as I could. How does LessAccounting help a guy like me (who can barely add)?
We like to say all bookkeeping software sucks we just suck the least. Bookkeeping should be easy, after all it’s really just adding and subtracting. LessAccounting keeps things simple, organizing your data, showing you where you’re at, who owes you money, who you owe money to, and then having a variety of reports that make it easy to understand your business. We also have bookkeepers on staff ready to help you if you have questions and even help balance your books for you. Ask Intuit or Peachtree to help you do a bank reconciliation.
Six Feet of Snow? No Problem with a Virtual PBX
As the half the United States becomes inundated with snow today, offices across the country become empty and productivity is lost.
With today’s technology, many people can work from home using a computer and VPN with no problem but what about those important phone calls? Support, sales, etc.
Can you really afford to miss one, two, five days because of weather?
The nice thing about a virtual PBX is that you can forward calls to ANY number on ANY phone. We say it all the time but it really is a great feature for any business.
An employee simply has to log into your Grashopper account and change their call forwarding number to their home or cell phone. All those calls you could potentially be missing are avoided and the employee doesn’t have to worry about giving clients their personal phone number.
As a business, being able to ensure your customers can reach you and no important calls are missed, despite what is happening with mother nature, is a great feeling.
Balancing Life & Work in a Virtual Office
Many of the customers who use our Virtual PBX service are entrepreneurs starting out in a 1-2 person operation, working out of their homes or even their cars. They have created a virtual office for their business.
There are plenty of articles out there on creating a virtual office but there are not very many on what to do once you have done so. Working in the place you live can lead to unhappiness, burnout and tension at home. However, it can be an ideal situation if you properly balance life & work responsibilities.
Here are three tips for creating a work/life balance in your virtual office:
#1 – Create Boundaries
Set Up an Area Specifically for Work
Having a dedicated area will help you remember that there needs to be a separation between work and the rest of your life. Whether it’s an office in the house, a spare bedroom or a certain corner of the kitchen table, make sure that spot is where work takes place and nothing else.
