The reason for the phenomenon of many people rushing to register to use virtual office services can be summed up in the phrase: economic recession.
Companies specializing in providing virtual office services said that in just six months since the beginning of the global economic crisis, the number of customers registering to use virtual office services has increased dramatically.
This is an “unimaginable” number for virtual office services, which are still quite new in the Vietnamese market. The cause of this phenomenon can be summed up in one phrase: economic recession.
Thriving in Recession
The policy of cutting costs and narrowing operations to survive of many businesses when the economy falls into recession has brought opportunities for the virtual office business sector.
Mr. Huynh Quang Viet, Deputy General Director of Incomnet Company - service provider G-Office, specializing in virtual office rental services, said the company was established more than two years ago. In the first two years of operation, the company only had 160 customers. But since the economic crisis, the number of customers has increased by more than 100% up to the present time.
A customer using the “virtual office” service, specializing in providing equipment for the textile industry, previously had an office in Dong Nai, said that in the current difficult situation, the company’s customers are gradually decreasing, if they still have to maintain the operation of an office with a cost of hundreds of millions of VND/month, it will be difficult to afford.
Meanwhile, using a "virtual office" costs less than 20% above and still provides all the amenities of a real office, so his company has switched to using virtual office services for nearly four months now.
Director of Royal Accounting Consulting Company (RCA), Mr. Pham Quang Hung, said that his company has two offices, one in Go Vap district and one in Vung Tau city. Due to the need to expand business, RCA intends to open more offices in some central districts of the city but is confused because of the high cost. Several tens of millions of VND/month for rent, security, reception, electricity, water... but only receive a few partners a month.
Not to mention the additional initial fixed investments such as: rental deposit, office redesign, equipment purchase... but for some reason having to move or the landlord taking back the premises, the above fixed investments are almost lost.
Through some media and self-study, Mr. Hung decided to choose to use the virtual office service of the service. G-Office, because it meets the requirements of a real office but at a quarter of the cost and the business efficiency is no different from a real office.
Mr. Dinh Minh Chinh, Director of Search World Company Limited, specializing in website design and providing industrial machinery, has rented a virtual office inG-Office, recounted that two years ago he opened a company at his home on D1 Street, Binh Thanh District.
Because the company office is located in a deep alley, it is very difficult to find, while his customers are many and most of them are foreign partners. Every time a customer comes to contact him for a transaction, he has to call and he has to run to the entrance of Van Thanh market to pick them up, which is very inconvenient. However, since switching to virtual office services from mid-2006 until now, his business has been better.
“At first, many customers were hesitant when they saw me using a virtual office, but after a while, they understood better and some customers also asked for instructions to register to use this service,” said Mr. Chinh.
There is still much potential.
Mr. Huynh Quang Viet, Incomnet Company, said that this service has been developed abroad for a long time, but in Vietnam it has only appeared in the last two or three years. The price for customers to have a virtual office is from 50 - 179 USD/month, depending on the customer's package needs.
This form of business has not faced much competition because there are too few companies providing virtual office services, operating mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. According to Mr. Viet, the potential of this market in Vietnam is still quite attractive.
Mr. Viet cited that in Ho Chi Minh City alone, according to statistics from the Department of Planning and Investment, by the end of December 2008, there were about more than 300,000 registered businesses operating, scattered everywhere, not to mention other provinces and cities across the country.
Currently, most businesses do not know about this service because it is still very new in Vietnam. On the other hand, businesses that provide this service rarely advertise it. Customers learn about the service and register themselves.
Meanwhile, according to experts, the world economy will continue to face difficulties in 2009, and that is considered an opportunity for the virtual office service business to develop strongly in Vietnam.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Duc, Director of Phu Hung Long Company Limited, specializing in software business, said that he has known about virtual offices for a long time, but was not interested because he was afraid that his partners would think that virtual is something unreal, and if used, he would lose customers.
But with the current difficult economic situation, to reduce costs, his company is considering using this type of office when the lease ends next August.
Virtual office (Virtual Office) What is that?
Simply put, when you need to rent a office (virtual) to open a company or make a transaction place, the virtual office service company will provide you (real) with all the necessary facilities such as company signboard, meeting room, projector, telephone, fax, e-mail, website, address to contact customers, receptionist and correspondence...
When you own a virtual office, you can work anywhere without having to go to the company. The leasing unit's staff is responsible for answering the phone, then transferring information to the leasing business. For meetings and conferences, the leasing business can completely use the services and shared meeting rooms.
(Nguyen Quan - Saigon Economic Times)
