- What is a Satellite Office?
- Vetting the Satellite Office that Makes Sense for Your Business
- Successful Satellite Offices
Q: How can you choose the best satellite office for your growing business when so many options exist?
A: The task of choosing the right satellite office to expand your remote business can be more effective by following the vetting process below.
Have you recently witnessed businesses rapidly scaling and expanding within their industry?
The pandemic made in-person work impossible for many businesses, giving rise to the necessity of working remotely. This fact, in turn, has forced industry leaders to ‘reimagine’ where and how work gets done.
The future of work will continue to evolve post-pandemic, but many experts are forecasting an increase in geographically disbursed workers and office real estate holdings.
PwC, the world’s second-largest professional services network firm, predicts that many companies will consolidate office space and open more satellite offices.
Business owners have quickly discovered that working online without a traditional office lease has many benefits, and workers enjoy the flexibility and freedom remote work provides. Workers can collaborate wherever they might be located or utilize satellite offices in specific regions.
Alternatively, solopreneurs may work from the privacy of their homes, but they may desire to have their business(es) located in specific geographical areas by using satellite and virtual offices.
LISTEN: Transitioning to a Virtual Business with Frank Cottle
A virtual office address gives business owners the freedom and flexibility to work from anywhere and run more than one business from the comfort of their homes – or from the road.
Simply put, the shift to remote workspaces provides benefits that traditional offices do not.
While some business models perform better operating from a 100 percent virtual stance, others have discovered that a hybrid approach works better.
According to The New York Times, “office spaces remain an important part of supporting our hybrid approach to work in the future. The pandemic, I think, has changed people’s perception of what’s possible in terms of geographic distribution.”
As commerce continues to shift to a digital-first modality across a multitude of industries, it’s essential that entrepreneurs and traditional businesses alike become more agile and have the ability to operate independently from geographic constraints.
Satellite offices can provide large companies, smaller firms, and independent workers the ability to conduct business and have a presence in whatever location is most effective. These satellite locations may simply be recognized business addresses – or physical locations that provide workers and solopreneurs access to on-demand office space in a desirable location.
- What is a Satellite Office
- Vetting the Satellite Office that Makes Sense for Your Business
- Successful Satellite Offices
What is a Satellite Office?
A satellite office is a smaller portion of a larger company whose main office is in a different location. These are also referred to as branch offices. The amount of space separating the main headquarters from the satellite office is entirely dependent on the desires and goals of the company, ranging from right down the street to all the way across the globe.
Satellite offices have become increasingly popular for established and growing businesses to create accommodations for their employees while benefiting the business as a whole.
Understanding Legal and Financial Regulations
Though satellite offices take less planning and preparation compared to traditional office leases, it’s necessary to make sure that you’re aware of the legal and financial laws in the new location(s). Whether it’s one satellite office or hundreds, it’s often assumed that since the new satellite office is still a part of the original business, the laws on which it operates will remain the same, but this isn’t always the case.
Some suburban areas are subjected to complicated regulations that must be followed, despite the location of a separate business headquarters. To be on the safe side, business owners should consult with a local attorney to review the specific laws for business in a new satellite location.
Read More: The Best Place to Start a Business Isn’t a “Place” at all
Using Your Satellite Offices
There are five significant benefits of setting up a satellite office when it comes to expanding your business.
Virtual office access
The perception of your company is crucial, meaning that having a new address that is more recognizable to customers, clients, and investors can go a long way in improving your company’s perception outside of your primary headquarters.
A satellite office with a new virtual office address also paves the way for new business growth. Business owners can position a satellite office in a location near new industries, diverse cultures, professional talent, and networking possibilities.
New market expansion
Reaching new markets is an integral part of growing a business. With a satellite office, the option to physically gain insight into new geographical areas and learn firsthand what these potential customers expect and need based on trends, behaviors, and immediate reactions.
A satellite office location can give established online businesses the opportunity to discover new commercial partners and professionals within a new region.
Proximity and access to new clients and talent
When expanding a business, it’s likely that new goals will be set, requiring new employees with different ranges of skill sets. Unfortunately, there is only a limited number of hirable employees within the scope of commute of a business’s primary headquarters location, meaning that though it’s very possible to find great employees that fit business needs, they are limited.
According to Cloverpop, diverse teams are 87% better at decision-making than non-diverse teams, meaning that if your business lacks diversity, you could be potentially wasting a LOT of time.
In addition, satellite offices open up the possibility of gaining new talent in a broader range of areas, allowing for more diversity and quicker business advancements.
Establishing local credibility, presence, and better customer experience
Providing excellent customer service is essential to business success. According to a survey of 1500 Americans, over one-fourth of consumers prefer to shop locally because they feel they receive better service.
A satellite office can be one way for businesses to provide products, solutions, and services for a specific geographic market. Your business can create a footprint in a specific city by utilizing a virtual office plan for your satellite office in that area.
In-person customer service also allows customers to humanize businesses, as they’re speaking to another human face-to-face rather than communicating through technology.
As a result, questions and concerns can be immediately answered, and business-to-customer connections can more easily form, ensuring that the customers are happy and increasing the likelihood of their loyalty when needing future services.
Consider using a virtual receptionist service from Alliance Virtual Offices rather than screening and answering customer calls. Live, friendly virtual receptionists trained to answer your business calls will improve customer service.
Reduce the burden of long commutes
With in-person work environments becoming an option again, many companies are making it mandatory for employees to do so after two years of working remotely.
The issue with this is that many employees chose to move to different locations around the country under the assumption that their job was permanently remote, making it impossible to make the daily commute to work.
By obtaining a satellite office, employees can return to the office using on-demand meeting rooms and coworking centers. These can be located in a satellite office registered through your virtual office address. The ROI you save by using virtual offices rather than a traditional lease will allow your established business to allocate funds for more strategic areas.
It’s important to note that commuting is also a real source of climate-altering gas. Less commuting reduces your business’s environmental impact, as it equals fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by mandatory daily commutes by all employees.
This is why more and more businesses are embracing the hybrid work model. Your satellite office can serve as a hub for only essential or quarterly business meetings. Utilizing a virtual office plan with meeting rooms or coworking availability can provide you with the on-demand workspace needed to accomplish this.
Read more: Green Business Ideas for Eco-minded Solopreneurs | Sustainable Business Ideas and Trends
Vetting the perfect satellite office
Imagine this scenario:
You type “satellite office” into Google search, only to be met with thousands upon thousands of options, all seemingly offering the same thing, making the decision of which website to click impossible.
Searching for a satellite office completely blind will present you with stress and irritation. You want nothing but to find the best virtual business address for your remote business, but it’s taking hours of valuable time that could be used for completing other tasks.
The likelihood of saying “forget it” becomes greater the more time you spend searching, resulting in choosing an option that’s just okay and costing you more than you originally wanted to spend.
This is what you aren’t going to do.
The more thought and consideration that goes into setting up a satellite office, the easier and quicker the process will be for business owners and employees. Knowing that time is money, make sure to go through these seven considerations when expanding your business with a satellite office.
7 innovative metrics for your satellite office checklist
- Location
- Cost
- Comfort
- Technology
- Flexibility
- Lowered Health Risk
- Mental Health
Location
Determining where in the world you want to conduct your business is crucial in setting up the best satellite office for your established company. Make sure to keep your business goals, employees, current customers, and target audiences in mind when making this decision.
Signs That You’re on the Right Track – A satellite office is:
- Safe
- Close to amenities
- Reasonable distance to potential clients, partners, and customers
- Provides a business address in a prestigious area
These are all great signs that you’re well on your way to finding the best location to house your expanding business.
National or International?
Choosing a satellite office to expand your business in or out of the United States is exciting. The best part is that it isn’t permanent, making it far less risky than a standard office lease.
National satellite office addresses are perfect for established businesses that have outgrown their current office space, are curious to test out new markets within the states, or simply want to lessen the commute for their employees.
The option to set up as many national satellite offices as your business goals require is well within reach in business expansion.
International satellite office addresses make expansion options endless, allowing you to test overseas markets and make sure reality matches your vision before taking the full plunge into international waters by committing to expensive leases.
Regardless of your decision, satellite offices allow you to diversify your workforce, clients, and partnerships beyond the pool of possibilities in only your area.
Read more: Should You Take Your Domestic Business International?
Cost
It’s time to determine a budget for your satellite office.
In addition to desires of space, appearance, and proximity, be sure to account for vital services like:
- Water and sewer
- Gas
- Electric
- Technology
- Wi-Fi
- Maintenance
- Repairs
While it’s known that satellite offices are easier on the wallet than brick-and-mortar business address leases, you can also get better satellite office locations in states throughout the U.S. that fit your budget better than others.
State 1: Wyoming
Wyoming is an extremely popular state to set up a satellite office for growing businesses, as they don’t impose state taxes, provide substantial asset protection benefits, and allow for business filing to be done from the comfort of your own computer, meaning that there’s no need to travel to the state unless you prefer to do so.
View affordable satellite offices in Wyoming provided by Alliance Virtual Offices.
State 2: Delaware
Filing fees in Delaware are lower than in most states, making it popular amongst businesses looking to expand. Delaware is also known within the nation for its Court of Chancery. It is recognized for determining disputes involving internal affairs for thousands of businesses, making it a favorable location to set up the best satellite office to grow your business.
View affordable satellite offices in Delaware provided by Alliance Virtual Offices.
State 3: South Dakota
While, unlike the other states mentioned above, South Dakota does require a local registered agent when filing taxes, the process is still very straightforward. In addition, the state doesn’t impose income or corporate tax, and business owners specifically don’t need to worry about personal property or business inventory tax.
View affordable satellite offices in South Dakota provided by Alliance Virtual Offices.
Read more: How to Reduce Operating Expenses in Business
Comfort
When investing in any space for your business, regardless of the number of locations throughout the country or around the world, you want to make sure that it’s a comfortable space that you love and feel proud to share with peers, clients, and customers.
Being comfortable in your surroundings is also directly correlated to productivity. Unhappy employees get distracted easier. This happens because the brain circulates on the thought of being uncomfortable, resulting in less concentration on their job, a greater risk of mistakes, and lower quality or less work completed.
Alliance Virtual Offices keeps this in mind by providing satellite office spaces in 45 of the 50 states in the United States, as well as 44 countries worldwide.
Technology
When a business expands to locations outside its original headquarters, ensuring the office has effective technology is more critical than ever.
It’s necessary to ensure that your satellite office has fast internet coverage that you can trust to supply accessible, consistent, and reliable communication with clients, customers, partners, and, most importantly, the employees within the company in another location.
Flexibility
How much flexibility does your business require?
Considering your business’ flexibility needs will greatly slim down the number of options to weed through, making it significantly easier to find the best satellite office for your growing business.
Online, hybrid, or in-office: The phrase “satellite office” gives the impression that a business must be wholly virtual, always conducted online, but that isn’t the case. While the option to work online with your satellite office is definitely a popular pull, with select virtual providers like Alliance Virtual Offices, the opportunity to physically use a reputable business space, any number of days per week, is possible in one of two packages offered.
This space can be used in a number of ways:
- Receiving packages and business mail
- Meeting rooms
- Book workstations
- Private and secure office space
Meeting Arrangements
It’s possible that your business growth simply requires a space to meet with clients or partners only a few days per week, month, or even year. In this case, signing a lease on a standard business office is a huge waste of money.
With a satellite business office, you can easily rent out a specific space for only a few hours at a time.
With a satellite office, you can choose when, where, and how often you want to work in the office.
Rent a Satellite Office for the Hour with Alliance Virtual Offices’ coworking or flex space solutions!
Lowered Health Risks
With satellite offices being much smaller than the main headquarters of a business, the number of employees working in the office at one time is significantly less, allowing for health risks from sicknesses to be lowered.
Satellite offices also often lessen the need for extended periods of time on public transport systems since the office location is closer to their homes, meaning fewer people and less contact with someone who is potentially unknowingly sick.
Mental Health
Studies estimate that Americans spend one-third of their lives working, meaning that working in a space that prioritizes mental health is extremely important to overall well-being. Flexible workspaces have been directly linked to positive impacts on mental wellness, and it’s at the top of employees’ list of desires.
Choosing to participate in the mental-wellness first workspace by choosing to expand your business with a satellite office not only lessens turnover rates but also increases productivity and quality of work.
Successful Satellite Offices
One of the most significant selling points for obtaining a satellite office when you’re questioning if it’s the right decision for your business is to learn the success others have had by already taking the jump.
Employee Success
A recent Google study found equal productivity and well-being standards for employees working in satellite offices compared to traditional workspaces.
Increased Connection
Many remote teams even express that they feel more connected to their team members due to the difference in responsibility and unique ways of collaboration.
Increased Retention
Many employees have found transitioning from full-time remote work to in-office work difficult. Some employees even choose to take their talent elsewhere and commit to another company that offers the option of fully remote working, causing problems for retention for employers.
However, up to 50% of employees say that they would reconsider quitting their current company if presented with the option to relocate to a different office location, as they’re excited about the potential to grow with the company and experience a new setting.
Refreshed Mind and Body
Satellite offices provide the opportunity to create a new culture within the office space, creating a refreshed outlook on the responsibilities of the job. Employees state that this small change has done wonders for their mental and physical health.
Satellite office occupancy and global success
The curiosity, growth, and success of satellite businesses have expanded in the United States and across the country; some even found success with this technique well before the global pandemic.
Japan
In 2010, Sansan, a company based in Kamiyama-Cho, Japan, started its satellite office journey to explore new working methods. Their risk of attempting the satellite office paid off, quickly growing due to the teleworking technique provided by the satellite office.
United Kingdom
Business Hampshire, a nonprofit commerce organization located in the countryside of the United Kingdom, decided to focus on the well-being of its employees and the environment. The business advisory group also promotes Hampshire, U.K. as a great place for urban-based businesses to open satellite offices.
Andy Hodgkinson, MIRCS Director of Office Advisory at Lambert Smith Hampton, states that the transfer to a satellite office has created a substantial positive impact on productivity levels, specifically from the increased well-being of their employees.
“Replacing the grind of the daily commute with time to focus on health and wellbeing has been a huge positive to come out of lockdown,” Hodgkinson said.
“We’re seeing an increase in business focus on productivity, well-being, and workforce safety. Adopting a hub and spoke approach with an increase in regional office space will remove the long commute, facilitate collaboration, and support employee connection to their employer brand.”
United States
The popular phone service company, AT&T, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, began its telecommuting journey all the way back in 1991, giving its employees the option to work from home or from satellite offices around the United States.
This decision has saved them $550 million in cash flow by consolidating and eliminating unneeded office space and reducing overhead costs. AT&T also states that their employees feel as though their productivity and work effectiveness has increased by 87% after adapting to the alternative workspace.
Further reading
- Mindful at Work: A Simple Practice Can Increase Productivity and Promote Wellness
- The Best States for Business Taxes
- Unique Coworking Spaces You Should See Now
- How to Create Exceptional Meeting Spaces to Attract Customers
Your Satellite Office
As an established business owner, the continued success of your company is a main priority. Finding ways to grow your business while not breaking the bank can be difficult, but the rise of the satellite office has shown to be incredibly beneficial in reaching the goals of business owners.
Whether your goals are to expand your market, explore commercial partnerships, increase the quality of life for your employees, or lower business costs, Alliance Virtual Offices is here to make your vetting process quick and easy, providing you with the best satellite office location for your business. If it’s time for your established remote business to branch out to new locations, join the satellite office movement! Learn how easy forming new satellite office business locations can be with a virtual office plan from Alliance Virtual Offices.