VietNamNet Bridge – The demand for virtual offices has become so increasing high that 20 investors have developed this kind of service in HCM City alone.

Virtual offices in high demand

Tran Le Thuy, Director of a consultancy firm with the head office on a small alley in Binh Thanh district, said she has made a wise decision of leasing a virtual office on Le Thanh Ton street in district 1.

Thuy believes this was a wise decision because the virtual head office has helped her a lot in doing business and meeting partners.

Thuy estimates that she has to spend some VND3 million a month to maintain the address and basic office services, a modest sum of money which can bring high benefits.

“The office is located on the sixth floor of a building in the central area of HCM City, with air conditioners, printers and telephones,” she said. “It looks much better than the actual office with the small total area of 15 square meters on the alley with full of desks and documents.”

Especially, Thuy said, it is more convenient for her partners to have meetings at the leased office and discuss business plans.

Tran Thi My Hanh, a senior executive of Fimexco, said Fimexco has been doing this kind of business for the last six years and the company has realized that the demand for virtual offices has been increasingly high.

“Virtual offices can satisfy the requirements of businesses, while they allow them to save money as well,” Hanh said. “Some of our clients, after developing their business well with our virtual office services, have decided to leave and do business with real offices”.

Also according to Hanh, virtual office contracts last one year in general, and have different service fees, depending on the position, office equipments and areas. For example, if clients just need addresses for receiving letters, they would just need the small offices on central streets of Le Thanh Ton or Ly Tu Trong in district 1.

Meanwhile, if clients need modern offices for receiving guests or meetings, they would prefer the larger offices on Nguyen Huu Canh in district 1 or Nguyen Van Troi Street in Phu Nhuan.

Tran Thanh Hung, Managing Director of Central Office, said his office service is priced at between VND900,000 and VND3 million. Hung said the fees are relatively high, because his offices are located on the 16th floor of a modern building with good view on Le Thanh Ton Street, one of the most advantageous positions in HCM City.

The “Superdesk” for 10 directors

No one could imagine before that up to 10 directors of 10 different companies would sit next to each other in the same room instead of 10 separated rooms.

However, this is the scenery seen at many offices in HCM City.

A service package for directors has the monthly fee of VND1.5-3 million. Every client has a desk and office equipments, telephone, fax machine, printer and enjoy cleaning service.

Tran Minh Hai, Director of a transport service firm said that he does not need a large office, and he just needs an address for his company. Therefore, he believes that sharing the office with other directors is a good idea.

When asked about the daily operation of the company, Hai said he would go to meet clients directly every time when he receives order. Meanwhile, the clients, who want to meet him at his company’s office, would be received at the meeting room of the building.

Lao Dong