Saving Money - Virtual Office

Henrik Klouseman, owner of Sun-Eigenschaften Übersee in Germany has a winning formula. Selling overseas properties in boom time is easy, but when times get tough, you have to change and adapt to the economic conditions otherwise you soon become a statistic and the business goes under.

Henrik noticed that property sales had started to diminish and looked for a solution that would instantly reduce costs. One of the first things that all companies look at is the “luxuries’”, such as new computer system, company nights out etc. But this wasn’t enough, the costs were still too much.

Faced with making redundancies Henrik had one last option. He set up a PC at his house, which would act as a server. He then purchased his 5 employees a laptop each and broadband USB key. He then advised them all to work from home and he closed the office. Henrik then opened a virtual office in Berlin. Because the office address was in a more prestigious address the outside world saw that he was expanding. The virtual office also offered call answering service, which allowed him to redirect all calls to the relevant staff.

This saved Henrick approx 7,500 Euros’ per month

Office 5750 Euros Per Month
Utilities 100 Euros Per Month
Server & PBX rental Cost 500 Euros Per Month
Office Water cooler 15 Euros Per month
Office Receptionist 975 Euros Per Month

This was a massive saving of nearly 90,000 Euro per Year.

Each sales person logs on and reports for work over the phone. All work is still logged through the home server and is monitored to make sure all employees are still working.

This move has been a positive one with the employees. Their performance has improved and this is possibly because there is no travel time and no expectation of dress code therefore less time is taken to get ready for work, plus there is no travel time home either. Employees feel that they can spend more time at home with their family (or more time in bed as one employee told us).

Because of this virtual office solution Henrik is looking to expand his operation. He is now considering opening another virtual office in Frankfurt. Henrik’s only complaint is that it will take him 2 months living in a hotel in Frankfurt when he sets it up. This is to ensure that he employs the correct people for the job and also makes sure he is on hand to iron out any teething problems.

Henrik is very excited about the expansion and hopes to roll this out further in the future. Henrik said, “I wish I had implemented this a couple of years ago”

Written By: Sam Wilson (Berlin Business News)