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Complacency Isn’t Key, Movement Is

Written by Officense on May 8, 2020. Posted in Blog.

Working from home used to be the world’s dream. Everyone’s on board with having their own home office, no rushed mornings, and no traffic to deal with – as long as it’s their own decision. Once the pandemic broke out, and the world began to panic, being required to stay home stopped sounding appealing. But it’s not a matter of choice at this point.

It’s A Challenge In The “Office”

Remotely working from your home can be a hindrance to productivity – and it has been during the COVID-19 pandemic, as research points out in Stanford News. People struggle daily with adjusting to their new work-from-home lifestyle. They have to focus on their work, while balancing child or pet care, keep up with their wellness and mental health (which you can find some helpful tips about here), and avoid all other distractions, such as their desire to run their own business instead of working for someone else.

That sounds like a hard place to find balance in, and we’re all struggling with it right now. Although it’s been a challenge the world has had to face, this situation can be more than just a hindrance. It can be an opportunity for us as well.

Dream Big, Reach High

Most people have a goal they have yet to complete – a lot of those including starting up their own company. However, it’s hard to focus on starting something like that when you can’t even focus on your current work-from-home requirements. Make it easier on yourself, and bridge the gap. Get help from Officense with virtual office assistants, office space when you need it, and a professional business address.

Here, we can help you regain that focus you’ve been struggling to get back. Have a one-on-one consultation with one of our executive assistants or sales coordinators to discuss your business ideas. Or just use one of our private offices, for a change of scenery, while still complying with the stay-at-home and social distancing orders CDC has in place.

Time To Make Your Move

As humans, we get complacent, and it’s normal – people tend to think it makes them feel more comfortable. But there’s a difference in complacency and comfort. We have adapted to being cooped up inside all day. We are surrounded by the same (maybe annoying, maybe not) people every day, all day long. Our surroundings never change from the workplace to home environment anymore, and things are starting to blur together.

We’ve been stripped of our daily routines all around the world, and were given extreme changes to make, given the circumstances. If we’re not careful, we’ll start forming unhealthy habits and routines, soon to replace our old lifestyles all together. Now is not the time to be complacent. Instead, now is the time to build healthier lifestyle routines and career choices; don’t focus on the now for now, focus on the now for future. It’s like the world kind of hit the reset button for us. So it’s time for us to take this lesson in stride, and flourish.

Let Us Help Your Home Office

At Officense, our executive assistants answer your calls, handle your mail, greet your clients, and provide a corporate feel with an impressive, professional business address. We provide high-end business facilities with fully furnished office spaces (either dedicated to you, or a la carte). We also have conference rooms available by the hour as well. An instant office when you need it, executive phone services for a professional feel, and an impressive staff to help with your administrative tasks. Give Officense a call at (410) 814-7500, or send an email to info@officense.com. We can schedule a tour for you to see your new office and meet your new staff. Stay healthy, stay safe, and we’ll look forward to seeing you soon!

“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.”
– Benjamin E. Mays

Stir-Crazy with Covid-19

Written by Joya Tamrakar on May 1, 2020. Posted in Blog.

We’ve now been in various states of stay at home for nearly two months now. During that time, many of us had to learn how to work from home, work in an office by ourselves, and otherwise practice social distancing. Humans are, by nature, social creatures. Having the separation from others of our species like this tends to fray our nerves, stress us out, and otherwise diminish our health and happiness. As this explore-life.com article says “We are social animals. We crave contact with others for support, wellbeing and entertainment.”

Health and Happiness Loss

As modern-day technology has spread like wildfire through our lives, our social interactions have diminished. Adding in Covid-19 to that and we now sometimes don’t see anyone for days at a time…and then only though a window as they pass by walking their dogs. Our social skills are being hit, our happiness and health are being punished, and our work can suffer from lack of proper office space.

Social Distancing Got You Down?

Do you still want to obey the social distancing aspects of Covid-19 but want a bit more of a lively feel around you? Are you bored to tears of seeing the same walls day in and day out? Do you long to hear another humans voice, even if its another room over? There is a way you can do that. All you need to do is rent office space from Officense.

The Solution

We have many office spaces that you can rent for a large variety of times from hourly to monthly and more. We also have conference rooms that can be utilized for video conferencing among other things. Our receptionist staff are here to help in any way you need, from organizing photographs for homes for sale, to taking minutes at a virtual meeting, to printing out copies for you, or forwarding your mail we can do it all.

Contact Us!

Please give us a call at 410-814-7500, visit our website at Officense, email us at info@officense.com, or don your mask and come meet us in person at 300 East Lombard St. Baltimore, MD 21202. We look forward to speaking with you soon and helping improve your health and happiness (as well as your work productivity!).

Small Businesses coping with COVID-19 uncertainty

Written by Joya Tamrakar on April 24, 2020. Posted in Blog.

COVID-19 continues to spread very quickly around the world and almost every country has reported cases. With the rapid increase in COVID-19, the lives of people and their businesses have become uncertain. It has not only challenged health care systems, but also the livelihoods of the people and the stability of economies. Countries along with the business have been facing challenges and the questions on, how to restart the economy? what measures need to be addressed to restart safely? when to proceed and bring lives to normal?

The uncertainty remains and the impact it has on small businesses is very high. Small businesses across the country are already feeling its negative impact on their business. According to the data from the National Federation of Independent Business show, 74% of small businesses say they are not yet impacted by the pandemic, while 23% say they are being negatively affected. Just 3% report positive impacts. The group polled a random sample of 300 of its 300,000 members on Tuesday and Wednesday from employers with up to 120 workers. Of those who said they were not being impacted, nearly half anticipate the outbreak to affect their business if the virus spreads to or more broadly within their immediate area over the next three months.

Being a small business, we completely understand what you are going through. At the moment the businesses will need to plan more diligently on restarting their business. Officense can provide the tools you need to keep your firm operational during these trying times. Officense is rolling out special 30-Day Remote Work Plans which will allow firms to adapt to social distancing guidelines.

1.) Phone Answering
We assign you a dedicated phone number to forward your office phones to. Then, our live receptionists will answer your incoming calls with your custom greeting as if they are your own employees. They will screen callers for information, enabling them to forward each call to the right individual regardless of where they are working—at home, in another state, or overseas. Plans start at $89 per month for MSBA Members, with pricing to scale with call volume.

2.) Business Address, Private Mailbox, and Mail Forwarding Service
Enhance your business image with a professional private mailbox, and a prestigious business address with a suite number. We can forward your mail to your home or deliver it curbside if you prefer not to come into the building. Call us for special 30-day pricing.

3.) Virtual Reception and Administrative Support
Whatever type of front-office business service you need, we can provide. Bank visits, translations, transcriptions, copy/scan/fax, mail and email services, bookkeeping, billing and collections, notary public, and much more.

4.) Private Office Space and Conference Rooms
If you’ve been using public places, or even coworking space to meet with clients or associates, now’s the time to limit your exposure with a more secure, professional option. Our meeting rooms vary in size to suit your needs. And because we are a boutique firm, our office locations are smaller, there are no crowds, and all rooms are sanitized thoroughly after every meeting.

Additionally, OFFICENSE is offering free guidance to those applying for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). These loans are available to small businesses, as well as sole proprietors and independent contractors and a portion of the loan may be forgiven if firms maintain their staff and operations through the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information regarding remote work plans or guidance applying for SBA Paycheck Protection Loans contact OFFICENSE at 410-814-7500 or email info@officense.com.

Commitment to Clients – How OFFICENSE is Coping with Coronavirus

Written by Officense on April 20, 2020. Posted in Blog.

Officence: Instant Business Office

The following is an update from Nirmal Kedia (President) and Noah Shumway (Director – Sales & Marketing) of OFFICENSE on how they are adapting and coping during these times.

OFFICENSE has been supporting local businesses since 2006. We are in the professional image business. Whether it’s when your potential clients meet you at your office in our facilities, when they look you up online, or when they interact with your company on the phone, OFFICENSE ensures you are projecting a consistent, professional image at a fraction of the traditional costs.

Specifically, we assist companies by offering flexible workspace solutions, live answer phone services, and highly customized administrative services that go far beyond just office rental. Our customers include large or small companies including contractors, attorneys, mental health counselors, CPR training companies, non-profits, IT services companies, state and federal government contractors, medical research companies, and many more. These companies rely on us to receive their phone calls, sort their mail, process their checks and payments, and provide technology and communications support so that their staff can work effectively, whether it is from their offices or their homes.

How have you altered your business to adapt to the quarantine?
Because of our obligation to sustain our clients’ businesses, OFFICENSE has made every effort to work with our clients, and a commitment to continuing to providing the critical essential infrastructure they’ve come to depend on. We offered flexible work schedules to our essential in-office staff as well as reduced our operating hours to allow for social distancing during peak commuting hours. Much of our support team is already setup to work remotely.

We are quite a bit different from the so-called “coworking” space, in that we offer private meeting rooms for our clients to conduct their business rather than the community type common shared desk spaces. While the openly shared desk coworking model is great for social settings, our private office model is more conducive to conducting business professionally in private and naturally suitable to ensure social distancing.

OFFICENSE has always focused its efforts on offering truly business critical and value-adding support services such as phone answering, custom administrative services, mail handling/processing, and small business consulting. We are proud that we have continued to service our “essential-business” clients by processing their mail, checks, and business-critical communications without any interruptions or lay-offs, while other shared space and rental based coworking companies such as WeWork, Spaces, and Regus have all shut down and cut staff.

Are you doing something for the community or your employees that you want to share with our readers?
We’ve implemented a strategy to continue to operate and assist our clients who are experiencing a dramatic drop in their business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve instituted specific measures to keep our clients and staff safe including limits on the number of people in our office at any given time, regular sanitation of doors, handles, and offices, flexible policies toward delayed payments, and even waived specific fees for those most affected.
We are also offering free loan application advice to our clients applying for the Payroll Protection Program. We realize many small business owners are overwhelmed by the changing rules and guidelines for loan forgiveness, so we’ve taken the initiative to provide one-on-one assistance in applying, as well as additional resources for funding during these difficult times.

We are happy to help any Baltimore business navigate the program and welcome any readers who still have questions about the program to give us a call!

What is the status of your employees?
Unlike many others in the office space rental industry, OFFICENSE has not laid-off or reduced any or our staff and we’ve personally assumed the costs related to these unique circumstances.

We know that part of why our service is so valuable to our clients is because we have the most professional and qualified team of Executive Assistants available. One of the things we are most proud of has been our commitment to our staffs’ well-being, their quality of life through flexible work schedules and our ability to continue to support our staff over this difficult time.

How can readers help you get through the crisis?
Actually, we’d like to help your readers. We’d love to engage with any of your readers who are looking for advice on working remotely, learning about options available to establish a “virtual” office, or need assistance answering and forwarding calls to their at-home workforce. We’ve received so much encouraging feedback from companies we work with. They are thrilled that they are able to continue operating as usual thanks to our 24×7 receptionist service, mail forwarding, and customer support.

If any of your readers are interested in strategies to reduce their office overhead, gain truly fail-safe and reliable back-office support, or present a professional image while working from anywhere in the world, we encourage them to reach out to us.

How are you coping, personally?
We are optimistic that we will bounce back when all this is over, and about the resilience of our country and the economy. We are taking this time to reach out to our clients to learn more about their specific struggles. Our entire team has been working together to help each other out and keep up the energy and positivity in the workplace. We hope that every one of your readers are taking this time to reconnect with family and their community!

You can contact OFFICENSE online at www.officense.com or by calling 410-814-7500.

FACING COVID-19: THE STRESS AND STRUGGLES

Written by Officense on April 17, 2020. Posted in Blog.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/02/02/11/09/office-620822_960_720.jpg

Everybody knows the rules, we see them popping up on the news all the time: Stay at home. Stay inside. Stay 6 feet away from everyone. Keep gloves, a mask, and maybe even hand sanitizer on you at all times. This guidance is looking more and more like the new norm for society.

COVID-19 GUIDANCE IS TAKING A TOLL

You can ask people if they think the actions being taken are necessary, and most will say yes. (After all, we have to admit it’s been slowing the virus down. Not to mention mother nature seeing tremendous improvements for the first time in a long while.) However, we all know the saying: Every action has a consequence. These mostly-beneficial actions have their own share of consequences, too. In a recent Forbes issue, the author, Tracy Brower, states some extreme post-coronavirus statistics.

“67% of people report higher levels of stress since the outbreak of COVID-19,” writes Brower. “57% say they have greater anxiety since the outbreak. 54% say they are more emotionally exhausted. 53% say they feel sadness day-to-day…” Her stats only continue.
Tracy Brower, Forbes

As human beings, we require certain things to maintain healthy operational levels – and many of the actions being taken are weighing heavily on peoples’ overall well-being. Many people working from home are losing their motivation. Individuals everywhere are feeling overwhelmed and burdened by the COVID-19 circumstances. Even those who aren’t stressed by the outbreak itself are still affected through their interactions with the world. There’s no question that everyone altered their lifestyles, some drastically, to meet the new regulations: from work, to school, to home, to leisure. No wonder people haven’t balanced their sense of well-being. Many aren’t even sure if their company will still be in good standing once everything is said and done.

OFFICENSE UNDERSTANDS

At Officense, we know how much of a challenge everything is right now. With everyone required to stay at home constantly, it’s easy to lose the drive to do anything – even things you used to really care about. We want you know that you don’t have to be entirely alone in this struggle. While it’s still true that you can’t go out to dinner or a movie or have big family celebrations anymore, you can still try to make the best of a bad situation, just as the rest of the world’s been trying. It’s important to take time during this world-wide crisis to recalibrate your mental state, and grow your well-being. Let your company’s operations be the least of your worries right now, that’s what Officense is here for.

HELPFUL SERVICES

We can help you on the business and financial aspect of things. Officense offers virtual administrative assistance, with a fully trained team of executive assistants handling anything from your phone calls, mail receiving and forwarding, scans and faxes, and even private meeting rooms, which are also in compliance with the social distancing order. Our plans are very flexible, with both long-term and short-term options, such as our 30-day services for those affected by COVID-19 and only need space for a temporary period.

Virtual Office Baltimore: Officense, Virtual Office, Virtual Assistant, Business Address

Officense is also offering free assistance in applying for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is a forgivable loan for businesses to pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis designed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While you let Officense take some worries off your plate with your business’ administrative operations, and the loan application assistance, you can have more time to focus on what is starting to really matter during these times – you and your families mental state.

FOR MORE INFO OR TO CONTACT OFFICENSE

To find out more information on the COVID-19 relief program, please visit: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp

To download the PPP application PDF, please visit: https://www.sba.gov/document/sba-form–paycheck-protection-program-borrower-application-form

You can reach us at 410-814-7500, or send an email with any assistance or inquiries to info@officense.com. Our office hours are currently 10 AM to 4 PM, Monday thru Friday. We are still available to meet in person, if you’d like to tour the space and get a chance to see all we have to offer on site. Our office is located at 300 E. Lombard St., Suite 840, Baltimore, MD 21202. We, over at Officense, hope things haven’t been too straining on you or your loved ones through this time of need, and we are sending our warm wishes to you all. Hope to help you and your company soon!

Category: Blog