Vital Help for Virtual Ventures

Question: For months I've been fine-tuning plans for my new business. Considering available funds (modest), time (don't have much) and talent (spread around), the model most likely to work is to operate as a "virtual business." In other words, everyone will work from their own space and we will use technology to link up. Where can I find support services for a virtual venture?

Answer: The virtual biz phenomenon, pioneered by entrepreneurs like you, is transforming how millions of small, successful firms operate in America. Under the virtual model, business owners outsource nearly everything - including people and partners who may be anywhere - to create their company.

The technologies and services to tie it all together are becoming more sophisticated, but less expensive all the time, helping fuel the move to virtual existence.

After eight years working for other public relations agencies, John Jordan launched his own Washington, DC-based firm, Principor Communications, as a virtual organization in 2002. His main reason: to kill the high cost of office space and everything associated with it. His biggest savings, however, have been on labor. "The skilled, experienced professionals who staff my agency are all independent contractors," he says, "including women at home raising young children."

But while the absence of a traditional office might change how you manage people, it doesn't eliminate the need for doing so effectively, notes Jordan.

Andy Bourland and Ann Handley founded the Internet publishing firm ClickZ in 1997 as a virtual business operating from two spare bedrooms. The firm was started with a few barter deals and a low-balance credit card but reached $3 million in revenues. Bourland says the real challenge was not turning a profit, but rather staying in touch, and the partners found the virtual model inefficient.

Eventually, the distractions of working from home and the increasing difficulties in linking virtual components became too much and they rented office space. Within 18 months the business grew from five to 25 people and was acquired by Internet.com.

Staying connected and working in unison are vital to virtual success. Try this:

1. Tap the latest technology to keep everyone in touch. Cell phones, e-mail, follow-me-anywhere messaging and intranets or shared workspaces on the Web can work wonders. The resources listed below will get you started.
   
   
2. Look for ways to foster trust and bonding between individuals involved. When people interact only electronically from remote locations, this becomes even more important. Talk by phone, use Web conferencing and try to meet face to face on occasion.
   
   
3. Leverage the strengths that a virtual business affords, including flexibility (offer short turnaround); low overhead (keep costs lower than the competition) and competence (tout the credentials of your virtual partners).