Virtual Resources

By Trishan Arul    June 16, 2009

In the last post, I discussed how the decreasing price and increasing availability of a wide variety of services have enabled entrepreneurs to run a “virtual company” by outsourcing many of the functions that comprise departments at larger companies. This time, I’m providing a list of various services that can help you create your virtual business. This is by no means an exhaustive list and while I may use some providers, I’m not endorsing any company – I’m just providing some examples to give you a start. Feel free to add more suggestions in the comments.

People Resources:

• PartnerUp – search listings of opportunities or people looking for new opportunities
• Fairsoftware – Propose a software project, outline terms (revenue share), and find developers
• Werkadoo – Remote work environment pulling together people and companies
• Virtual Assistant – Company (one of many) that provides executive assistants to handle administrative tasks
• Finance & IT - Shameless plug for our firm! But that’s the last one. At least in this post…

Website & Email:

• Squarespace – Inexpensive website & blog hosting with simple to use tools
• Wordpress – Blog hosting & software to power your own blog or a simple CMS for an entire website
• Google Apps – cloud based email, calendar, intranet, or website with mobile sync

Production Hosting:

• Amazon Web Services – Scalable, pay as you go, remote computing infrastructure including virtual servers and storage.
• Rimu Hosting – Virtual servers running a variety of software platforms

Productivity Applications:

• Open Office -Full Office suite comparable to Microsoft Office with Linux, Mac OS, and Windows versions
• Google Docs – Online spreadsheet, word processing, and presentation programs
• Zoho – Suite of web applications geared towards collaboration

Payment Services:

• Google Checkout – Shopping cart application and credit card processing
• PayPal – Credit card processing and online “bank” accounts with website integration tools

Office Space:

• Regus – Executive suites and virtual offices (mailing address)
• Sandbox Suites – Shared office space
• Plug and Play Tech Center – Shared office spaces & startup resources

Logistics & Fulfillment:

• Fulfillment by Amazon – Complete inventory & shipping solution
• Rush Order – Order processing, payment, customer service, warehousing, and shipping

Hope this gives you a head start in creating your new virtual business or for taking your existing business virtual.