Interview - Vladimir Corda, Virtuo

Jul 31, 2019

• How was Virtuo established and what services does it provide?

To be an entrepreneur and start a business is, to put it mildly, a challenge. There are many stumbling blocks on the path to, first, survive on the market and then to grow. Virtuo was established by two people with the goal and desire to provide services that will make the life of entrepreneurs easier.

Virtuo is celebrating its fifth birthday in September. Its birthplace and “nursery” was the business incubator Innovation Centre Banja Luka. We experienced firsthand what it means to be supported in the initial phase and we cherish the same attitude with our clients.

What we provide for our clients is easily explained. We save money! Our clients are those who do not need an actual office because they work from home, travel a lot, work from cafes. Why should you give money on rent, electricity, heating or any other office related expenditure if you use it very rarely or need it only to have a postal address for your business mail.
 

• Who would see Virtuo as an ideal solution, i.e. who needs it the most?

We all strive to make our work as convenient as possible, to reduce stress and increase productivity. People who only need a laptop and internet connection to do their work have realized that they don’t need to spend their entire day in an office, but can work from a café, or a park while enjoying the nature around them, or any other location in the world.

For some people their car is their office. They live in it, work from it, travel tens of thousands of kilometres a year trying to develop their business. However, the state still does not recognize Skoda Octavia with such and such plates as a business address J.

We are a part of the global market. People from abroad place their products on the local market, search for local products and sell them in their countries or simply come seeking a more favourable business environment. Foreigners make up for 45% of our clients because when you run a company from another country what do you need more than a reliable local person J.

This is how I would simply sum up most of our clients. They all have one thing in common. They are in need of an address, a headquarter.
 

• In your experience, what is the greatest benefit of using a virtual office?

We provide a business address, secretarial services, conference rooms and when needed a desk. We support you through the registration process, assist you to find your way through a sea of paperwork, we are someone you can rely on and we get information quickly.

There are two key benefits for our clients:

We save money! Our services cost only a small portion of what our clients would pay for office rent, excluding electricity, water, heating and all the other bills that come with it. It allows them to save up for a bonus salary, summer holidays, winter holidays, sometimes even both.

We give them freedom! Our clients have a business address they never have to actually come to all year round. All the messages and mail they receive they can find on their phone. It is one less thing to worry about.
 

• Why did you pick Serbia as your next step?

Experience and knowledge accumulated in the previous period and the software we have developed are applicable anywhere in the world.

Banjaluka, where Virtuo was first established, is a small market, it limits the opportunities for growth and this is exactly what we wish to do. This is why we have started opening new locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first one was in Brčko and outside Bosnia and Herzegovina Belgrade.

Why Belgrade? We have found an excellent partner! Amazing girls from Clever Ltd. share similar ideas and business approach as us, and they wish to further develop their business. Together, we will establish Virtuo in Belgrade and hopefully other locations in Serbia.
 

• How does Virtuo stand out among the vast number of companies that provide virtual office services and what is the added value that you give?

We see ourselves as a specialized virtual office service provider. This is the framework of what we do and our sole focus. Specializing to provide only a certain type of services perhaps does not make you stand out on the market, but it has enabled us to really analyse our clients’ needs and find the best solutions for them.

We have transferred the entire office and business operations onto client’s phone. Via Android and soon IOS application as well, our clients have all their daily business transactions available to them 24/7. Naturally, there is a web application that ensures they have accessibility to all their data.

Thus, we contribute to the digitization of our clients’ businesses, increase in productivity, efficiency and overall improved running of their businesses.
 

• What’s your next destination, are you thinking about it at them moment?

Of course we are, but we are taking things one step at the time. Right now, our partners and we wish to devote our attention to the offices in Brčko and Belgrade to see what challenges having offices on other locations will bring. Once everything is running smoothly, we will direct our focus to opening new locations and entering the market of other countries outside Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.