Thanks Virtual Barbara for your opinion, getting a PO address for my business at this start-up phase is addition cost I have to incur. It was 5% of my start-up budget for the size I wanted but now I will used my home address till I get an office outside home.

Emmanuel>

We have a P.O. Box in the city, which is what I think I will use on correspondences.

I have one and can't really remember the size. I originally got it for my clothing/accessories business and ended using it for all of my other business. It works for me because sometimes I have returns/exchange and wouldn't want anyone with my home address.

Best,
fe

I use a local business called Ship On Site (something like the UPS store). What I like about this is it's more than just a P.O. Box. It provides you with an address to give clients that can accept packages as well as regular mail. For instance sometimes my transcription client is out of town and unable to send me digitally an audio to be transcribed. In those rare cases they will send it either overnight express or priority mail, which as we know PO boxes won't accept. Ship on Site will accept it. The other plus with Ship on Site is they send me an email whenever I receive mail. This way I only have to go there when I know I have something to pick up.

Because I work from home this is an excellent option for me. I even used this service when I had an office outside of my home.

Odetta Taylor
Alternate Office Solutios

I do have a P.O. box and agree that it is good to separate business from personal. I feel it's a little safer also.

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Deanna - Owner

I started my VA Business last April and did open up a mailbox a couple months later when I saw that it is a good idea to keep personal and business mail separated. I kept it up until the end the year. I decided not to renew because so far my clients haven't wanted to send anything via mail, it is all electronic. I am just starting out and want to cut some costs and I felt the PO Box was an expense I no longer needed to pay.

I like having a separate USPS p.o. box which also allows me to use the street address of the post office on my sales materials.

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Doris

PO Boxes, in the UK anyway, give the impression that a business has something to hide.

I know from personal experience if I am corresponding with a view to purchase, if the address is a PO BOX, I take my business elsewhere. It may be different outside of the UK but if you are a legitimate business, there is no reason not to have a bricks and mortar address as a contact point.

Hi Simon G.,

You provide an interesting perspective.

The reason that a bricks and mortar address is not always the desirable solution is that business owners do not want to use a home address. Nowadays with business addresses appearing on Google Maps and other GPS programs, this reduces privacy and incurs a fine line between business and personal locations.

There are services such as Mailboxes Inc., that provide an actual address but it is a paid service and for newbies, it can be expensive to purchase. Further some of us do not receive a good deal of mail so it would not be an economical solution.

Hence, the PO box which I use.

I would say that if a business is virtual and people know it, they are less likely to judge that it have a physical address. Of course a bricks and mortar business would suggest that a physical location be utilized.

Thank you for your input.

Janine

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Hi Janine

It must be a UK thing then, as a small business running from home using a home address holds much more credibility than a business with a mailbox or PO Box.