Does Your Registered Party Matter

If you lot don't want to use your abode address as your business address, you lot have other options to explore.

Man polishing storefront window

Home-based business owners often face a dilemma because they run their business from their dwelling. There are both privacy and safety problems involved with using a person's home address as their publicly-listed business organisation address.

If y'all run a home-based business organisation or are considering starting 1, y'all're likely pondering this question yourself. Y'all may even exist contemplating not using a concrete address at all, especially if you lot run a service-oriented business where clients contact y'all online or over the telephone, and never have to come to your place of business organization.

Some domicile-based business owners use a P.O. Box number as their home address for business organisation. A P.O. Box allows you lot to give out a business concern mailing address without sacrificing either your privacy or rubber. But there are also a number of reasons why you may want—or need—to take an actual concrete accost for your business.

Why Have a Physical Company Address?

In that location are a number of reasons why you may want to accept a physical accost for your business, such every bit:

Trust and credibility. Some clients may steer away from businesses that provide no contact address, or only a P.O. Box number—for instance, people may worry that businesses without physical addresses might disappear without a trace. Depending on your type of business organization, being able to present potential clients with a physical address at which they can contact you lot may assistance your business build both trust and credibility.
Professional person image. According to data released by the U.S. Census Agency in 2011, more than half of businesses responding to the 2007 Survey of Business Owners were home-based businesses; home businesses are obviously alive and doing well in the U.S. today. Despite these statistics, nevertheless, it tin be hard for a home-based business to milk shake the image some clients may accept of the home-based business organization possessor sitting in bed working in his or her pajamas. A physical accost provides your business with a more polished, professional image.
Meeting place for clients. While information technology'due south certainly feasible to meet clients at their places of business, or behave meetings at your local coffee shop, if your business requires a lot of client meetings you lot may eventually want to accept your own place for belongings client meetings. Having a place where you can meet clients as well helps your business to build trust and credibility, as well as enhance your business's professional person image.

How to Go a Business Address

Luckily, there are a number of options available if you find yourself wanting a physical address. While there is a cost involved, each of these options is yet much less than the cost of renting physical function space.

Virtual part space. Virtual part spaces, or virtual business addresses provide you with a professional-looking mailing accost, and many also offer additional features and facilities, such as receptionist services and meeting spaces which can be rented when you demand them.
Mailbox services. When you hire a mailbox at a service such equally those offered at The UPS Store or Mail Boxes Etc., rather than using your mailbox number as the address, you lot tin can use the store'south street address with your mailbox number every bit a suite, or flat number. For businesses that do a lot of shipping there is the added bonus of existence able to make utilise of their other services.
USPS's Street Addressing for P.O. Boxes. The USPS also offers a Street Addressing option which allows you lot to apply either the street address for the post role where your P.O. Box is located, followed past the number sign (#) and your P.O. Box number, or the more traditional P.O. Box accost. Y'all will need to sign upwardly for the Street Addressing option, so check with your local post office for more details.
Coworking infinite. Much like virtual office infinite, coworking spaces provide you with a more than professional person mailing address to use for your business and meeting and briefing rooms y'all tin use. Notwithstanding, coworking spaces also offer y'all a physical space to really work in, along with the use of shared resources, such as Wi-Fi. If you find yourself working at the local coffee shop in social club to occasionally escape the isolation of working at dwelling, membership in a coworking space may be an selection to consider.

Registered Amanuensis Requirements

At that place is one state of affairs where a physical address is legally required: if you're starting your business every bit a express liability company (LLC) or a corporation, or every bit a express partnership or a limited liability partnership, you volition demand to have a registered agent accost in the state in which y'all've registered to practice concern.

A registered agent is just someone that your business has designated to receive of import papers related to the concern, such as government documents and notices related to lawsuits (besides known every bit "service of process").

Many small-scale businesses registered as LLCs volition ofttimes accept a member of the LLC serve as the registered agent for the business, with the identify of concern used as the registered amanuensis accost. However, in cases where an LLC is being operated out of your home, this may not be the ideal state of affairs, as the registered agent's accost is a affair of public record. P.O. Boxes aren't an option in such cases, as a P.O. Box can't exist used every bit a registered agent's address. A physical address is required, because the address must be a place where service of procedure can occur.

If yous operate your LLC out of your domicile and prefer not to have your home accost listed in public documents equally the address of your registered agent, you volition need to appoint a third-political party to serve as your registered agent. The third political party tin be an individual, such as an attorney, or it can be a company whose business organisation offers registered agent services.