A virtual address enables you to kickstart your digital journey by not letting you get tied down to a single physical location. Are you ready for a virtual address?Īs we’ve seen in recent years, remote and flexible working is the way to go for small businesses in almost any industry. A virtual office will serve the same function, too. Also, if you share a home – and a letterbox – with non-family members, a PO box might be more secure, as it will prevent your mail falling into the wrong hands, or being opened accidentally. People who travel a lot and run small businesses might opt for a PO box rather than having mail stack up at home. Reach more clients online by using a virtual address instead, because people, and search engines, often use geolocation to show local businesses. Google My Business does not allow listings that don’t have an actual location, so those listing only PO boxes will be disregarded. If you want your business to be found on Google, a virtual address is better than a PO box. However, with a virtual address in a public location, people usually need to make an appointment to reach you, so you can stay just as anonymous by having mail sent to the virtual office address. There could be good reasons why you want to keep your home or business address private, too (security, personal reasons), so a PO box acts as a firewall to anyone with ill intent. PO boxes are a lot more private and only you will have access to it with your physical key. If you deal with important and confidential information, then you will need to take your mail privacy into account when deciding. You can arrange for your PO box mail to be forwarded to your actual address, but the service comes at a cost.
You are also restricted to the timings of the post office. If you are busy and need something important immediately, this can be a waste of your precious time. With a physical PO box you need to schedule out time to go to the post office to collect your mail.
A virtual address in a prime location can make you appear important, successful, credible and accessible to all. Your clients may wonder why you don’t have a real street address, and a PO box can look like you’ve got something to hide, or that you’re not even a real business (anyone can set up a PO box). Clearly this is an important investment to make for your business, and the below factors might help you decide between the two.Ī PO box can sometimes be perceived as impersonal and suspicious. Will you be receiving a lot of physical mail? Are you going to add the address to your business cards for people to visit you? Or are you looking for the cheapest option required to register your business?Īs of February 2021, more than half of working adults in the UK are working from home, and almost 80% of them say that their productivity has been stable or has become more efficient since working remotely. Factors to consider when choosing between a PO box address and a virtual addressīefore making the decision between the two, analyse why you need an address in the first place. However, they need to be real street addresses and can be used for multiple purposes, as we’ll detail below. This can be any virtual office space, including your home address, a physical office in a prominent commercial area of your city or a registered office address. These are usually located at your local post office itself, and boxes can be rented for use and locked for your own safety.Ī virtual address, on the other hand, pertains to a location you can access from anywhere. What’s the difference between a PO box and a virtual address?Ī PO box (Post Office box) is exactly what it says: a physical box at an address where mail, packages and other physical items can be sent to, as opposed to their being sent to your actual address. This guide will take you through the main differences between PO box vs virtual address, so you can choose the most convenient, cost-effective and secure address for your needs. But with more and more people across the world choosing to work remotely, you may want to decide between a physical and virtual address sooner than you might think. A mailing address might be pretty low on your list of priorities when starting a small business.