You’ve started your new business out of your home, and things are picking up quickly with new clients and prospects. You are ready to hand out business cards at events or start getting your digital marketing campaigns off the ground. There’s only one problem. When you add your business address to your business cards, you realize you might not want people to know your home address. Securing a virtual office with a professional business address quickly fixes this problem. With an actual business address, you will be able to add it to your website and your business cards proudly. There are many places a professional business address is essential. We compiled a list of the top 5 places you will need to have a business address.
- Estimates and Invoices
When you send a prospective client an estimate with your home address or no address at all, they may question the legitimacy of this business they are about to contact for a service. An estimate is that final step before a prospect becomes a paying client, so you’ll want to show them that you have an actual address for your business. After the work is done, you will send them an invoice that contains the place for the client to send their payment. Which type of address is more professional and credible, a commercial address or a residential address?
- Business accounts:
When it comes to business, you must learn to segregate your personal life and business life. There are mental health and mindset reasons for this. There are also legal and financial reasons to do this. For example, you need to segregate your personal bank account from your business bank account. If you don’t, there could be tax consequences with the IRS or liability consequences with a plaintiff quickly being able to pierce the corporate veil. You’ll also need separate insurance. Your personal homeowner liability policy doesn’t cover business activities. So why would you commingle your home address and business address? You need an address you can give your bank and your insurance broker to put on your policy. When you move residences, do you want to also change all your business addresses on all your business accounts? Financial institutions will look upon you more favorably if you are using a commercial property address and a business phone number that isn’t your cell phone.
- Business cards:
After meeting someone face to face and shaking their hand, the next tradition in the business world is to exchange business cards. Doing so gives each person the ability to remember your name and contact you after the meeting for a follow-up meeting. Your business card is the first impression they will get of your business. When someone doesn’t see an address on the business card, they might ask themselves, “what are they hiding?” Or, if they look up the address on Google Maps and they see a picture of a residential house, they may immediately ask, “Is this a real business?” The address of a commercial office on your business card shows that you are a professional.
- Website:
For many people you haven’t met yet, your website is the first and only impression they will get of your company. When potential clients, partners, investors, and employees view your website and see that you don’t have a commercial address listed, they may ask themselves, “Do they not invest in their company enough even to have a professional business address?” This may be a reason why they decide to look elsewhere when choosing where to do their business. Having your virtual office address on your website will show that you have a credible company.
- Secretary of state website:
When you file your incorporation, you have to give the secretary of state the address for your business. This address is public record. Do you want your home address to be listed as your business address on the internet? You want to separate your personal life from your business, and you don’t want anyone with access to the internet to find your home address. Having a business address to give the secretary of state for your business will provide you with confidence that your home life is separate from your business life.
While other places like business directories are important to add your address to, the locations listed above are the most visible to potential clients and partners. When someone looks you up or searches for your business, you want to be prepared to give an excellent first impression. Whether you have an office suite or a virtual office, getting your business address out there and into the world will fuel your business.
