How a virtual office address can help future-proof your new business

When you start a startup, there’s so much to think about. You need to register your business, come up with a name, build a website and so much more. One thing you might not have thought about is the address of your business. If you have an office already, you’re probably thinking of using that as your trading address. Maybe you work from home, and you’re going to use your home address as your business address.

Both these ideas might work at the moment. However, you need to think about the future. If you’re as successful as you’re planning on being, you might outgrow those addresses.

A virtual office address can bring benefits that will future-proof your business. It will save you a lot of time and aggravation further down the road. Let’s find out more.

What is a virtual office address?

Briefly, a virtual office address is a physical location which you can use as your office address, even though you don’t actually run your business from there. You can have your letters and parcels sent there, where they will be forwarded to you, wherever you are.

Can I use a virtual office address as a Registered Office Address?

Yes, any of our Street Addresses in London and Poole can be used as a Registered Office Address. In addition they can be used as a trading address, a correspondence address or a Director’s Service Address. It’s important to note you can’t use a PO Box as a Registered Address, they can only be used as a correspondence address.

Home address privacy

From the moment you start your business, your office address is in the public domain. You will have it on your business cards and your website. It will be searchable on Google. If you register your business with Companies House, it will be on their website too.

If you’re working from home, you need to think about whether you want your home address spread so widely. Do you really want all your customers, suppliers and more, knowing where you live?

As you get more successful and your business grows, this becomes more of an issue. A successful business owner’s home address published online could attract unscrupulous people.

Protect your privacy from the start with a Virtual Office Address. With a virtual office address, the only people who will know where you live, are the people you want to know.

Boost your company’s image

As soon as you start your business, you need to make an excellent first impression. When potential customers find out your address, what do you think will impress them more? A building on a prestigious road in a big city like London? Or a house on a residential street in the suburbs?

That’s right. With a Virtual Office Address, you can make your customers believe your business is run from the centre of the city, even if you’re in your shed in the countryside.

This is important at the start of your business, but becomes essential as your business grows. When a potential partner on a big deal Googles your company and looks at your address on Street View, your shiny office in the city will give you an advantage.

Make relocation easier for your business

When you start your business, you probably have a very small team, enough to fit in a small office. Perhaps it’s just you on your own!

As your business grows, your business premises will need to grow with it. You need room for extra staff, inventory and more. You may have to relocate your business several times before you reach your ideal-sized space.

Each time you relocate, do you really want to spend your time telling everyone your new address? How long would it take to tell all your customers, suppliers, as well as the government, the new address of your business? Then you have to update your website, business cards, all your stationery. What a pain!

When you invest in a Virtual Office Address as you start your business, you have one address that sees you through every stage of your growth. You get that time back to carry on growing your business.

Get mail on the move

Depending on the type of business you’re starting, you may be travelling around a lot. Up and down the country, even overseas, business owners need to go where their customers are. While you’re travelling, what’s happening to your mail?

If you’re a freelancer, you may be living the digital nomad lifestyle, working on your business remotely. For some businesses, it doesn’t matter if you’re in London or Laos as long as there’s a wi-fi connection. However, you’ll still receive mail, from your bank and the government. What’s happening to that mail?

When you take out a virtual office address, your address provider will make sure you keep up with your mail. At UK Postbox, if you ask us to, we scan your mail and send it to our secure web and smartphone apps. You can read all your mail on your phone or laptop, wherever you are in the world. We can also forward your mail in the conventional, physical way.

As your business grows and you receive more mail, this feature of a Virtual Office Address becomes even more convenient. You can expand your business anywhere in the world, knowing your mail is in safe hands.

Give better customer service

To grow your business, you need customers. Customers value great service. When they’re treated well, they come back for more. If you mistreat them, word travels fast, and your business can suffer. We’re living in a social media-driven world that never sleeps.

A virtual office address allows you to communicate better with your customers. Wherever you are in the world, you can easily access mail from your customers and deal with it quickly. If you ship out products that need to be returned, having a virtual office address with a parcel forwarding service makes this easy for them.

As your business grows, you need to keep your customers coming back. A virtual office address helps you keep that personal touch lasting for longer.

Find out more

A virtual office address helps safeguard your privacy and your image, helping you to grow your startup. It allows you to keep in touch with your mail and your customers, as you and your business get busier. It takes a lot of the logistics out of growing your company. It’s an investment in the future of your business.

If you would like to find out more about a virtual office address for your startup, it’s time to talk to UK Postbox.