What Is A Virtual Address And Does Your Business Need One?

When setting up a business there are a number of things you need to consider, one of which is your business address. Now you may be thinking that surely your business address will be whichever location you conduct your business from, be that your home, a co-working space, or an office, but with a virtual address that doesn’t necessarily need to be the case.

What is a virtual address?

Despite having the word ‘virtual’ in its name, a virtual address is a real physical address, it does exist and will take in physical mail and parcels just as any address would. The only difference is your business doesn’t actually operate there. Instead, your mail is sent to the virtual address and is either then forwarded onto you or sent to you digitally. Some virtual addresses offer global services meaning you can work from the other side of the world and still have your business registered in a business capital city.

What are the benefits of a virtual address?

Virtual addresses wouldn’t exist if they didn’t deliver real benefit to their clients. Let’s explore some of the potential benefits that having a virtual address could have for your business.

They can give a professional outward appearance

One of the main benefits of a virtual address is how it can make your company look to prospective clients. Having an expensive, reputable location, such as one in Central London, listed on your website and outward correspondence can look more professional than a home address and could, potentially, be more attractive to prospective clients.

Big companies may not like working with sole traders and virtual addresses’ offer small businesses the chance to be judged by the value they offer rather than their location. Similarly, if you are a company operating from abroad this can be off-putting to some clients and having an address in their home country is often more appealing.

Have your packets and parcels signed for 24/7

As a small business, it can be frustrating to keep missing important deliveries of packages and parcels that require a signature. A virtual address, open 24/7, ensures that all packages and parcels and signed for and stored securely until you either pick them up in person or arrange a date for them to be sent on to your home address, meaning you never miss a parcel again.

Cut down on stored paperwork

Many virtual addresses and virtual offices give you the option to have your mail forwarded on to you or alternatively scanned directly to your email for you to store digitally. With so much of business mail being spam or junk, going digital saves you the need to store mountains of paperwork at your home or office and your physical letters are disposed of securely.

They can help you to maintain personal privacy

If you’re running your business from home then you may wish to keep your address anonymous to maintain your personal privacy. A virtual address will keep your personal information out of public view whilst ensuring you still receive all of your business mail. 

They could save you money

For more established businesses it may be daunting to switch to a virtual office or address but getting rid of your physical office space could save you thousands each year, in fact, it has been estimated that a company can save up to $2000 per employee by letting them work from home.

Most virtual address services also offer virtual offices where you can even have your calls picked up and forwarded over to you which means there’s no need to hire a receptionist or other administrative members of staff and their resource could be used elsewhere.

If you still need to conduct physical meetings with clients then many also offer meeting room hire as a part of the contract enabling you to make use of their central location and professional facilities without the need to do any of the upkeep work yourself. 

How can you get a virtual address?

You can easily buy a mail forwarding address online and pay for it securely using services such as Paypal. There are a variety of different options available to suit a range of different sized business’ whatever their business needs, from those who just want to purchase an address and mail forwarding service to those who require physical meeting rooms and PA services.

Virtual addresses are trusted by thousands and could very well be the future of remote business working, would you consider one for your business?