Can you use a virtual address for your business?

Does your business need an office or just need the address?

Based on some of the early research, you might not need the office space for long. Many data analysts seem to think the fluorescent-lit office crammed with cubicles will become a thing of the past. Even as the world reopens, vaccinations roll out, and it becomes safer to spend time indoors with others, remote work may be here to stay.

Remote working trends 

Before 2020, only about 20 percent of workers did their work at home, according to a Pew Institute research study.  That number jumped to more than 73% at the height of the pandemic, but it hasn’t receded as fast. 

Another survey from Gartner CFO, suggests that up to 74% of businesses plan to make some employees’ remote work permanent.

Benefits of a remote businesses with no office 

Some businesses transitioned to fully remote offices. No real estate means they can save money they would have spent on leases, office furniture, and utilities and use it on business operations and salaries.

It sounds like an ideal change for workers, too. The majority of those surveyed in the Pew study said they wanted to keep working from home. 

What do you need to run a remote office

Making the change to permanent remote work will require some logistical planning for businesses. They need some type of centralized way to communicate, a public-facing address and a way to manage their mail, banking, and document storage.  

What mailing address do you use if you have a remote office? 

No matter where your employees work, you still need an address to register your business, receive mail, and list on marketing materials and emails. 

A virtual address provides all of that, along with other business applications. 

Virtual mailboxes collect your postal mail without you ever walking into a post office. Instead of having letters and parcels delivered to the doorstep of your business, all mail sent to a virtual address arrives at a processing facility. There, technicians sort, open, scan and process it. Think of it as an online P.O. box.

How a virtual address works 

A virtual address does exist in the physical realm. What’s virtual about it is that you, the recipient of the mail, neither live nor work there - nor is it a post office in the traditional sense of the word. 

Instead, a service accepts physical mail at the address, which gets processed in a secure sorting facility. Even if you’re halfway around the world, you can access it. 

Flexible office locations with virtual addresses 

You can register a business with a virtual address in any state, although many states require this to be a street address and not a P.O. Box. Having a virtual mailbox makes it possible to access your mail even if you’re working remotely from outside the state or another country.

It can also establish a business presence in a state you want to expand to or operate from if you don’t live there. 

A virtual mailbox makes it simple to set up a business base in a city you may not even live in. 

Virtual addresses give you a real street address to share with the public 

While there are sound financial reasons to cancel a lease, the lack of a physical address can create problems for your business.

Without a public-facing address, you could direct all business mail to your home address. This creates a different sort of problem. Getting business mail delivered to your home may jeopardize your company’s credibility, not to mention add privacy and security issues. Some neighborhoods and cities may also have laws against operating businesses from your home.

Mail scanning, processing and document management 

In addition to the benefit of having a physical mailing address, virtual mail providers also process your mail and manage it. Depending on your needs, you can have your mail scanned, shipped, or securely shredded. Many mail services also can automatically deposit checks for you.

You can access all your pertinent mail online using the cloud storage software immediately after it has been processed. Your mail becomes a text-searchable PDF that you can easily send to others in your office.

 You don’t have to worry about mail getting lost, misplaced, or mishandled. With a virtual mailbox, the power to access your mail is always when you need it.

Earth Class Mail virtual business address plans 

Earth Class Mail has helped businesses go virtual and paperless since 2004. Earth Class Mail offes 80+ virtual mailing addresses to choose from. In addition, our online services integrate with a wide variety of cloud storage solutions and accounting software, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and QuickBooks.

Solutions for you to get your mail from anywhere:

Our virtual business addresses are best for businesses that rarely receive mail, since you will be billed for each item received.

• MailBox plans are well suited for start-up businesses and small businesses with fewer than 20 recipients and less than 100 pieces of mail a month.

• MailRoom plans can have unlimited recipients and higher volumes of mail.

If you need a check deposited,  you can also add on that feature. 

You can manage your mail and packages from anywhere in the world, on any device. This allows you to work without restrictions and frees you from the hassle and limitation of postal mail. 

Sign up for a virtual address today