Using your home address as your business address can be an excellent way to save money and time, but there are simply too many problems with using this approach.
If that’s the case, what other options do you have?
Thankfully, virtual business addresses exist, and they’re a great way to solve these issues with nearly no effort on your part.
In this blog post, I’ll go through everything you need to know about virtual business addresses.
What Is A Virtual Mailbox?
A virtual mailbox is a service that allows you to receive letters, documents, and packages while you’re travelling abroad.
Whenever your virtual mailbox receives your correspondence, it will accept it on your behalf, scan it (without opening its contents), and then it will send you a copy of that scan via email.
Once that’s done, you can do one of three things:
- Give them permission to open the correspondence and send you a scan of the contents.
- Forward the correspondence to another physical address, like the address of a relative that lives close by or your address in a different country.
- Shred or destroy the correspondence if you don’t need it.
What Do I Need A Virtual Mailbox For?
There are plenty of benefits that make virtual mailboxes a very useful tool.
For one thing, you’ll be able to have your mail or items sent to almost anywhere in the globe without even leaving your house.
If you’re going on vacation or leaving town for an extended time, you’ll still want to receive your mail. A virtual mailbox solves this issue by receiving your mail for you — in fact, these services can even deposit checks for you.
You can also use a virtual mailbox as a virtual business address, which can help you a lot if you have an online business. It can also be useful if you have a startup, as you generally need a physical address in order to register an LLC or corporation.
Using your personal address is a valid way to fix this problem, but considering this would make your personal address publicly accessible, this brings serious privacy concerns to the table.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that using a virtual mailbox gives you some extra time that you can use to build your streams of passive income.
How Do Virtual Mailboxes Work?
As previously mentioned, a virtual mailbox is a unique address that can receive physical mail and packages for you.
Once you’ve received correspondence at your designated virtual mailbox location, the service will notify you and then you’ll be given the option to scan its contents, forward the mail to another address, or shred the mail if you don’t need it.
Starting to use a virtual mailbox is pretty straightforward.
First, you create an account with the virtual mailbox service of your choice.
Once you have done that, the service will assign you a unique address, which you can start using as your mailing address for physical correspondence (like letters and packages).
After that, you’ll receive email notifications every time you receive correspondence. It’s really that simple.
How Does Mail Forwarding and Mail Handling Work With A Virtual Mailbox?
Here is how a virtual mailbox plan works, in general terms:
- Select the city of your choice from any virtual business address service in the country you’re currently in.
- Get mail sent directly to the selected destination.
- Let administrative professionals receive and scan your mail for you.
As for the different options you have to receive mail, you have:
- In-Person Pick-Up: Go to your virtual business address mailing center to get your mail directly
- Mail Scanning: If you don’t reside in the city you chose as your virtual business address but still want a mailing address there, you can let administrative team members at your chosen office can scan it and virtually send it to you.
- Mail Forwarding: You can also choose to have incoming mail arrive directly at your selected commercial address and be delivered by the office staff to you.
- Direct Deposit: Your chosen virtual business address’s personnel will deposit checks directly into your account.
Are There Any Additional Benefits to A Virtual Mailbox?
Registered agent services are also available through many virtual mailboxes, which can be quite useful if you intend to use a virtual mailbox for business usage.
For instance, when a legal document that needs immediate attention is not handled in time, it might cause a lot of trouble for your business down the line. However, this is a problem that can be addressed by the registered agent services some virtual mailboxes provide.
In Summary
If you’re looking for a more convenient way to run your business, or you simply need an address to receive your mail as you travel abroad, using virtual mailboxes is an excellent option.
Not only can it save you time and money, but the mail forwarding service will ensure that each piece of correspondence sent to you or your company arrives safely at its intended destination.
