Imagine the possibility of registering online business from anywhere in the world, without having a physical location — this is how a virtual address works. The virtual residence you can use to get mail, documents, goods, or services related to your business. The convenience is due, you can work from anywhere you want, without paying for an office or a warehouse. More specifically, having a virtual address in London, means you can remotely obtain a licence or a permit to sell e.g. Internet of Things in this city, open a bank account, pay taxes while complying with different legal, tax, and regulatory requirements, which may vary from country to country, or even from city to city.
Too good to be true? Yes, there are nuances. In this article, we explain the pros and cons of a virtual address for different types of online businesses and wrap up how to obtain one quickly and cheaply.
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Why is a virtual address useful for online business?
Who can be heard better on the sports field? The answer is — the one whose voice is louder than the rest. A virtual address is your voice on the business platform of the world. Having set the right voice can give you many benefits for your online business, such as:
- Legality: A virtual address can help you follow the rules of the country where you want to do business. You can get important papers, taxes, and other mail at your virtual address, and use it legally for your contracts, bills, and cards.
- Professionalism: A digital residence in a prestigious area or business centre will strengthen confidence in your company increasing the chances of cooperation with major clients.
- Convenience. Office services included in the virtual address, means you don’t need a real place to work or store things. This will save you money and make your work easier. You can work from home, coffee shop, or anywhere else. Your virtual location will be taken care of by a professional company that will get and send your mail and papers as you want.
What you need to know about a virtual location: Limitations
Online location has undeniable advantages, such as saving money and time, improving image and reputation, and expanding opportunities and potential. But despite many privileges, a virtual address does have a dark side — disadvantages that you need to be aware about before choosing this service for your business. We are talking about the following:
- Addiction. The virtual address service is provided by a company, on the quality and reliability of whose services your business inevitably becomes dependent. Let’s say your virtual office provider goes out of business — you’ll lose all your company correspondence and business records. The consequences are not hard to imagine — damage to business and loss of reputation as a reliable partner.
- Limitation. Let’s assume that your business is the distribution of the Internet of Things. In this case, a virtual address cannot completely replace a physical office or warehouse because your business requires physical premises to store and process a large volume of goods. That’s why you may need to additionally rent actual premises or work with local partners, which will increase your costs and management complexity.
- Opacity. For representatives of conservative businesses like finance, jurisprudence, a partner’s virtual address may cause doubt or mistrust among clients or partners; they may want to know the real location of your business to be able to visit your office for a personal meeting. And a little more, a virtual address can also attract the attention of tax or regulatory authorities who will want to check your activities and require additional documents or payments.
Therefore, a digital location is not a substitute for a physical presence, but rather a convenient option for online businesses want to have a credible image to access new markets and opportunities. At Fiverr, you can read more about the disadvantages of a digital residence, such as lack of trust, mail delay, limited access, and legal issues.
What type of online business requires a virtual address?
In the modern business landscape, a virtual address is invaluable for various online ventures:
- Online Sellers: Safeguard personal information from unwanted contact.
- Freelancers/Consultants: Enhance professionalism, and simplify accounting and taxes.
- Content Creators/Educators: Build brand credibility and mitigate issues like copying or censoring.
Another target audience for virtual addresses is non-profit organisations (NPOs). Virtual destination helps them reach a wider audience, establish a local presence, and reduce overhead costs, for example, by getting donations, grants, and support from different places. They don’t have to worry about changing their address if they move or grow.
How to get a virtual address for online business
Getting a virtual address for an online business is not difficult or expensive. You need to do the following:
- Choose a virtual address provider that offers you the services you need, such as postal forwarding, telephone communications, registration of a legal address, opening a bank account and others.
- Select an address from the list of available locations that match the logistics of your business and target audience. You can choose a destination in any country or city where you want to work. An example of such a company that provides e-address services, popular among freelancers, online sellers, content creators or educators. and consulting services, this is The Hoxton Mix.
- Register your virtual address by filling out the required forms and paying for your chosen plan. You will receive confirmation and instructions on how to use your digital location.
- Start using your digital residence for your online business by displaying it on your website, business cards, promotional materials and other places.
A sensitive question: Is a legal entity registered at a virtual address valid?
Yes. A legal entity that uses a virtual address is valid as long as it follows the rules of the country where it does business. For example, your Virtual Business LLC is a legal entity that has a digital address in London. You got this address from a special system when generated your account. You get important mail and papers at this address. As well you use the email address of your virtual location to correspond with clients and partners. It is important to emphasise — the real place where the leaders of the legal entity work is decided by different departments and is shown in the official list of legal entities. Read more about the legality and suitability of using a virtual address for different types of businesses on B2BHQ.
Long story short
The virtual address is a great option for online businesses that want to be legal, professional, and convenient. It can help you keep your privacy, improve your image, and make your business easier to grow & move. But it also has some challenges you need to know, such as being dependent, limited, and unclear. So you need to pick a good provider, a good location, and a good business plan. Among well-established virtual address providers, consider The Hoxton Mix. This offers international, creative and mobile businesses virtual addresses in London that help you achieve your online goals easily if you use them strategically.