When you start a business, it can feel very overwhelming with ALL THE THINGS. When you start an online business, there are some things you may not be aware of, that differ from a brick and mortar type business. One of those things is an address.

You will need an address for your online business, and this address will be public, so I highly recommend not using your home address. Privacy is important, and it’s super simple to set up an address. Yes it will cost you some money, but not very much, and it’s worth it.

If all you are worried about is the address that is required to go on the bottom of the emails you are sending to your email list, using Convert Kit for your email program makes it super simple, as you can use their address. No extra charge!

When you are setting up your business entity with the state (such as an LLC) you will need to give a physical address where your business can accept mail, and by using your home address, you are sharing very personal location information with the world. I see a lot of people do this to save a few dollars and it’s just not worth it.

Check your state’s laws, but most require a registered agent to be able to accept mail for your business. In all of the years I have run an online business, I have never needed to accept mail in that way, but the 3 state’s I have run registered businesses in have required it. When I was brand new, I used my home address, so I was my own registered agent. Now I pay $50 per year for one at the place where I have my address set up. (It is not only my mailing address but my domicile/physical address, since we are now full time traveling.)

Here are my top recommendations for a public, physical address:

FREE: Use a friend or family member’s business address. If you are close with someone who owns a business with a physical address, and they are okay with you using it, that is a great, free way to set it up. They will need to be willing to accept mail on your behalf. You can use this address for the legal stuff and in your email newsletters, or you can use Convert Kit and use their address in your emails.

Low-cost: Set-up a virtual mailbox. I have used several companies, and they all have worked out great. I used Anytime Mailbox for years, and the price depends on where you want your address to be. Example, my first address was in Las Vegas, it was super cheap (I think it was like $5-7/month.) When we moved to Hawaii, I wanted a Hawaii address, so I changed it, and the cost went up (still cheap, I think it was like $14/month.)

When we decided to travel full-time, I needed to set-up our domicile (basically, when you are homeless/full-time traveling, you set-up your “residence” in a state, and need a physical address so you can get a driver’s license, set-up insurance, etc.) After doing a lot of research on states to set up domicile, we chose South Dakota. (Other states that are good for this include Florida and Texas.) The company we chose in South Dakota is Americas Mailbox, and they have been wonderful!

Side note: there is a lot more to choosing a domicile and something I will cover on my travel blog! But, even once we have a real home address someday, there’s a good chance I will still use my Americas Mailbox address for privacy reasons. Plus, it’s SOOO nice to be able to quickly look at my scanned in mail and mark it to be recycled or shredded. I never have to deal with junk mail – I only have them forward me stuff I actually want. PLUS, they will open and scan the contents of mail if I ask them to. In a digital world, we rarely need to deal with physical mail anymore.

If you sign up for Americas Mailbox, let them know you were referred by Amanda Davila, Box# 17384!

If you have questions about setting up a mailbox (or anything else!) text me at (808) 435-6454 or join my FREE Facebook community, The Corporate Reject Connection. (If I don’t respond quickly, we are probably out of service (we travel full time) but I will respond as soon as I have service again!) I highly recommend checking out my Facebook group, where you can search for info and connect with others!

Legal Concerns to Consider

If you have a business now, or if you want to start one, but have a lot of questions and concerns about legal stuff, I highly recommend a membership with LegalShield. I ran my business for almost 4 years without any legal support, and it stressed me out and made me lose sleep at night. I then learned about LegalShield, which is a membership program that is affordable for regular people. You have immediate access to an attorney anytime you need one, and they can help you with important things you keep putting on the back burner, like completing your Will! I pay a low monthly fee for personal protection, with the home business addition, and I feel so much better knowing I have assistance if and when I need it.

Right now they are helping me create my Will, and a plan for my child in case something happened to his dad and I. If I need a contract reviewed, I can send it over for review and know that I am not signing something unacceptable. If my family was ever in need of legal representation, all we have to do is make a quick call. Check out the membership plans and options here.

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