When I was consulting with start-up nonprofit organizations, one of the questions I was often asked had to do with the business address. Since many of my clients were still in the beginning stages of establishing an agency, they were often meeting in someone’s living room and didn’t actually have an office or a business location. The fact is, according to the “business books,” the street address you use for your business CAN matter.
The common consensus is that street addresses tend to evoke a better “reputation” than P.O. boxes. A street address tells clients or customers that you are a solid, valid business—while a P.O. Box can sometimes make people wonder exactly where you are and whether your business can be trusted. A post office box, however, can be a much more efficient way for a small home business to handle business mail. Some businesses will list both a street and a post office box address so that people will know there is a stable place, but that mail is being collected at the post office box.
Depending on the type of business, different street names might add or detract from the public opinion of the business. For example, if the same business had an address on Railroad Boulevard or South Hills Drive—there is a good chance that public opinion would think the business located on South Hills Drive was more stable and financially better off. Even if customers or clients never come to your home or visit your business, the name of the street or the number for the address can cause them to form an opinion about your business.
If most of your clients or customers are local and know the streets and neighborhoods of your town or community, then the street address you use for your home business may matter more than if you are dealing with “far away” clients and customers.