Tuesday, August 05, 2008

If you run a home based business, grab a post office box whilst you can.

They say your home is your biggest asset, but what if you are dealing with big business and live in a run down shack. Until now what our homes looked like really didn't matter in business, because it was hard for others to see our homes. Not any more.

Google maps now makes available the picture of people's homes. You might want to try it. Enter your address into Google maps and see if your house comes up. If it doesn't now, then it probably soon will. (A convenient link to Google maps can be found in the 3106 Local Community Guide.)

Now when you use your home address as your business address, your customers can check out the type of house you live in. That could win you business, but it may also lose you business. Whether your house is a mansion or a rented unit, either way it can impact what others think of you and that could affect your business.

If you have been thinking about getting a post office box, perhaps now is the time to get one before others realise their home is now visible for everyone to see. I can see demand for post office boxes increasing in the near future. I have long believed in keeping our private address separate from our business but even I never anticipated this to be a reason. Now home based business owners need to make a decision as to whether their home really is an asset to their business.

Thanks to the JustLocal friend who gave us the heads up on Google's growing facilities.

I wonder what you think about having a picture of your home available so easily available on the Internet?

- Kelvin

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