When you set up a home business you get all kinds of advice. For example since I first set up a home business over thirty years ago I've always had a post office box. Every day or couple of days I'd visit the post office box, collect any mail and return home. Seemed logical and it didn't cost too much. This also enabled me to separate the home address from the business.
However more recently I began to think is there really much point to having a post office box. Whilst not a great amount the price continues to go up each year and this year the price was $106, with a pay by the 1st of April price of $99. I largely communicate via email and apart from official correspondence and junk mail I didn't see much point to the post office box. I decided perhaps it was time to redirect all mail to the home address. My aim is to build a local business and my home address solidly reinforces I'm a local. The post office box could be for anyone located anywhere. So to me being local and seen to be local had become more important than hiding behind a post office box. Yes in hindsight, a post office box almost implies you the person don't want to be known. That's not particularly personal and it is my desire to provide all clients with a personalised service.
Of course once you make up your mind you then look for ways to justify the decision. It really is hard after 30 years to not have a post office box. OK. A saving of around $100 a year. Not bad, but not really that much. The trip to and from the post office box involved time (about 20 minutes) and car travel (3.4 km). If I went to the post office box three times a week that's 52 hours a year of time spent travelling and around $90 in petrol plus wear and tear on the car. The big saving really is your time. When people send you mail or a parcel they've paid to send it to where you want it to go, so why not make that the closest spot to you which is your home address.
For me the real clincher was, I was no longer private in terms of where I lived. I stood as an independent in the last State election and post offices boxes could be used as your address. Short of having some form of registered office, the home address had to be provided and thus where I live is now plastered all over the internet. You can be pretty sure that your home address isn't that difficult to find if someone wants to know, so really does hiding behind a post office box work anymore anyway and I'd suspect the answer is most likely not.
So if you want a post office box simply go into the post office and see if they have one available. Now is a good time because each year around April/May quite a few people don't renew their post office box. Leave it too late and you may have to travel further for a post office box with an increase in time and cost. Until the local post office installed post office boxes I'd have to travel a return trip of about 12 km to Bulleen and that would have been costing me hundreds of dollars a year in fuel and considerably more in time.
Now that I've made the decision to discontinue the post office box I'm pretty happy with the decision. I save a little in costs, but more importantly I save a considerable amount of time I can use elsewhere.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
However more recently I began to think is there really much point to having a post office box. Whilst not a great amount the price continues to go up each year and this year the price was $106, with a pay by the 1st of April price of $99. I largely communicate via email and apart from official correspondence and junk mail I didn't see much point to the post office box. I decided perhaps it was time to redirect all mail to the home address. My aim is to build a local business and my home address solidly reinforces I'm a local. The post office box could be for anyone located anywhere. So to me being local and seen to be local had become more important than hiding behind a post office box. Yes in hindsight, a post office box almost implies you the person don't want to be known. That's not particularly personal and it is my desire to provide all clients with a personalised service.
Of course once you make up your mind you then look for ways to justify the decision. It really is hard after 30 years to not have a post office box. OK. A saving of around $100 a year. Not bad, but not really that much. The trip to and from the post office box involved time (about 20 minutes) and car travel (3.4 km). If I went to the post office box three times a week that's 52 hours a year of time spent travelling and around $90 in petrol plus wear and tear on the car. The big saving really is your time. When people send you mail or a parcel they've paid to send it to where you want it to go, so why not make that the closest spot to you which is your home address.
For me the real clincher was, I was no longer private in terms of where I lived. I stood as an independent in the last State election and post offices boxes could be used as your address. Short of having some form of registered office, the home address had to be provided and thus where I live is now plastered all over the internet. You can be pretty sure that your home address isn't that difficult to find if someone wants to know, so really does hiding behind a post office box work anymore anyway and I'd suspect the answer is most likely not.
So if you want a post office box simply go into the post office and see if they have one available. Now is a good time because each year around April/May quite a few people don't renew their post office box. Leave it too late and you may have to travel further for a post office box with an increase in time and cost. Until the local post office installed post office boxes I'd have to travel a return trip of about 12 km to Bulleen and that would have been costing me hundreds of dollars a year in fuel and considerably more in time.
Now that I've made the decision to discontinue the post office box I'm pretty happy with the decision. I save a little in costs, but more importantly I save a considerable amount of time I can use elsewhere.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
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