The short answer: Yes. And if you want to change your publicly listed business address, we can help.
When I started my first business, I used the address of the home I was renting at the time. In fact, a lot of people use their home address as business address at first. This makes sense. When you start a business, you need a business address to fill out government documents, open a bank account, set up payroll, and more. And if you don’t have an office yet, one of the few address options you have is your home.
When I was deciding should I use my home address for my business, I didn't know that my address was going to be publicly listed for anyone with an internet connection to discover, scrape, or store in a database. When you incorporate an entity, the Secretary of State, in most states, makes the address you use publicly available for search.
On top of this, other services may require you to publicly list your business address. For example, when you set up a website domain the registrar tracks and manages WHOIS data, which includes address information about the individual or business registering the domain.
Depending on the service and site, removing or obscuring your business address from these databases may not be possible. You can, however, change your business address to another location which will prevent your home address from being found or stored by anyone in the first place.
Here are some business address alternatives you can use to your home address.
An office or coworking space are great options for business addresses if you are already paying for them. And if you don’t know whether or not your facility is okay with receiving physical mail for you, you can always ask the front desk. Of course, remember to keep in mind that they will be handling sensitive documents from the IRS, State, bank, etc.
A PO Box is a low cost option that many business owners use to obscure their address. However, you should be aware that some vendors in industries like banking don’t allow you to use a PO Box as an official business address, so you may still need to use your home in some cases. Further, renting a PO Box means you’ll have to periodically check it in person, which can be quite annoying for some business owners.
Stable is a virtual address and mailroom for startups. You can get a professional business address set up with us in less than 5 minutes. You can also use our online platform to securely open, scan, forward, or shred your mail, so you never have to physically step into a mailroom again.
All in all, is your address public information for your business? Yes, and it is an important consideration in understanding what to use as your business address.
Picking a business address is important, and if you have any other questions about the process feel free to reach out to our team at hello@useStable.com — we’re always happy to talk about unique challenges businesses are having.
And, if you do decide you need to change your business address, we offer a free Change of Business Address product as part of your Stable virtual business address service.
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At Stable, we provide permanent virtual addresses and mailboxes so you never have to worry about mail or changing addresses again. We’ll digitize all mail that you receive here, and you’ll be able to scan, forward, shred, (and even deposit checks!) from anywhere in the world.
Get started with Stable here if you’d like a virtual business address + mailbox in less than 3 minutes.
Disclaimer: Stable is not a legal or accounting firm, therefore we cannot provide legal or tax advice. You should consult legal and tax professionals for advice on how to meet ongoing obligations that apply to you and your company.
