Aside from getting Caller ID—the best invention since chocolate—one of the best business decisions I ever made was to rent a postal suite. When I quit my corporate job and started working from home, door-to-door sales people showed up at my house and called my personal line. Renting a postal suite stopped the drop-by sales calls and made me seem more professional at a time when working from home wasn’t as widely accepted as it is now. In fact, no one knew I worked from home until my first home office book came out—it was sort of a dead giveaway.
Getting business mail at home isn't always the best idea.
If you’ve been trying to decide whether you should use a postal suite, here are a few things to think about:
- You can quit giving out your home address.
- The mail center—I use The UPS Store—will accept packages for you so you don’t have to worry about missing a delivery. Fed Ex and UPS don’t deliver to PO Boxes, which could be a problem if you receive several packages each week.
- You can keep your business and personal mail (and life) separate.
- If you move (within the city), you won’t have to change your address or anything that has your business address on it.
The disadvantages of using a postal suite are:
- You have to drive to pick up your mail. Rent one nearby and you’ll have a short commute.
- It’s not free—I pay around $14 a month for rent.
- Sometimes you have to wait in line for your mail but you can use that time to check your e-mail on your handheld.
