Location for online business??

[bharatbooks]

Is there any point where geographical location of office does matters for online business??

 

[seoswat]

several to be honest.

You have your clerical side of things i.e tax rules, business set up complience etc

Then you have your front end side of things. i.e if your advertising your site on say a .co.uk website and all your products are in £'s..., it might look a bit dodgy if someone clicked on the contact us and saw your registered office or place of trading was in Burma.

I believe as long as you set it up correctly, everything is fine doing it this way, but i would where possible always try and keep everything local to your market

 

[alwaysinamess]

are you being UK Specific ?

If so then the Internet speed / connection reliability is probably a factor and so is your courier collection time, They are the two major factors

Then your supply of the product, is it easy to access then lastly the area that you store the product - is it safe, once you sorted that out then you can deal with the other costs.

I could run my business pretty much anywhere in the UK and I am moving out of the UK, but I like it down south so then you have to ask yourself about how your affected by climate etc, even though I work inside I find it very difficult to get motivated here because of what I feel is the 'cold', If I moved my business to say Newcastle where costs would be 90% + slashed, I don't think as not being bought up there I would deal with the climate and prolly throw myself of the Tyne bridge, you have to take your living factors in too, unless your young or your gonna be on mega money to heat the house

 

[AlexandraS]

As seoswat says, it's a legal requirement of an EU business - i.e., you must provide on the site a physical address, not a PO box!

I am a Brit operating out of mainland EU although I sell 99% to Brits and trade in sterling. I put my overseas address on the website because I do not wish to be seen as fraudulent or trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.

My geographical location does not affect the service I provide.

 

[digital way]

Is there any point where geographical location of office does matters for online business??

Yes. Your office needs to be in a location which has access to the internet so most, if not all, of Antarctica would be unsuitable for example.

 

[deniser]

And once you get really big like Amazon etc. it helps to be situated along the M1 for easy access across the UK or like NEXT who have their own train line into their courier company's depot enabling them to offer next day despatch for orders up to 10pm.

You also need to be situated somewhere where potential employees are readily available which could mean it needs to be accessible by public transport

 

[queldorei]

outside us some payment methods are unaviable. for example paypal

 

[MooToTheMax]

outside us some payment methods are unaviable. for example paypal

PayPal is available in many, many countries worldwide. PayPal Website Payments Pro is limited to some territories, but you can still fully integrate basic PayPal support without very much hassle.

 

[queldorei]

PayPal is available in many, many countries worldwide. PayPal Website Payments Pro is limited to some territories, but you can still fully integrate basic PayPal support without very much hassle.

I said this for example. If more payment methods your website have, then more convert

 

[aleox]

I have seen a website recently that lists a PO Box as their address. I thought it was ok to do it.

I'm a bit worried about people turning up at my doorstep if I put my home address.

 

[digital way]

I'm a bit worried about people turning up at my doorstep if I put my home address.

Well that would only happen if you have something of theirs, like uh money. Otherwise a home address just looks a bit naff but depends on who you are dealing with.

 

[aleox]

So what do you do if you are running your business from home? I understand it might look naff but I guess a lot of people do it right?

 

[AlexandraS]

I married an angry Glaswegian. ;-)

 

[digital way]

So what do you do if you are running your business from home? I understand it might look naff but I guess a lot of people do it right?

Well depends doesn't it? For a b2b company it would be nicer to have some kind of official looking address especially when dealing with larger companies but its not the be all and end all. What really counts is your client portfolio, cost, testimonials, reputation etc. For B2C I'd say it's less important -joe public just wants a good product at a good price not a business relationship.

You can get a virtual office which forwards your mail to you and has meeting rooms for hire for meeting people. However before rushing into that, my priority would be developing the business to justify these expenses - and in that order.

 

[Lukasz Jaskolski]

Access to internet - the most convenient form of business

 

[TODonnell]

You just get a virtual office address; one where the provider forwards any letters you get to your home address.

Most people don't want to put their home address on the internet, so they either use a P.O. box or a "virtual office".

We provide them in London, UK here:
http://www.registeredaddress.co.uk

 

[alexlhh]

beaware of differences of business laws and tax rules

 

[Morrjo]

I would never use my home address. You dont necessarily have to treat someone bad for them to come up with a reason to show up at your doorstep. Not safe at all.