Are you expanding your business? The first step in the creation process is to determine the company's registered office address.
The registered office is the company' s tax and administrative address.
The head office is also the company's showcase, and is therefore of undoubted strategic interest.
The choice of location for a company's head office is therefore extremely important, and needs to be carefully considered in order to opt for the form of domiciliation best suited to the needs of your business.
There are several possibilities: domiciliation at the manager's home, in commercial premises or with a domiciliation company.
To give you all the information you need to make the right decision about where to locate your head office, here's a look at the various possible alternatives.
First of all, we need to look into domiciling our business in professional premises.
First and foremost, this alternative offers real advantages.
In fact, opting to buy or rent a business premises means having a place dedicated solely to your activity. Such an advantage enhances the credibility and legitimacy of your structure, making it more attractive to potential customers, investors or partners.
This option also allows you to keep your private and professional lives separate, so that one never encroaches on the other.
However, domiciling your company on business premises can also have a number of disadvantages, not least of which is the financial aspect.
In fact, renting, and especially buying, commercial premises involves considerable costs, which you need to be able to cover from the outset.
The more prestigious the address or the larger the city, the higher the costs.
There's a second disadvantage to bear in mind: in the event of a business move, a change of premises due to lack of space, or a relocation, the company will have to transfer its headquarters.
This is a costly and time-consuming procedure.
Let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of domiciling your business at home.
The main advantage is not very difficult to determine: domiciling your business directly in your own home allows you to work from home, and is therefore of considerable practical interest.
What's more, direct debit is completely free of charge.
As for the disadvantages, they are primarily of a practical nature
Indeed, the main risk of domiciling your company at home is that your professional life will undoubtedly encroach on your personal life.
If this is not well managed, it can have real negative consequences for both the company and family life.
Secondly, domiciling your business in your own home poses a real problem for the credibility of your business : welcoming customers into your home doesn't seem to be the best way to enhance the professional image of your business.
Last but not least, setting up a registered office can be complex, especially if you are a tenant and your landlords object to you using your home as your head office.
Finally, it's worth highlighting the characteristics of a company domiciled with a domiciliation company.
First of all, this is a real compromise to domiciling your company at home or in dedicated business premises.
Entrepreneurs have complete freedom to choose their registered office address.
This also ensures a real separation between private and professional life.
What's more, domiciliation companies offer a wide range of services.
It's possible to have a space reserved for your professional activity by reserving meeting rooms, enabling you to welcome your customers in a professional manner at a much lower cost than renting or buying commercial premises.
The advantage of a domiciliation company also lies in the availability of additional services such as business mail management, telephone answering services or even one-off office rental.
Many entrepreneurs choose to set up their head office via a domiciliation company, but they also have their own business premises. Their head office address remains fixed, so they can move as often as they like without having to carry out a head office transfer procedure.
This saves time and gives you the credibility you need to develop your project effectively.
In conclusion, it's vital to determine the location of your head office from the outset.
Indeed, transferring the latter represents a cost that can be high, particularly when moving from one commune or department to another.
Written by our expert Quentin Moyon
September 4, 2018
