Between the yard and the windows of Carmen Hiers' home is a
thick hedge edging the entire perimeter of the structure. Other
homebased entrepreneurs plant thorny vines or plants beneath
windows to prevent access from outside.
While the hedge helps keep the uninvited away, truth be told,
Hiers rarely invites anyone to her home office. Instead, the
marketing communications specialist and owner of The Solmar Group
Inc. prefers the safest route-working from the offices of clients,
such as Discovery Networks Latin America/Iberia or ad.vice, a
television and marketing consultancy.
Hiers also has an account at a local Mail Boxes Etc. She
receives all mail and parcels there, and the postal company's
address replaces her home address on all letterhead. Even with new
U.S. Postal Service regulations requiring that PMB (for
"private mailbox") be used to denote use of a private
facility, Hiers plans to continue using her postal box.
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Her defense mechanisms serve multiple purposes. "I've
always made it a practice not to meet clients at home-not only
because people tend not to take you as seriously, but also to avoid
any complications associated with having people I don't know
very well know I live by myself," she says. "As it is, I
don't feel comfortable having delivery people figure out that
I'm a woman living alone."
Linda Greck chose another route for her mailing address. Instead
of redirecting her mail to a local mailing service, Greck instead
put "Suite 100" on stationery for MediaMatters, her
public relations firm. Greck wasn't as concerned about hiding
her residence as she was about presenting a professional image for
her limited client base.
It's just another insurance policy, like the business rider
Greck added to her homeowners' policy to cover her home-office
equipment-items she says are typically not covered by traditional
homeowners' or renters' property or personal liability
policies. "I don't want a Mail Boxes Etc. address in case
that owner decides to close or relocate," she says. "The
bottom line is that my home is where I conduct business. So my
office becomes 'Suite 100' at my home address."
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