Will The Post Office Disappear?

BusinessWeek reports that the United States Postal Service will be closing and consolidating many locations across the country.

Apparently, they've been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase in the price of stamps in May, cuts in staff and removal of collection boxes.

Last year, mail volume fell by 9.5 billion pieces to a total of 203 billion pieces. It is expected to fall by another 28 billion pieces this year to a total of 175 billion pieces.

There are currently 32,741 post offices in the United States.

So what does this mean for entrepreneurs and business owners? In my opinion, nothing.

There's really no reason for you to go to the post office anymore. You can print postage online via USPS.com and Stamps.com, and simply drop it in the mailbox or have them pick it up.

You can also do the same for Fedex and UPS.

If you're not already doing this, now would be a good time to start. It's very easy to do so, and the USPS offers you a slight discount when you print postage online. Plus, you save a lot of valuable time but not waiting in line at the post office.