STAYING HOME

Most small businesses start out and stay close to home. This means a bedroom or the kitchen table might be your office or work place. Often the "office" and "production" areas kind of take over most of the house. To avoid a takeover, you must plan and organize. This moving into all open spaces can alienate the family to your business and possibly to you. To avoid irritating the other members in the family, designate space to business and keep it confined. As a home based entrepreneur, let the American Association of Home-Based Businesses help you.

Your new business needs a home. Is it legal to keep it in your home? It depends upon the neighborhood city code and zoning restrictions.
 
Where is the best place to house your business?

• Look at the spare bedroom
• The shed in the backyard
• The empty building in the next block
• The garage
• The basement
• Don't discount the local storage rental facility.

Which location fits the business budget? When operating on a shoestring, sometimes a closet must do. Now and in the future many more businesses will be located in mobile units. Whether RV size or a minivan, parking your office in the driveway definitely has its advantages.

Learn more about all aspects of business at the Small Business University.

As stated above, most small business is conducted from homes in residential areas. Call the zoning department at the city hall for information about residential zoning. The rules given to you might sound very strict, but the question is whether they are enforced. Many local law departments are so understaffed that they can't enforce the law. If you do decide you can bend the rules to run a business or know that the law is not enforced, you have been forewarned by asking for the information.

Neighbors might complain because there is a steady stream of customers to your door. They might object to cars constantly parked on the street in front of houses. If so, the zoning department will receive a complaint and your business will be honored by the appearance of one of the overworked employees. Not a nice picture.

Keep your neighbors happy. Be a good neighbor and it is doubtful there will be complaints against your home-run business. Do not tempt them by running noisy equipment during sleeping hours or having advertising signs for your business in the windows or out on the lawn.

A mail order business conducted in a home will flourish with a prestigious address. Those with, or starting, a mail business will find information at the National Mail Order Association site. Consider how a business located on Fifth Avenue

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