Location, Location, Location
By Phil Hanson
Before you quit your day job, you’ll want to know if your planned home-based business is compatible with your neighborhood. Keep in mind that working at home is different than working out of your home.
Some types of businesses lend themselves very well to at home employment. Examples of these are accounting, artistic pursuits, designing, hair dressing, e-commerce, freelance writing, consulting, photography, and many others.
Most service businesses can just as easily be worked out of the home as they can be from an away-from-home shop. Self-employed house painters, plumbers, roofers, carpenters, landscapers, mobile welders and car and truck mechanics, and other tradesmen, often find that a home office provides the ideal base of operations. A basement or garage makes a good storage area for materials, and tools and equipment can be hauled from job to job in a pickup or van.
The important thing to remember is that no matter what kind of business you intend to work at home, it must be unobtrusive so as not to provoke your neighbors. Any activity that constitutes a public menace, safety hazard or nuisance will likely meet strong resistance from affected neighbors in a residential community, not to mention aggressive opposition from local zoning and licensing authorities. Do your homework and jump through all the legal hoops before you launch your business.
|
