Office in the home-discretion the better part of valor

home

Home office legal in your neighborhood? Surely you jest!

If you want to make the day of the bureaucrats of your local municipality just walk in and ask permission . . . permission for what? It doesn’t matter you’ll provide a weeks worth of chuckles in the break room of city hall You’ll provide a weeks worth of chuckles in the break room of city hallas they recall to their buddies how creativity they said no to whatever you are contemplating.

I have a favorite saying that goes something like, it is better to ask for forgiveness, than it is for permission. I cannot recall ever seeing a news story about someone who went to jail because they violated the zoning ordinances starting a home based business.

This morning I had a mentoring call with one of my students in the Telecommuting – Working from Home class. As part of the discussion she indicated that she was about to go to her local City Hall to inquire as a relates to as zoning ordinances and permits that would be necessary to operate a medical billing business from home.

I had all I could do to keep from driving over and tying her to her chair. You know what the result of that visit is going to be before you even leave from home. They will find 4,000 different rules and regulations which prohibit you from breathing inside your home, yet alone run a home based business. Why run the risk of being fingered?

Don’t ask . . . don’t tell is what I do. As long as you’re not cooking camel hides or building rocket fuel the engines in your garage I’d suggest you proceed quietly to conduct your home based business without asking for permission.

The critical key is to be a good neighbor, and watch the traffic coming going from your home. An occasional FedEx truck once a day is not going to do you in, but if you’ve got cars parked in front of neighbors driveways, customers coming and going at all hours of the day there’s a very good chance that your business is going to be halted whether or not it’s legal.

The politicians will run for cover whenever they encounter the outcry from home based workers in the community. There’s safety in numbers, I saw one estimate of a community where one out of five residential homes had a business being operated within it. There are twenty million of us who operate home based businesses.

You might recall OSHA’s 2001 attempt to regulate home based businesses by making the ergonomics of keyboarding regulations apply to home based businesses. The phone lines in Washington lit up in an instant and every single politician got volumes of abuse from every corner of their jurisdiction. The tmillions of constituents in the marketplace wanted nothing to do with government regulating home based businesses. OSHA backed off in 48 hours.

This is a political hot potato and believe me, they do not want the wrath out of the home based business entrepreneurs in their jurisdictions. We are many, well armed financially and very politically savvy.

Further information about home offices is available in the online classes:

Related Articles

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the “Leave Your Comments” link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I’d love to hear from you!

Technorati Tags: home based business permits

  • Writing for the Internet
  • How to get rid of piles
  • A quicker way to success in your home based business
  • How to organize your filing system
  • Making a Living off of Adsense

    • Save this page to: del.icio.us - Digg it - Yahoo MyWeb

    What organizational structure for a home based business?

    how

    How to choose which organizational structure is best for your home based business?

    The topic of which organizational structure to choose for a new home based business entrepreneur often times causes rectal flinch. I find most start up entrepreneurs worrying needlessly about this issue. In fact I have seen organizational structure issues cause immobility on an otherwise very intelligent entrepreneur.

    To start I recommend that you contact your insurance agent and obtain business liability umbrella insurance policy. This will cover the liability issue for you while you get your business under way as a sole proprietorship, unless your dealing in rocket fuel.

    At the end of the first year I recommend that she sat down with an accountant to determine if filing for a corporation going forward makes sense for your small home based business. If so you can contact the Secretary of State in your home state to obtain the filing information and form necessary to file a corporation.

    Several web sites on the Internet have clip and paste type forms for your articles of incorporation, minutes of first meeting, and by laws. Once these forms are filled out and signed you could send them back to the Secretary of State with the filing fee and you’re good to go. But there are other forms of organizational structure that might make sense for you but in here it is a good review.

    Students in my classes are provided all of the forms and links to the appropiate state agncy, but for the rest of you here is a good primer thanks to already know this stuff but for the rest of you who need answers take a look at this courtesy of Entrepreneur.com:

    “

    Understand the Differences Between the Entities

    Before we discuss the specific tax advantages and disadvantages of the various business entities, it is important that you know some fundamental tax considerations between a:

    sole proprietorship,

    general partnership,

    limited partnership,

    corporation, and

    limited liability company.

    The Sole Proprietorship

    The sole proprietorship is thought of as the quickest and easiest way to set up a business operation. There are no blanket prerequisites, nor are there any specific costs in starting a sole proprietorshipNo specific costs in starting a sole proprietorship. There may be some minor formalities, however, that will need attention depending on your state or your jurisdiction. These formalities, which of course apply to all business entities, mean that you will probably have to:

    obtain an occupancy permit for your place of business, secure a business license, and apply for a franchise or registration number for your operation. This registration number will be used by the state agency to monitor the collection of sales tax and other regulatory matters.

    All of these procedures are simple and can be done without the assistance of an attorney or accountant regardless of the state in which you are doing business. Once you start a sole proprietorship, you are the sole owner. Unless you are in a community property state in which your spouse is vested with a one-half interest, you alone have full control and responsibility for the operation.

    The General Partnership

    Like the sole proprietorship, starting up the general partnership could be a relatively easy process. No costs or formalities are required. Wise counsel, however, will give you about a dozen reasons why you should have a detailed partnership agreement drafted whenever you put yourself on the line with any other individual. A few items that you would be best advised to spell out in writing are:

    the amount of capital each partner is expected to contribute up front; the rights and duties of the partners; the method for sharing profits and losses; the authorization for cash withdrawals and salaries, the methods for resolving disputes or taking in new partners; and the method for dissolving the partnership should dissolution become necessary. Remember, this is often the case.

    The Limited Partnership

    ,,

    Read the entire article on start up organizational strategies

    Further information about this topic is available in the online class:

    Related Articles

    Technorati Tags: how to file a corporation

    Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Share it in the link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I’d love to hear from you!

  • A quicker way to success in your home based business
  • Office in the home-discretion the better part of valor
  • Finding Your Niche, are you frustrated? Sell whats in your brain!
  • Learn more about mind mapping
  • A Guide to Starting Your Business

    • Save this page to: del.icio.us - Digg it - Yahoo MyWeb

    Next Page »

        
    Companion site for Gary Fugere's online classes for those who earn a living without a job or those who would like to. News and resources for telecommuting, freelancing, time manage-ment, independent contract-ing, financial management, ecommerce, teaching on the Internet and much more.


    Enter email to subscribe to new articles



    Most Read Articles


    Some Sites I Like


    Suggest Content for this Blog with Skribit!


      Creative Commons License
    Licensed to www.gsinet.org under a Creative Commons Attribution License.