Home Office

With the recession putting pressure on increasingly scarce resources, many small businesses are foregoing leasing office space to return home. While this may result in cost savings, improved lifestyle and no commuting expense, there are several issues to consider. The first concerns compliance with your lease or homeowner’s association rules. You could inadvertently cause a violation of your lease or city codes. One issue that might be problematic is if your home-based business attracts a steady stream of visitors that may violate your reasonable use clause. Or constant shipments via UPS or FedEx for an eBay sales business could be considered a quality of life violation for your neighbors.  Some businesses, such as food-service businesses, could be considered health code violations and others may require special permits. So investigate the requirements for your business to make sure you are in compliance.

Danger - Children at Home

Summer holidays typically begin for school children the week after Labor Day. This means that you and your employees may have children home for the summer months during business hours when you may be working from a home office on a temporary basis or perhaps as part of a longer-term telecommuting arrangement. If you have teenagers who want to use your computers, you will need to ensure that safeguards are in place. Social networking hubs and music download sites that are especially popular with teenagers are often vectors for viruses or mal-ware. You wouldn’t want those to infect your home computers and certainly not the computers you use for your small business. So make certain that your business computer is used for business purposes only. This will also make your tax reporting easier, since there will be no question about the purpose of the computer. Insist that your employees do the same. And you may want to take appropriate cautions to teach your children about computer safety as these are good habits to learn as they become more proficient with technology.