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Thread: Running a business from a residential neighborhood?

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    Silver Member league_of_ordinary_men's Avatar
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    Running a business from a residential neighborhood?

    I was asked today by a friend if someone is allowed to run/operate a business from a residential neighborhood,like a business that stocks products ,no car respraying..etc but just office and stocking items.Any idea's?

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    What people dont know doesnt bother them. I think that it is common practice today with so many people unable to find formal employment. I think that you are ok just as long as you dont annoy the people around you. There are at least 4 small businesses run from our road alone.

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    Silver Member league_of_ordinary_men's Avatar
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    Yeah I noticed that as well,in cape town its very common for businesses to buy house right next to each other and run offices out of them.Do you know were you can find the regulations?

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    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
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    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

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    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
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    @ league_of_ordinary_men- I do it, so does my next door neighbour, we keep things tidy and the neighbours are ok with everything (I also give my neighbours discount). Both he and I are Not into retail, more service related. We see 90% of our clients on site. So we don't have lots of people in and out. He does IT I do Printers.
    If you have lots of feet through the door and you are operating semi-illegally, you might get into trouble. Do you mean full retail? If so be very careful

    We both have our office and workshop separate from the main house. Never work from in the house if you can, you will go nuts, trust me.
    I know many people who started out working from home and then later moved on to a shop/office, some can allways remain working from home, it really depends on many factors. I plan to have a shop in town sometime next year, but for now I am saving lots of bucks.
    I view working from home as a beginning stage of my business, a sensible place to start things off from.
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

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    Email problem KimH's Avatar
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    I've worked from home for about 3 years now - service orientated so it doesn't bother anyone and I've yet to have a complaint.
    The guy behind me comes home early alot and blasts rubbish music which bothers me though

    pmbguy - I hear you about the going nuts part, every now and then I do go a little crazy. But then i look at the cost of renting an office space the same size as the one I am in and normalcy returns rather quickly!
    I converted our 30m2 granny flat into office space, totally self contained with full kitchen and bathroom so I don't go into the main house unless I have to. I start working anywhere from 4am, so security would also be a big concern for me should I ever lose my mind completely and rent offices somewhere else.

    At the end of the day, as long as what we do as home based business owners doesn't bother our neighbours with regards to noise, loads of people coming and going etc - I can't see it being an issue.
    "If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you."

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    pmbguy (25-Jul-13), tec0 (26-Aug-13)

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    In todays times it makes sense to work from home. If you don't bother anyone and quietly get on with it, it will not be an issue with neighbours. As soon as you start making a noise or trucks come and go at funny times then you are impacting on your neighbours and that is why there you have zoning and business rights in place. Some people will go "nuts" with working at home, but that is your decision, but if you operate a quite accounting or small business it makes sense to work from home.
    Specific bylaws - you would have to check with your local authorities, but if you wake them up to the fact then you may have to go all the way and sometimes you cannot get re-zoning for a business in a specific area.

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    Silver Member league_of_ordinary_men's Avatar
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    You think it would be a problem if you have couriers coming and going the whole day?

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    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
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    Problematic
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

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    Silver Member league_of_ordinary_men's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pmbguy View Post
    Problematic
    Whats the worst that could happen?

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