Setting Up SOHO Operations – Part 2
Depending on what state that you are in, you must pay attention to certain laws in establishing a SOHO and those laws apply to zoning requirements of the city that you live in.
Some zoning laws a very flexible when it comes to the operation of SOHO’s . If it is an administrative based SOHO business, then usually, everything is okay. There is nothing being manufactured or openly sold, such as food or other items that require certifications from your local and county government.
Usually, the grey area in SOHO operations is in the area of manufacturing and customer visitation. If you are manufacturing a certain product with chemicals, then you may have to get special privileges depending on the zoning requirements of the neighborhood that you are living in.
Let’s say that you are a manufacturer of soap. You’ve set up a small plant in your basement. You have certain chemicals that you use to mix the soap together and then certain chemicals to form the final product. Zoning laws may say that the chemicals are harmless and allow you to make the soap or certain laws may say that you cannot manufacture the soap from your basement and therefore you may have to manufacture at another location but be able to ship from your home.
Another problem could be establishing a storefront out of your home in which people will frequent constantly. Laws may say that it’s okay depending on what zoning code that you have or the law may state that you can’t do it. Again, it depends on the zoning laws of where you are.
Parking and fire code restrictions could also be a problem when you are selling items out of your SOHO. If you don’t have adequate parking and live in a home, neighbors could start complaining about cars in front of their homes, etc.
But there is an alternative way, if you are selling or manufacturing items from your home, to get your product to the market and that is through the internet. We will cover the internet in a later article.
Finding out what the zoning requirements are in your city when it applies to selling items to customers visiting your SOHO or manufacturing items from your SOHO.
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