If you’re going to start running a business from your home, there are various laws you need to know about. If you don’t check things out before you start, then you risk having your business shut down by the authorities.
Zoning Laws.
The chances are that the different parts of your town or city have been split into different ‘zones’. Each one of these zones has a purpose: business or residential. Since you almost certainly live in a residential area, zoning laws restrict what you can do there in terms of business.
If you think about it, there are good reasons for this. What would it be like if someone could just decide to buy up a whole load of houses and turn the area into a shopping mall, without getting anyone’s permission? What if your neighbours could just turn around one day and start using their house as a shop? I doubt that you’d like that. The laws are there to protect your neighbourhood, and to stop business from interfering with people’s home lives.
You need to phone whatever local governmental body there is in your area, and ask them about the zoning laws in your area. If they’re not helpful, it could be worth a visit to a lawyer. You’ll find that laws vary massively – here are some of the things you might come across.
The Strict Zoning Policy.
Many areas still operate a strict ‘no-business’ policy in residential areas, and will come after you if you start a business without their permission. You’ll need to put in a formal application, and there could be a public hearing, giving other residents the chance to object. Time to start being nicer to your neighbours!
You should note that just because there are other home businesses in your area, it doesn’t mean that you’ll find it any easier to get permission. The rules may have been tightened up since those businesses were started. Still, it’s worth talking to other home businesses in the area, if you can, to see if you can get any advice.
Percentage Policies.
Another common way of handling things is to allow you to use only a percentage of your house for business, to avoid residential properties becoming wholly commercial. You might be told, for example, that only 20% of the house can be used for business purposes. This can be restrictive if you have a small house, or if you need to store things. Worse, areas with a policy like this are usually completely unwilling to vary it for you.
Restrictions by Industry.
It’s worth checking if there’s a special exception in the zoning laws for what you plan to do. Artists, for example, are often excluded from the laws (where are they supposed to work – the art office?), as well as people who give home tuition, like music teachers. Doctors and dentists are another common exception.
Signs and Traffic Rules.
You might find that the laws have special restrictions on signs and traffic. You could be restricted from putting anything on the front of your house that could be considered ‘advertising’, meaning that you can’t even have a sign with the name of your business. If you plan to have lorries or trucks bringing deliveries to your house, then that can pose a big problem, especially if someone complains about them, or there are lots of children in the area.
Visitor Rules.
Another contentious issue is visitors. For some reason, people get upset if lots of visitors keep coming to your house – they like their street to be quiet, not constantly busy. Some laws allow only a set number of visitors to your home business per day, or restrict the number of visitors that you can have at one time.
Breaking the Law.
A footnote to all this is that millions of businesses are operated illegally out of people’s homes, in violation of the relevant laws. They keep their business secret, because they know that admitting what they’re doing would probably get it closed down. This approach obviously isn’t recommended, though – you should always try your best to do things legally, and consider moving house if no-one seems to want your business in the area.
How To Check If Your Home Business Is Legal?
All can go well in business with a criminal record check
The people’s need to obtain more information about their future employees is driven by the lack of certainty and safety in a society with an increasing number of criminal offences. The criminal records search, however unethical it may sound, is a necessity for today’s employers. The big risk of hiring the wrong person for one’s business has turned this issue into an important one for any company. Employers have to make a criminal record check of future employees otherwise they can get sued in case the person they hire breaks the law affecting their business. On the other hand a very important issue is whether persons with criminal records can be turned down on job applications because of their criminal background. The criminal record check may seem quite difficult to conduct and might even rise up problems of immorality, but one has to balance well the decisions regarding the future of his company.
Criminal offence has grown a lot over the years. This has led to a very big uncertainty when it comes to meeting new people and choosing who you’ll be working with. Employers (all over the world) have confronted with this problem when hiring someone. They have to verify this person’s background, but the criminal record check can be quite limited. When pursuing a criminal record check, employers don’t have access to governmental information. The first step of the process is to view that person’s job application. The criminal records offer information regarding the applicant’s past problems with the law. Then, they can consult the credit bureau’s registers from which they can find out addresses and social security numbers and check the past jobs as well. This way the employer finds out what the future employees have done before and whether there are any intentionally left out details in the applications. Many companies resort to hiring special services to conduct the criminal records search, but only if the applicant has given his written consent. If there are criminal records to be found, the employees should be given the chance to elucidate their case. The job applicants must be informed upon their legal rights before any decision to reject the job applications is made.
In the Internet era, the most accurate help you can find consists of the online services. Most companies offer their help in criminal record check, but their efforts are made using the Internet as well. These companies can give detailed information on how a criminal record check can be conducted. They know how a person can pursue a criminal record check by obtaining the information they need from the local courthouse and which criminal records can be granted by the specialized web sites in the criminal record check. Even so, this doesn’t mean it is the easiest or cheapest way to obtain the information you want. The problem is that criminal record check can’t be 100% accurate, because criminal records may suffer corrections along the years. There are also some limitations on how much information an employer can obtain about an applicant’s criminal background. Nationwide, the criminal database has a lot of lacks. But this doesn’t mean the employer’s strive to obtain a criminal background is useless, because most of the companies specialized in criminal records search have been book keeping all the changes conducted in one’s criminal records.
Another important issue may be whether the applicant with criminal records has a chance in being hired or not. An employer can not reject a job application due to criminal records search because it would be considered a discrimination against this category of persons. Nevertheless, the employer can check whether that person’s criminal background could interfere with the future job, whether they are related and how the applicant’s behavior has been ever since. This remains a very controversial matter because it is very difficult to prove that a person has been rejected for employment due to his criminal record check, which is in fact illegal.
In spite of all these issues, criminal record check is a very important step in hiring someone because of the problems that may occur in the future. Hiring someone can influence how your business will develop, so risks are involved. The employer should be able to conduct a criminal records search to minimize the risks, but he should not make a decision basing it only on the criminal records. There are web sites or companies specialized in criminal records search, which can offer you the most accurate information you need in the shortest period of time. Qualified personnel can simplify finding an applicant’s criminal background and the information obtained will help you make a balanced decision regarding your future employees.
Business background check
Businesses getting into a partnership or individuals looking to avail the services of a business should first conduct a business background check. This assists them in making a more informed business decision. There are several agencies that provide information on businesses; the information can include data on lawsuits, liens, bankruptcies, and corporate information.
Individuals wishing to take the services of a law firm, a contractor, a car dealer, or builder can perform a business background check to try and ensure that they do not end up doing business with a trickster. Business background checks can also help in evaluating old-age homes and nursing centers where one may have to admit a family member.
Before agreeing to a business transaction of any sort with a company, whether advertising, marketing, or public relations firms, it is important to get a feel of their capacity to deliver as well as their market reputation. A business background check assumes even greater significance if it is for a one-time business transaction because once a deal has been agreed to; issue-resolving at a later date can be a long drawn process and most often with one-time transactions companies do not vigorously pursue an issue. Therefore, it is important to obtain samples of successful work done before making any written commitment.
Information necessary for a business background check can be obtained from the “Doing Business As” (DBA) records that are available at the county courthouse. The DBA records are public records and provide valuable information on businesspersons and companies that have been given a license to do business in a given region. By running a business background check on a prospective business partner, one becomes aware of the liabilities that one may possibly invite if the business partner fails to live up to his part of the deal.
Business background checks reveal business, professional, and personal information. The business information can consist of national property records, business name and address, FEIN, UCC filings, any civil litigations, and tax liens. Professional license verification, DBA filings, partnerships and affiliations are also checked. Personal information covered for a business background check includes social security numbers of owners and directors, aliases, and residence property owners.