How to Start and Run Your Home Business Successfully
December 14th, 2009With the recession, many people will use redundancy payments or the opportunity afforded by losing a job to set up in business by themselves and start their budding empire. Running a business from your home can be a low cost and practical way to get yourself going and test whether you have what it takes to offer a product or service that customers will want to buy.
There are a number of things to look out for when starting a business from home. Firstly, if you have a mortgage, you must tell your lender and your home insurance provider that you will be running a business from premises in which they have an interest. It may cost a little more to insure any business assets based at home but better to be safe than sorry. You should look at getting appropriate business insurance anyway to cover you whilst you working either at other people`s places of work or to indemnify you against claims for malpractice or poor workmanship.
If you plan to use an existing room as an office then it is unlikely that you will need planning permission. However, if you intend to use, say, the garage, for noisy or heavy engineering type works then you should ask the planning office if any permissions are required. Likewise, if you expect to dedicate one room in the house to running your business then you will need to consider paying business rates instead of domestic rates for that portion of the home. Be careful here though since dedicating a part of your home to your new business could compromise your capital gains exemption when you sell the house and you may be liable for a portion of tax on the room(s) used for business.
On the flip side, you can claim a number of allowances for the portion of the house dedicated to business use. You are able to claim some heating, lighting and council tax costs as a business expense in your tax return. Be sure to check with HMRC on the rules relating to running a business from your home.
Working from home brings freedom from commuting, costs very little and can fit very well with a personal family life. But if you have not been used to working from home before then some may find it very lonely, intrusive and easy to become distracted by other members of the family. Unlike leaving an office or factory in the evening, it can be hard to draw a line between work and leisure.
There are specific instances when you shouldn`t really consider running a business from home. If you work with hazardous chemicals, heavy machinery, generate odour(s) or have frequent work visitors then it may be better to look for specialized premises. Otherwise, there are many other money making ideas where running a business from home makes a great deal of sense.











