PLAN A HOME-BASED BUSINESS

UNIT BSBSMB306A: Plan a Home-based Business
PLAN A HOME-BASED BUSINESS
UNIT BSBSMB306A
This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills
and knowledge required to examine the issues around
establishing a business in a home and to plan the
workplace within the home environment.
KEY CONCEPTS
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Activities to be undertaken
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Workplace needed
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Legal requirements and implications
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Agreements, permits and licences
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Services and infrastructure
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Fittings and equipment
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Access requirements
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Insurance requirements
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Workplace layout
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Minimising potential sources of conflict
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Contingency plans
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UNIT BSBSMB306A: Plan a Home-based Business
CHAPTER 1
RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS
FROM HOME
H
ome-based businesses are an important sector of the Australian business community, with
nearly one million people operating a business at or from home.
If you are planning to run your micro business from home, there are a wide range of government
requirements that may apply to you. These include:
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council approval and zoning for your business activity
taxation
employment restrictions and obligations
occupational health and safety considerations
licensing.
In addition to these legal requirements, you will need to consider the more physical aspects of
running your business from home, such as:
• setting up your office, and the furniture, office equipment and information and communication
systems required
• the possibility of leasing or renting plant and equipment
• making your place of work a pleasant comfortable and safe environment for you and your clients
• the impact that running your business from home will have on your home or family life.
Leasing plant and equipment
Office set-up
Work/family balance
OHS
Employment considerations
Council approval
Licensing
Pleasant working environment
Taxation
Things to consider when starting a home-based business
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UNIT BSBSMB306A: Plan a Home-based Business
• Conflict between home and office: The advantages of running your business from home
can be quickly lost if you do not clearly delineate the business environment and time from
those of your family and private life. Clear ground rules should be established and followed,
so that you are able to work efficiently, despite whatever else in occurring in the home at
the time.
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Chapter 2:
1: The
Running
LegalYour
andBusiness
Physical from
Aspects
Home
of Running a Home-based Business
SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS TO PLAN
O
nce you have established the goals and objectives of your home-based business, you will
need to begin to address some of the specific aspects involved in working towards your
vision. Questions that you will need to answer as part of this planning process include:
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What activities will I be undertaking as part of my business operations?
Where in my home will I conduct the business?
What facilities and workspace will I need to be able to effectively run my business?
Will I have to make any changes to my home, or is it suitable as it is?
What services and infrastructure are available to support my business?
Do I require any licences or permits to conduct my business from home?
Are there any council regulations or restrictions that apply in my neighbourhood?
How much will it cost me to set up my workspace and other required facilities at home?
How will I reach my potential customers – do they require access to my home?
What other access is required (eg. for deliveries, pick-ups, etc.)?
Is my household insurance sufficient to cover the business, or do I need to take out additional
insurance?
Let us now work through the above questions under the following headings, as a way of planning
the various requirements for your proposed home-based micro business.
A. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES TO BE UNDERTAKEN
The rapid pace of technological innovations and developments, particularly the advent of the
Internet, has greatly increased the opportunities for working from home. Many start on a parttime basis and carefully build these extra income efforts into full-time, profitable businesses.
Homemakers, hobbyists, retirees, people interested in a second income, those wanted to
be their own boss and the disabled, are just a few of the groups attracted to home-based
businesses.
The increasingly service orientated economy offers a widening spectrum of opportunities for
micro business growth. A young mother’s craft business begins when she starts appliqueing
decorations on her children’s clothes. A retired government worker buys 40 beehives and sells
honey to local health food stores and at craft fairs. A woman works from home designing and
selling original patterns for fabric dolls. A journalist leaves his full-time job to publish a party
and event planners guidebook from the entire first floor of his two-storey house. A teacher does
typing and secretarial jobs for her husband and friends until she realises the potential market
and opens a full-time secretarial service from her apartment. Still others have become homebased business operators by using their skills in catering, counselling, teaching, childcare,
writing, photography, sewing, consulting, market research and landscape design.
Table 2.1 on the following page lists a variety of possible home-based business ideas. While
this list is by no means exhaustive, it should provide you with an effective overview of the types
of enterprises that may be run from home. Is one of these similar to the home-based business
you are planning?
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Chapter 3:
1: Planning
Running Your
Your Business
Workplace
from Home
TABLE 3.2: AREAS FOR CONSIDERATION IN WORKPLACE ANALYSIS
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