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| Author |
Message |
slynne
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A New Twist to the Smallbusiness.cf
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Aug 15 21:42 UTC 2006 |
from an item in coop
----------------------snip------------------
furs and I were thinking that it might be fun to have a business
conference where we could talk about corporations, business, labor
issues, economics, and other things related to business in the world.
We would like to be the fw's of such a conference.
I know that grex already has a finance conference and while we would
like to talk about finance sometimes, our scope would be broader than
that. Ditto the small business conference. We might want to talk about
small businesses sometimes but would prefer a larger scope.
----------------------snip----------------------
Anyhoooo. cmmcgee thought it would be ok if furs and I were made fw's
of *this* conference and then expanded the conversation here from just
small business to all business. We could call it the business.cf!
Does anyone have any objections?
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| 25 responses total. |
tod
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response 1 of 25:
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Aug 16 00:47 UTC 2006 |
One time in the mid 90's, I was CIO of a major headhunting firm. I had been
out late partying one night and went straight to the restroom the next
morning. A few minutes later in came our VP of marketing, former Lions
linebacker Dexter Bussey, and he commmented "Somebody's takin care of
BIZ-NISSS!" from the horrible Killian's ambience I was emanating.
I'm glad we'll have a new BIZ-NESSS conference!
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cmcgee
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response 2 of 25:
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Aug 17 12:54 UTC 2006 |
No, no. It's BIDness.
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tod
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response 3 of 25:
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Aug 17 17:36 UTC 2006 |
Dexter was much more articulate than that. He was the one that talked me into
money market CDs and 401k. I can honestly say he was a very humble and kind
man for having been a huge sports celebrity(we often had people coming in to
ask him to sign a football or poster.)
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cmcgee
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response 4 of 25:
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Aug 18 15:34 UTC 2006 |
Cool.
Now, how can we drum up participants here?
Would lurkers who have us on their cf list please check in?
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ball
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response 5 of 25:
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Aug 18 15:40 UTC 2006 |
/me raises a hand.
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nharmon
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response 6 of 25:
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Aug 18 15:53 UTC 2006 |
Roger Roger.
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tod
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response 7 of 25:
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Aug 18 17:11 UTC 2006 |
So which one of you FWs owns a small business?
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slynne
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response 8 of 25:
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Aug 18 18:09 UTC 2006 |
I own a small business. It is called "Lynne" and I sell skilled labor.
Unfortunately, I currently only have one customer which means they have
a lot of control over me.
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cmcgee
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response 9 of 25:
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Aug 18 18:29 UTC 2006 |
I do. McGee & Associates was my only income for over 15 years. Now it is
my consulting cover when I take assignments in addition to my job.
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tod
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response 10 of 25:
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Aug 18 19:00 UTC 2006 |
Do either of you advertise or have business cards? Business license? Etc?
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slynne
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response 11 of 25:
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Aug 18 20:30 UTC 2006 |
Nah. You dont need to have a license to have a business. You just have
to make sure you pay your taxes. Luckily for me, my customer pays some
of my taxes for me.
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ball
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response 12 of 25:
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Aug 18 23:45 UTC 2006 |
I was all set to "hang out the shingle" until I found out
that the 'village' that I live in refuses to license home-
based businesses. I would like to live somewhere where that
kind of license was a non-issue.
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slynne
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response 13 of 25:
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Aug 19 01:41 UTC 2006 |
I am sure there must be a loophole around that ordinance somewhere.
Perhaps you could officially base your business at a relative's house
outside of the village (i.e. use it for a mailing address). I am
thinking that if you were to do that, even if you did most of your work
from home it should be ok. I mean, in my business where I sell my
skilled labor to Big Corporation, I occasionally have to work from my
home and I am sure that would be ok even if I lived someplace that
refused to license home-based businesses.
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ball
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response 14 of 25:
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Aug 19 05:46 UTC 2006 |
I had thought of using a PO Box in some other, more agreeable
community. I don't know if that would hamper the formation of a
company though.
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cmcgee
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response 15 of 25:
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Aug 19 14:36 UTC 2006 |
ball, do they refuse to license, or is it illegal?
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keesan
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response 16 of 25:
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Aug 19 15:41 UTC 2006 |
I work at home without any license or shingle.
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ball
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response 17 of 25:
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Aug 20 03:05 UTC 2006 |
Re #15: I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea what the difference is. If
I were to consult a lawyer, my business would be in debt before it
even started.
Re #16: I get the impression that you live somewhere more sane.
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keesan
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response 18 of 25:
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Aug 20 05:42 UTC 2006 |
You need to pay the city for permission to put out a sign. Some businesses
have to provide offstreet parking.
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ball
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response 19 of 25:
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Aug 21 02:31 UTC 2006 |
I don't need a sign, or parking. Nobody will be coming to
the office-at-home.
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cmcgee
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response 20 of 25:
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Aug 21 19:36 UTC 2006 |
ball, if you don't have a sign, and don't have anyone coming to the building,
I suspect you can legally conduct business from your home.
You used the word "license", so I assume you applied for a license and were
turned down.
In most states, the standards for licensing are clearly spelled out, with
educational, tests, or apprenticeship requirements written into the law.
If you were refused a license, there will be clear steps for you to take to
get one.
The other issue you might be refering to is zoning. zoning laws control where
manufacturing, commercial, and residential uses can be placed within a city
(or county, or township, etc).
Most residential zones forbid "businesses", but then list exceptions. I don't
know of any residential zoning law that totally forbids office uses in your
home. Especially if you don't need a sign, parking, or lots of pickups and
delivery vehicles, you probably fall under these exceptions.
You can go read the zoning laws at the clerk's office of your jurisdiction
during business hours. Just ask the clerk 1) what zoning applies to your
house, and 2) where in the zoning code that is defined. You'll probably get
something like R-1, or R-1a, or some other code that has an R (for
residential)_ in it.
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ball
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response 21 of 25:
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Aug 21 23:27 UTC 2006 |
I didn't apply for a license. It didn't occur to me that
such a thing might exist until the local newspaper published
an item on the ban. I suppose I could visit the clerk, but
the village (and the clerk in particular) is a client of my
former employer, so I try to minimise my contact with them.
Perhaps I'll just wait until we move somewhere else and save
up for tools and equipment in the mean time. Thanks for the
tip though, I'll check the clerk's office at the new place
to make sure they're not similarly restrictive.
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cmcgee
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response 22 of 25:
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Aug 22 14:11 UTC 2006 |
I'm curious! What exactly have they banned?
I'd love to check this out myself, since I don't think it's legal to ban all
business activity, even in a residential zone.
What village are you living in?
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ball
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response 23 of 25:
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Aug 22 20:10 UTC 2006 |
Replied via email.
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cmcgee
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response 24 of 25:
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Aug 22 21:01 UTC 2006 |
Got it.
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