qprev_HBB Manual 2.qxd - Small Business BC

Recruit VolunteersDrawing on the volunteer energy of family andfriends can make your home-based business achance to build something together. You can alsogive important skills to family members. Letthem know you appreciate them, and they maynot expect any other sort of return. Find out howother people in the household feel about workingwith you and what recognition or return theywant. Use what you know of the personal stylesof people in the household – including yourself –to assess how realistic their involvement is inthe business as a volunteer or as a paid staffperson. One possibility is to keep good track ofthe contributions that different people make toyour business. Use a section of the businessreference manual for this. When the business getson its feet, ensure that people who’ve helped youget a return.Hire staffHiring employees involves some legalrequirements and obligations, particularlyaround:• Health benefits, Workers’ Compensation,Unemployment Insurance and Canada PensionPlan.• Workplace standards and conditions.• Disability insurance.• Human rights.Zoning determines whether or not you are legallyallowed to have employees in your home-basedbusiness. Many municipalities restrict employeesin a home-based business. For example, anamendment to the Mission by-law controllinghome occupation use states:(Various residential zones) shall have a maximumof 2 employees per house occupation use and amaximum of 1 non-resident employee.Where the employees of a home occupation donot conduct their occupation on the subjectproperty, (they) shall have no restrictions on thenumber of employees.If hiring is an option, you may feel you need thecontinuity and stability, or the specialized skills,of employees. Becoming an employer involvesmany things. The process of hiring includes:• Developing a realistic job description withreasonable tasks• Finding good candidates, interviewing them,and making a decision about who to hire.Managing personnel once you have themrequires various directive, personality andcommunication skills, in addition to those youneed to run the business yourself. Hiring aspouse or family member has implicationsfor taxation. Talk with your bookkeeper oraccountant.Sub-ContractSub-contracting blocks of work or certain taskshas proven more realistic than hiring for manyhome-based business people. Generally, theperson with whom you sub-contract takesresponsibility for himself or herself. While it mayseem on an hourly-rate comparison that you paymore for sub-contracting than for hiring,comparing real and total costs of the two optionscan change that impression. If you do subcontract,a plan similar to the staffing planoutlined above but simpler will help you keeptrack of and assess the costs and benefits of subcontracting.You can check with the CanadaCustoms and Revenue Agency guide to assist indetermining if the person is self-employed or anemployee.solutions for small business home-based business 93