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4How Will You Operate?Murray’s Lawn and LandscapingServiceby Genevieve Gardner“I don’t compete with nature – I learn from it andI work with it,” has been Murray David’s mottosince he started his lawn and gardenmaintenance business after retiring from a 28-year naval career.Start-up costs for a lawn and garden business arerelatively low – Murray estimates $5,000 to$10,000 for anyone entering the business – andhe was able to adapt various pieces of gardeningequipment he already owned.Murray makes time to explore the garden with aclient – every week if that’s desired –- and tokeep them informed of what he has done on eachvisit. “One very distinctive feature of mygardens,” he says with obvious pride, “is athrowback to the Navy – everything must bemanicured, trimmed and precise.”Murray also looks after a number of apartmentbuildings and condominiums, though quite oftenhe finds dealing with management companiesmore complicated than dealing with individuals.“It’s important to make sure that you identifywhether the company is administered at the local,provincial, or national level,” he advises,“especially if you are tracking an unpaidinvoice.”In his truck he carries licenses, coursecertificates and an impressive photo album ofbefore-and-after pictures of his best gardenassignments. <strong>Business</strong> cards and a cellular phonefor accessibility round out his mobile office.Computer records are kept on all his clients’gardens, including dates of mixture applicationsand what bio-safe products have been applied.He willingly prints out this information forclients on request. Charging by the hour, hebases his calculations on a scale of knowledge,number of clients and machinery costs. As hisknowledge expands, he plans to raise his ratesaccordingly.In future, Murray hopes to expand to acomplement of three: someone for moss baskets,himself doing a bit of everything, and anotherperson to do contract yard work with him. “Iwould like to someone. It would be good to sharewhat I’ve learned.”Assessing Your SituationThe expression “business operations” refers tothe activities and systems involved in organizinga business on a daily basis. These aresummarized in the operations section of abusiness plan, which covers:• Location (aspects not directly related tomarketing)• Premises and facilities• Equipment and methods• Materials, supplies and sources• Key personnel and staff• Professional services and resources• Management and training54solutions for small business home-based business
Organize Physical SpaceWhy is Location Important?Zoning ByLawsZoning bylaws outline what is legal within a city,municipality or regional district. The three maincategories of zones are residential, commercial,and industrial. Zoning by-laws restrict what canhappen in each zone with such things as the typeof activity, size of building, how close thebuilding can be to the street, parking, the numberof employees, amount of traffic, and size andtype of outdoor sign.Do your research on zoning early. Sometimesmixed use is possible, for example a homeoccupation that meets certain conditions may bepermitted in a residential area. Without zoningpermission, a home-based entrepreneur cannotlegally . Many do operate illegally but risk beingclosed down at any time.Today, most municipalities recognize the positivebenefits of home-based businesses. Ripple andspin-off effects on the wider community andeconomy are positive. Home-based businessesare increasingly recognized to fill a particularneed in small and rural communities. Thisrecognition has gone a long way to improvingrelationships between home-based business, themore established commercial businesscommunity and municipal governments.Increasing contact and information exchangehave led to cooperation among the three groups,as expressed by home-based entrepreneurRichard Morgan about Mission:“Our Association (of home-based businesses)worked with city council, the city’s license issuer,administrator, building inspector, and a couple ofaldermen to design by-laws that home-basedbusinesses could live with.”Be prepared with property records andinformation for this research – street address, anda legal description of the property, if possible.Start at the Planning Department in yourmunicipality. This is where you will be able tofind out about your present zoning. Be able toexplain exactly what your business will be doing– a description of your <strong>Business</strong> Concept will beuseful here.Rezoning is possible by applying to a localcouncil. The application process is relativelycomplicated.Rezoning often meets opposition and in manyplaces, zoning changes require public hearings –so there are no guarantees that rezoningapplications will be approved.You may do all your research, set up the businesslegally within current zoning requirements – onlyto find that the zoning gets changed. Your statusthen changes to what is called “nonconforming”.This means your business cancontinue to operate, even though it does notconform to or follow new zoning regulations. Ifsuch a business stops for a continuous period ofsix months or more, it generally loses nonconformingstatus.Typical bylaw restrictionsThe following bylaw example, from the town ofMission in British Columbia (Bylaw No. 1737-1988), has typical restrictions on home-basedbusiness use:Where permitted, accessory home occupations:• Shall be entirely enclosed within a building• Shall not involve the external storage ordisplay of materials or finished productsassociated with the home occupation usesolutions for small business home-based business 55
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This document has been developed fo
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List of AppendicesAppendix AList of
Page 11 and 12: There’s truly no place like home
Page 13 and 14: People have all sorts of good reaso
Page 15 and 16: Make an Inventory of ResourcesAvail
Page 17 and 18: Find Out if You are Permittedto Ope
Page 19 and 20: 2What Will You Sell?Davey Mountainv
Page 21 and 22: Some work-at-home schemes are legit
Page 23 and 24: • Cleaner to use• Quieter to ru
Page 25 and 26: Exploring the merits of several ide
Page 27 and 28: Buy a Business - Advantages• You
Page 29 and 30: Get Off to a Good StartA “researc
Page 31 and 32: Licenses and PermitsOperating any b
Page 33 and 34: Sole ProprietorshipThis structure i
Page 35 and 36: Once your business starts to succes
Page 37 and 38: The four-part framework for a busin
Page 39 and 40: • Industry future (the view from
Page 41 and 42: 3How Will You ReachBuyers?Fabulous
Page 43 and 44: This framework stresses that a succ
Page 45 and 46: uy for them, such as parents for ba
Page 47 and 48: • What might make you more likely
Page 49 and 50: Select Methods of Direct SalesPerso
Page 51 and 52: esearch will help you identify even
Page 53 and 54: Determine Price StructurePrice is a
Page 55 and 56: (Variable cost per unit x Volume)+
Page 57 and 58: with a week to ten days between eac
Page 59 and 60: service information. Such newslette
Page 61: Guarantees spell out what you promi
Page 65 and 66: What About Premises and Facilities?
Page 67 and 68: Basic office equipment list• stap
Page 69 and 70: People with experience in small bus
Page 71 and 72: • Travel• Filing Systems• Equ
Page 73 and 74: help. Two methods of keeping record
Page 75 and 76: payment (usually a minimum of three
Page 77 and 78: 5Will You Make Money?Custom Busines
Page 79 and 80: elatives and friends, who as a grou
Page 81 and 82: interest rates or rental charges fo
Page 83 and 84: Feel and Look ConfidentA lender loo
Page 85 and 86: • Estimates of market share of yo
Page 87 and 88: home-based business. This loss of p
Page 89 and 90: costs of all such benefits appear i
Page 91 and 92: flow. If the flow goes the other wa
Page 93 and 94: NET WORTH: The balancing mechanismb
Page 95 and 96: Personal StylePersonal style is the
Page 97 and 98: Keys to managing these relationship
Page 99 and 100: You may, however, choose to registe
Page 101 and 102: Recruit VolunteersDrawing on the vo
Page 103 and 104: • Strategic alliancesAnother name
Page 105 and 106: Future-gazing can never be accurate
Page 107 and 108: Where to find help with exportingWI
Page 109 and 110: production machinery and transporta
Page 111 and 112: Plan for changeAn “ideal solution
Page 113 and 114:
7ConclusionFirst StepsThe previous
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• Do accountants and bookkeepers
Page 117 and 118:
Western Economic Diversification:Sm
Page 119 and 120:
Marketing: All the things involved
Page 121 and 122:
• Canadian Internet Business Dire
Page 123 and 124:
Communication CanadaCanadian Govern
Page 125 and 126:
Glass blowing and design, retail an
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14. I find unexpected situations st
Page 129 and 130:
Stability• Is my home-life financ
Page 131 and 132:
Appendix HFiling System CategoriesU
Page 133 and 134:
Appendix IPrimary Market Research T
Page 135 and 136:
ProsConsMentor (experiencedbusiness
Page 137 and 138:
Appendix KSample Cash FLow Statemen
Page 139 and 140:
Appendix MRegistering a Company Nam
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solutions for smallbusinessThis pub
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