Friday, February 3, 2012

How About Business Rules And Regulations?

Business rules and regulations are going to vary from state to state, city to city and even county to county. If your in the process of planning or well underway in opening a brick and mortar business then your going to need to sharpen your pencil and do your home work. Small business rules and regulations are getting tougher and tougher for the Mom and Pop operation because they are increasingly geared toward the large corporation or franchise. These business entities have deep pockets and at the swipe of a pen can easily pay for all the new commercial building code bylaws.

When is comes to business rules & regulations you have to be aware that what you see allowed and practiced today may no longer be regulation. Many business's that have been opened for any period of time are grandfathered in and may not be required to update to current codes. In almost all cases when a business changes hands or opens from scratch, you can count on having to jump through the hoops of updated business rules and regulations to come into compliance to even be issued a business license.

In my own experiences there has been a series of inspections and each of these departments have a different purpose. At a minimum you can count on the building and zoning inspection, the fire department inspection and if your serving food the health department inspection. You will have to pass all of these to be given the green light to open. Be sure to check with your city and they should be very helpful in giving you all the guide lines required to open up your new business from a store front.

Remodeling is a different animal than opening from scratch but the business rules and regulations still apply. This may be even more difficult because your operating and conducting renovations at the same time. Be ready to upgrade any electrical, plumping, handicap and landscaping requirements that may not have been on the books when you opened. Be prepared to have thick skin during this process and you will undoubtedly spend $1,000.'s on what you think is wasteful or unnecessary.

The cost in today's times to open a business and keep current up with the business rules and regulations can be astronomical. Keep in mind that your are going to spend a fortune while your trying to make one. Be sure to crunch the numbers and figure out how long it will take you to get your seed money back before you even make a dime. This will be a real eye opener when it could take many years to even get back to zero.

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