Home Based Business - Machine Shop

alina · Mar 21, 2017

Hi everybody!
My husband and i are trying to find out if there is any possibility to run a shop in our garage, we live in a residential area in Lexington SC. We already have a mill and a lathe.
Since my husband told me about his idea I am trying to find online information about this and I am not sure if I understand exactly if we can or not make it happen.
If someone can help me with some information about the steps we have to follow I will really appreciated .

TDegenhart · Mar 21, 2017

Really depends on your municipal codes, how stringently they are enforced and your neighbors. Most municipalities don't allow for manufacturing in residential areas. But they don't usually go knocking on every door to find out. Keep the area neat and clean, smells and noise down, no big trucks and such, in other words, don't call attention to yourself and you probably will be ok.

Tom

athack · Mar 21, 2017

The hardest part is finding customers. If you already have some then you are off to a good start.

alina · Mar 21, 2017

My husband already has customers doing the jobs like side jobs ...

alina · Mar 21, 2017

I'm not sure I understand...how can you obtain a business license for a home based business if they don't allow manufacturing in our area? Nobody will ask when u go to apply for the business license what kind of business u will have?

Tony Quiring · Mar 21, 2017

First action is to check your zoning department as many rules apply.

You may not be able to operate at all or may need stealth.

We once had license to operate a business in residential area but no customers were allowed to stop.

Also mattered if excessive ups deliveries.

Next is insurance and other things.

It mainly depends on tge type of customer and service.

Insurance and state permits are 2 things that when they bite will bite hard.

Seek out local small business groups and they usually have additional information specific to your area.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk

toolmaker96 · Mar 21, 2017

In most residential areas a machine shop business is not allowed. However, having a machine shop in your garage as a "hobby" is perfectly fine.

Mcgyver · Mar 21, 2017

alina said:
I'm not sure I understand...how can you obtain a business license for a home based business if they don't allow manufacturing in our area? Nobody will ask when u go to apply for the business license what kind of business u will have?

I don't mean to sound rude, but how are we supposed to know whats on the Lexington SC home business licensing form? Have a look at the form to know what they are going to ask. Also, if you do do things officially and apply you could get inspected....not that I advocate doing things illegally but there are home based manufacturing businesses that are so low key no will every know or complain, vs applying for a license and being denied.

It depends on what you are doing and where. If they don't allow manufacturing and you are going to have the metal truck show up every other and a fork lift loading customer trucks....and you're in a shi-shi neighborhood, then yeah, you'll get a visit from the city.

otoh if you are making widgets that are sold by internet and mail and a weeks production fits in a box and production is low key and quiet, have it and don't tell anyone.

alina · Mar 21, 2017

It's ok, i don't think you are being rude..I mentioned Lexington hoping to receive an answer from someone in the area too.
But the main reason I started this threat is because I am not american, just moved here 7 months ago...and the laws here are so much different than in Europe.. I m just trying to understand how things are working here, it's a lot of information and I needed a little bit of help.
My husband works a lot and he doesn't have time for all this, I just want to help him.

Thank you for ur answer!

alina · Mar 21, 2017

thank you all for help. I m starting to have an idea of what I have to do and where to start looking for more information.

Mcgyver · Mar 21, 2017

alina said:
just moved here 7 months ago...and the laws here are so much different than in Europe.. !

fair enough, I'd follow the advice of folks that are steering you toward checking the municipal bylaws as a first step. Let us know what you find

Booze Daily · Mar 21, 2017

You'll want to look up zoning rules for residential property in your city. Most allow home-based business. ie: day care, Bed and Breakfast, etc.
I've never seen any that allow light mfg. (machine shop) although in more rural areas I've seen welding and fab, and auto repair as permissible.

wheelieking71 · Mar 21, 2017

You might be surprised what you can "get away with".

Here in my county in Arizona, they have some basic rules. The big ones are:
Only one employee who does not live in the household.
You can not accept business mail at the address. You have to get a P.O.box
No signage.
No excessive truck deliveries.
No excessive traffic.
No excessive noise.
If the neighbors complain, they will shut you down.

I was told by the county official that I talked to about this (who sent me the list):
"If you can follow those guidelines, we absolutely encourage home based business".

Guest · Mar 21, 2017

wheelieking71 said:
You might be surprised what you can "get away with".

Here in my county in Arizona, they have some basic rules. The big ones are:
Only one employee who does not live in the household.
You can not accept business mail at the address. You have to get a P.O.box
No signage.
No excessive truck deliveries.
No excessive traffic.
No excessive noise.
If the neighbors complain, they will shut you down.

I was told by the county official that I talked to about this (who sent me the list):
"If you can follow those guidelines, we absolutely encourage home based business".

Good rules to live by, yet even following those rules most places don't allow machine shops in residential areas.

The work around on getting a business license is to not be exactly forthcoming about what you are up to and also don't tip off the authorities with your business name. You can claim to be running a manufacturing consulting business, commissioned sales business, etc,etc. Many of us started in the garage under the cover of darkness. Keeping the neighbors happy is the most important, the fewer that know the better. The ones that must know or find you out a few favors go a long way toward keeping the peace.

Joe Miranda · Mar 21, 2017

If it were me, I would simply fly under the radar if you are doing business word of mouth. There are lots (and I mean lots) of machine shops and weld shops operating out of residential properties without ever having attempted to check with zoning laws. Most communities practice "don't ask don't tell" as long as you are respectful of your neighbors; don't leave a mess like chip hoppers outside the building or have truck traffic dropping off large orders of material.

If it ever gets on somebody's nerves they will likely just tell you to stop.

If you are wanting to advertise and call attention to yourself it is a different story.

When I wanted to start a business, I looked for a piece of property that was zoned so that I could live and run a business on the same property. Not that difficult in older towns. Anything close to an intersection is usually zoned as such. At first it always caused a conundrum when I would apply for any kind of building permit becasue they were not sure if they should charge me business rate or residential rate. Now we have a pretty good understanding and I just tell them if it is for the residence or the business and they charge me accordingly.

Not sure if any of this applies to your situation. Have you ever checked to see how your property is zoned?

Econdron · Mar 21, 2017

Who cares about the frickin municipality! They won't care about you. If they happen to stop by, just say it's a hobby. Definitely make sure you don't have employees! That will cause problems. It's difficult to operate at a large enough scale in your garage to be noticed by the local municipality. I operated a welding business out of my garage for a couple years. Made trailers, racks for buses, etc and left it all in the driveway. No problems from the local village.

What you do need to worry about is the Home Owners Association. They don't know what a mill or a lathe is, but they know it's not a lawn mower. I have personally never had a good experience with HOA's. There's always one person in every neighborhood that loves to ruin other people's lives, and for some reason that person is always voted on as the president of the HOA. This is a universal phenomenon by the way. You can only convince the HOA that it's a hobby for so long before they catch on, then they make your life hell.

SND · Mar 21, 2017

Got by my first 3 or so years in the basement in the middle of a triplex that was part of a "home owner association" which is about the worst combination possible and with the exception of only 2 all those neighbors were about the nosiest worst kind imaginable...but eh, it was 3 good years to save up $ until finally I got a complaint and then I was ready to move out of town

If its detached its easier to get insurance for it, keep traffic low, noise down, plan on moving to a better place sooner than later if all goes well...

alina · Mar 21, 2017

I found us on zoning map, we r in a Restrictive Development area and i just started to read the zoning ordinance to see what that means.

Guest · Mar 21, 2017

When I started out in a neighborhood with only 5500 square foot lots I operated out of my garage for 7 years with out a problem. The next door neighbor who was in his late 60's did say we would have a problem if my extreme power draws blew up his TV set. I had two hydraulic drive CNC lathes that pulled 300 amps temporarily on start up. If I fired one up a night, I would dim everyone's porch light on the whole block. I repaired the neighborhood kid's bicycles and sharpened anything brought to me to keep everyone happy. Did a few home electrical repairs for nothing but a couple cold beers also.

SBAER · Mar 21, 2017

I try to be as nice to my neighbours as possible(shovel sidewalks, take stuff to dump, cut down trees), if they don't complain there isn't a problem.

Home Based Business - Machine Shop

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