Home-Based Businesses:
A Popular Option

Once called “cottage industries,” home-based businesses are gaining in status as rapidly as they are gaining in popularity. Many start-up entrepreneurs are deciding to start from home because of the low overhead costs, flexibility and convenience. Some business owners simply don’t see a reason to consider other locations.

Pam Haddock, Signature Brew Owner

For Signature Brew, a coffee company located in Sylva, home is the perfect place from which to conduct business. Owner Pam Haddock consciously avoided a commercial location from the beginning.

Haddock did not want coffee drinkers to be able to identify her business with any specific location. You won’t find the Signature Brew brand on coffee in stores or restaurants. Pam custom-blends coffee for her commercial customers and puts their name and brand on it, allowing them to have their own Signature Brew.

No commercial location means Signature Brew won’t be confused as a place where customers can pop in for a cup of Joe. Being home-based also allows Haddock to focus on doing what she does best. A commercial facility with its rent and other associated overhead would mean being concerned with matters not necessarily related to the crafting of a quality product.

Haddock is certainly not alone in her thinking. About a half million businesses start each year in the U.S., and 60 percent (roughly 300,000) begin in the home.

Starting a business from home brings many benefits but it can also bring complications. The Business Assistance Center can help you sort out the pros and cons of your location decisions and other issues you will face in the start-up and operation of a business. The Business Assistance Center can be reached at 828-488-6413 or bac@southwesterncc.edu.

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