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Home businesses thriving in Cache
Valley
By
Kelsey Koenen
December 10, 2007 | For some this is the season of
giving, for others it's crunch time. Gay Jamison, business
license coordinator for Logan city, is swamped with
requests and renewals for home-based business licenses
during this time of year.
Every year up to 2,500 licenses are renewed in Logan,
and it has to be done before the ball drops. In addition,
according to Jamison, 80 to 120 new requests are made
on average each month for business licenses within Logan.
"We're really very limited with staff resources right
now," Jamison said.
She estimated that 25 to 35 percent of all licensing
done currently in Logan is for home-based businesses.
Jamison said getting a home-based business license
involves a few different steps. Contacting the city
in which the business will be located in must be done
to find out if the location is zoned appropriately.
It also checks to help ensure that the space can satisfy
parking needs.
After paying an application fee anywhere from $50
to $100, depending on the type of business being applied
for, the license is granted unless a conditional use
permit or variance is needed to override the zoning
ordinances.
The most expensive home-based business license is
for beauty salons. When clients are coming in and out
of the home, a building and fire hazard inspection has
to take place and both require extra fees.
Statistics are not kept for the entire county's home-based
business licensing requests and renewals. Each separate
municipality controls the licensing within their city
boundaries.
Nibley, a rapidly growing city in Cache Valley, is
also experiencing pressure in the business licensing
department. Larry Anhder, city manager for Nibley, suggests
it's due to their high population of young new families.
"We have about 10 percent of our homes with a home-based
business of some sort, and that percentage is growing,"
Anhder said.
Anhder said most of the businesses within Nibley are
centered some way or another on using the computer within
the home. "Young people tend to be more wired than older
folks are so we have more home-based businesses I think,"
Anhder said.
He mentioned one example of a very successful and
well-known business in Nibley, The Spirit Goat. Becky
Yeager, owner and operator, has been working out of
her family's home for five years now. Yeager's business
consists of a soap kitchen in her basement, used to
handcraft soap out of goat's milk.
"The greatest benefit of being based within your own
home is flexibility. Also, low overhead costs, you're
not paying for the building, the electricity, and insurance,"
Yeager said. "The downfall is the busier I get the more
I'm learning, there is no nine-to-five. It ends up being
around the clock. You just can't lock the door at five
and walk away."
Yeager's business has flourished due to community
support. The education and means to start a small business
is available in Cache County.
USU offers counseling for young entrepreneurs looking
to start small businesses. The Small Business Development
Center (SBDC) also offers counseling for those looking
to be home-based. USU offers this program through funding
provided by the federal government.
Frank Prante is the director of the SBDC here in Logan.
"Small business, its independence, and the existence
of competition are a requirement for democracy," Prante
said. "It provides the potential of economic independence
to individuals and the sharing of economic power; thus
it supports the existence of the middle class by reducing
the power monopolies and large business could exert.
Small business must have a climate in which it can thrive."
Some might say that Logan, Nibley and Cache County
in general provide just such climates in a thriving
business environment.
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