Crowded House Can your house handle the additional demands made by a business?

Bill scott discovered one critical fact every homebasedentrepreneur should know-it may not be a good idea to turn on yourmicrowave oven in the kitchen while a computer is operating in youroffice.

Scott uncovered this little gem when he moved his advertisingdesign firm into his winter home in Marathon Key, Florida, lastyear.

"We found out we couldn't use the microwave or otherkitchen appliances at the same time as the computer because theywere on the same circuit," explains Scott, who has fourcomputers, two printers, a color scanner, a modem and a fax machinein his home office. His solution was to rewire the entire house,replace the old fuse box with a circuit breaker, and run twocircuits into the office exclusively for his computers.

As Scott learned the hard way, when high-tech office equipmenttakes up residence in your home, it's not always smoothsailing. Have you considered whether or not your home and itsinfrastructure can safely handle the extra physical burden yourbusiness equipment adds?

"It all depends on what you do; what the scale of the homeoffice is," explains New York City architect Denise A. Hall.Adding equipment may require an entirely differentset-up-possibly including electrical rewiring. In thestandard home office-such as a converted bedroom or spareroom-you should be able to use the existing outlets."But if you are going to put a copy machine, computer, fax andcoffee maker all on the same outlet, it's not going towork," cautions Hall.

Pittsburgh architect Marsha Berger goes one step further."Most outlets are duplex," she says. "If it'snot a grounded outlet [one with a hole for a third prong],you'd better get an electrician in to ground it. I don'tadvocate using an adapter because you're short-circuiting asafety feature."

To find out if your home office can take the heat, Hall suggeststhese steps: Examine all the equipment you plan to put in the homeoffice to determine the individual power requirements. Then countthe number of outlets in the room you'll be using.

How do you determine whether they can handle the load? Not byplugging everything in and waiting to see if the fuse blows.Instead, Hall recommends making a list of what equipment will gointo the office, then calling an electrician to come in for an hourand determine the maximum capacity of your available outlets.

"You can put your computer on a regular outlet, but it mightbe a good idea to have a dedicated line so it doesn't overloadthe circuits," suggests Hall, adding that this line also givesyou a little extra protection if there is a power surge in theneighborhood. But in most cases, depending on the age and conditionof the wiring, there is no need to have a room rewired.

Hot Air

In addition to the electrical load, adding electronic equipmentbrings up heating, ventilation, air conditioning and securityconcerns.

Ventilation needs are based on the room's size, the number ofpeople in it and the amount of machinery, says Hall. As thosethings change, heating and ventilation must be adjusted to yourpersonal preferences.

"You want to keep air moving all the time-bring in freshair and let out the stale air," advises Hall. "Sometimesthat's as simple as a ceiling fan or an open window." Inother cases, it might require a room air conditioner. The basicrule of thumb for ventilation: Whatever it takes to maintain yourown comfort level will also be enough to regulate the temperatureof computers and other electronics.

Safe And Sound

Security is a multifaceted concern, says Sandra Jones, whoseChardon, Ohio, firm, Sandra Jones & Co., specializes inelectronic security consulting. "The first thing you'vegot to do is check with your insurance company to see if [yourhomeowner's policy] covers your computer system andoffice," explains Jones, former president of the SecurityIndustry Association.

Next, take precautions to protect your hardware and software. Inaddition to the cost of replacing lost or damaged equipment, alsoconsider "the cost of downtime should anything happen to theinformation or electronics you have," adds Jones.

Aside from insurance, Jones recommends some simple steps you cantake to ensure your valuable work is not lost if the computercrashes or is stolen.

1. Do a full-system backup every evening and store your backuptapes or disks off the premises if possible. If not, purchase afireproof box for these items (this is a good place for othervaluable information as well).

2. Establish a rule that your office is off limits tochildren.

3. If too many people come and go freely in your home, it mightbe smart to put a lock on your office door or even install asecurity system with code-only access.

4. Maintaining or adding a smoke detector is another inexpensiveway to protect your investment in business equipment.

Jones suggests other common-sense security measures, such as notadvertising or bragging about how much equipment you have in yourhome office and not placing computers near windows where they canbe seen by thieves or exposed to rain and cold. Also make sure thearea around your home is clean and well-lit to further deterburglars.

"You can also take your security system one stepfurther," says Jones. "Often, homebased businesses are ina bedroom or basement, and when people come to the front dooryou've got to stop working to go answer." An intercomsystem enables you to find out who's at the door withoutleaving your office. Offering both safety and convenience, thesesystems can connect with an existing doorbell and cost as little as$50, says Jones. Connecting a camera to the intercom system is anadditional, relatively inexpensive, option to consider.

Once you have dealt with these immediate needs, all that's leftis a periodic review of your systems as you grow. As you addequipment, inventory and employees, you'll need more anddifferent measures.

Home Team Advantage

Homebased entrepreneurs now have another place to go forinformation and resources, thanks to the Home-Based/Micro BusinessNational Design Team, created by the Cooperative State ResearchEducation & Extension Service.

Established in 1994, the team consists of 12 experts from aroundthe country who work directly with homebased andmicroentrepreneurs. The team has recently developed a Web page thatprovides information on programs, conferences, seminars, workshopsand other activities for homebased and microentrepreneurs, as wellas the educators and professionals working with them.

"For instance, our home page provides a direct link to the IRSso people can pull down IRS publications and forms," explainsBeth Duncan, who co-chairs the National Design Team. "We arealso linked to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which allowsentrepreneurs to get information on patents, trademarks andcopyrighting."

In addition, Duncan says the home page contains a listing of

Cooperative Extension professionals in 38 states who specialize inassisting homebased and micro-

businesses. A 300-page resource directory created by the team,which features proven program materials developed to help homebasedbusiness owners, will be added shortly.

The National Design Team is also developing a curriculum to helpextension educators direct homebased and microbusinessowners.

For more information, visit the National Design Team's homepage at http://decit.if.uidaho.edu/HBB/homebus.html.