Chapter 10: Buying Office Equipment and Supplies
Setting Up Your Office
If you are planning to operate your business from home, you will need cooperation. Explain to your family that you are going to need to reserve a room; then, plan your workspace. Make sure it is large enough to be comfortable and efficient for everything you will do there, including contacting vendors and garden design, as well as the day-to-day aspects of marketing, scheduling, payroll, and more. A tiny desk in a corner will not do. You will need space for a large desk, file cabinets, a computer, a printer, possibly a drafting table, at least two chairs, and an area to spread out plans and proposals. You may want to set up an extra place for an assistant to answer the phones or do bookkeeping when you are out. You will need at least a small bookcase. Look to the future. Will you still have room to run your business in that space in a year?
Choose a quiet spot. You cannot work well if there are kids yelling, trains going by, dogs barking, and a television in the background. You will not present a professional appearance if a customer has to ask, “What’s that noise?”. You will not be giving your business the attention and focus it needs if you are distracted.
Another advantage about running your business from home is the office décor. You will not need to spend big money on a desk or office furniture. Chances are, your customers will not be coming to your home because you will be going to theirs, so an unfinished door or a sheet of plywood for a desktop is acceptable. You can use inexpensive file cabinets to hold it up. Presto: a desk. You also can use a trimmed piece of plywood as a drafting table, supported by blocks or sawhorses. The idea is to have a workspace you can use and that meets your needs. Of course, you want it to be orderly and efficient, but you do not need mahogany at this point.
Phone
While you can start a business with no more than the above essentials, you will probably do better with a few extras. If you want to be listed in the yellow pages, you will need to have a phone dedicated to business. Some people only use a cell phone, but the dedicated line is preferable. It is more expensive, but you can also receive faxes this way. Use the landline telephone as your official business telephone number and forward calls to your cell phone or an answering machine or service. You also will need a fax machine and possibly a dedicated fax line, which can double as a second business line for calls if necessary. If you choose to use your cell phone as your primary business number, you may regret it when your phone rings constantly at job sites. An answering machine on an office line can be accessed remotely, so you will always be able to check your messages, even from job sites.
A two-line business phone is not a luxury. Line one is typically designated as the primary business line. Line two can be assigned as the fax line, and also used to make outgoing calls. Some phone companies offer a “distinctive ring” feature that rings differently if a fax is coming in, so you do not make a mistake and pick up the phone. Telephone prices vary according to quality and features. Find the best one you can afford. Consider models with caller ID and automatic dialing. If you do not plan to use an answering service, consider a telephone with a built-in answering device. Callers will leave messages for you and the device will tell you when they called, so you can prioritize your call returns. You can save yourself some neck discomfort with frequent calls by getting a headset.
Fax machine, copier, and scanner
Unless you plan to use your local copy store for faxes, you will need a fax machine. All-in-one machines are used by many small businesses for faxing, copying, and scanning. The prices are reasonable and they work well. The more-expensive models have extra features and may be more durable. These are inkjet printers, not laser machines, which cost significantly more money. Day-to-day landscape operations can get along quite well with an all-in-one printer, fax, and scanner device.
Calculator
You will need at least two. Your office should have a desktop calculator. They are easier to use, have larger number pads, provide printouts of your calculations, and have features needed for working up bids, such as mark up/mark down. Attach the printouts to your office copy of bids as a way to check your base numbers later in the bidding process. If you add a zero or two in your calculations, it is nice to know where the problem was. The second calculator can be a small pocket model, cell phone or PDA that you will use in the field for quick bids, balances, and other calculating needs.
Digital camera
Unless you are strictly limited to lawn maintenance, you will be executing some great landscape work. Make sure you document it, before and after your work, with a digital camera. Digital photos can be taken at various stages while the work is in process. You may want to print out a set of pictures for your customer, too. If you reduce their size, the best photos can be posted on your Web site as an online portfolio, in addition to the hard-copy portfolio you will compile. Use your hard-copy portfolio in your marketing and bidding process, and at garden shows to bring in new business, and as a resource file for advertising photos.
Postage meter
This is an optional piece of equipment that you lease. How much surface mailing will you do? If you are just going to be sending out a few pieces of mail every month to pay bills or send letters, you may not need one. If you are going to be sending out mass mailings to potential customers as part of your marketing, a postage machine might be a wise choice. If you guess on postage for things bigger than a letter, it is likely you will overpay. A scale and meter combination will give you an exact postage amount and can print out a stamp, just like the post office. Meters pay off only if you do enough mailings to offset the cost of leasing the machine, which varies according to features.
You can also order postage online from www.usps.com or download postage from the Web site to your computer, through the new services described here: www.usps.com/onlinepostage/welcome.htm?from=home_postageoptions&page=onlinepostage
Point of sale equipment
Credit card processing devices are also known as or point of sale (POS) machines. As with other office items, a wide range of features and prices are available. Some machines provide receipts; others require a separate printer. Receipts are mandatory, one way or another. Some credit card machines are totally portable and can be used at a customer’s home. All that is required is an AC electric outlet and a phone plug. There are other, more expensive credit card devices that use cell phone technology, so you can just swipe the card anywhere, enter the price information, and make the charge. POS software is also available. It works with your computer and costs less than a dedicated credit card machine, but you cannot take it with you if you use a desktop computer and your receipt will come from your printer. This type of POS system is often used at doctors’ offices and other professional outlets.
Many companies will want your credit card business. Talk to your bank and check the Internet for credit card service companies. Get the best rate you can, because the fees will come out of your company’s profit. Credit card service companies and banks typically charge from something more than one percent to as much as three or four percent per transaction. They may tack on monthly “service fees” and other charges. Shop around and negotiate. Be sure to ask the most important questions: How long will it take for your account to be credited with the sale? How often and when will your account be updated? Keep your credit card receipts in your bookkeeping files for later reference if a question should arise. Mistakes can occur. You will want to have backup readily available to reinforce your side of the story.
Office supplies
Standard office supplies include letterheads, envelopes, business cards, and printer ink cartridges. Let us consider the letterhead first. You want a professional look that features your company’s name, telephone number, fax number, and your address. If you are working out of your home, and do not feel comfortable revealing this to customers, you may prefer to use a post office box for your business mail. You will want a return address where people can safely send payments. If you want a logo or something beyond basic type, you may wish to have a graphic designer create something simple, professional, and easy to read. You can also choose a tasteful sample from a quick-printer’s sample book. There are templates in most word processing programs that can be adapted for your needs as well. This method allows you to print a basic letterhead on your own computer.
Envelopes should reflect your letterhead in style and tone. Use business-sized envelopes (Number 10s). If you decide to include a return envelope, it should be a Number 9, to fit inside with your statement.
A Number 10 envelope will accept standard letterhead, folded horizontally in thirds. There are two types: window and closed envelopes. Window envelopes are frequently used by businesses because the mailing address of the intended party on the inside form shows through the envelope’s window. Closed envelopes require that the address of the recipient be separately posted, either by printing it on the envelope or using a pre-printed sticker. If you decide not to have envelopes printed, and do not want to run them through your computer printer, you can either print labels with your return address, or purchase a rubber stamp. When you buy rubber stamps, consider getting one imprinted with “For Deposit Only” and your bank account number, to protect checks from being forged if they are inadvertently lost or stolen before you take them to the bank.
Business cards are essential. You will pass them around to virtually everyone you meet; potential customers are everywhere. The clerk who sells you your letterhead may need his yard maintained; maybe his brother-in-law needs some mulch. The woman at the bank who sets up your account might need some trees planted. You never know when a customer will walk into your life. Business cards should be easy to read. There is nothing more irritating than staring at a business card that has so much information you cannot find the number to call or the service being offered. The card should state your company’s name, your name and title, a primary phone number, fax number, e-mail address, and possibly your cell number. As you can see, the card is already busy with just the basics. A simple logo, or none at all, is fine. Get the cards professionally printed to give them a professional appearance. You can go to one of the office supply or chain printers for cards, letterhead, and other such items at a reasonable cost. You also may find companies on the Internet that will offer quick turnaround at low prices for such products.
You may also want pre-printed invoices, estimate sheets, and service lists. It is acceptable to print these yourself on your computer as long as they look professional.
Computers and Software
Personal Computers (PCs) based on IBM’s original model and Apple Macintosh Computers (Macs) and their variants are both fine for your business. Macs may be less virus-prone, though that is changing. They are considered very reliable, but also more expensive and have fewer specialty business software programs designed to work with them because there are fewer Macs in businesses.
PCs are often less expensive and have thousands of software programs available for them, and more brands to choose from, so you can do more shopping around. The price of PCs has come down so much it would be hard to justify purchasing a used one. Some new PCs are in the $500 range, including a monitor. Do not forget that whatever you buy will probably be out of date in a couple of years.
Your first consideration is what you need to make your business run. You are going to access the Internet, probably with a cable, wireless, or DSL broadband connection, so you will need speed and power for that.
You will be downloading and processing photo files, so you need a large hard drive to store the photos. You will need Adobe Photoshop TM or other photo processing software and probably a scanner, as well as a color printer, either inkjet or laser.
Most likely you will be keeping your books on the computer, processing orders, maintaining files, creating spreadsheets, faxing, storing, and printing. If you are in the landscaping or landscape architecture business, you will be using landscaping software, possibly even computer-assisted drafting (CAD) programs, drafting, credit card processing, and many other tasks specifically related to your business.
Explain your needs to the computer companies or retailers you are dealing with and compare their responses. If you have friends or family members who are more computer savvy than you are, ask them for their advice.
Desktop or laptop?
Both options have benefits and drawbacks. The desktop computer probably will have a bigger screen and an easy-to-use-keyboard, and external devices such as your printer and modem usually are plugged in. A desktop may cost less than a laptop. But, you cannot take it into the field to use for presentations and proposals. A laptop is portable and easy to use, but it costs more. The cheapest route is to select the most powerful desktop you can afford to get the most computing power for your money. You can purchase a laptop when your business has grown and you have more cash to spend.
You may want to purchase an external hard drive to back up or archive your document files and other essential records at least once a week to avoid data catastrophes. Back up or copy in an archive all important data, such as designs, invoices, and your financial records at least daily or every time you work on a file.
You may also want to consider an online-backup system, in addition to backing up your computer locally to an external hard drive. Two reasonably-priced options are offered by www.mozy.com and www.ibackup.com . Regular backups protect your data from electrical blackouts, viruses, and other calamities.
Business software
Your new computer will come with the software necessary to operate, whether it is a PC or Mac. It probably will come with a word processing program, Internet browser, an e-mail program, and other programs that the manufacturer includes with the initial purchase.
PCs often come with Microsoft Office, an office suite that includes MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. Macs come with the Mac word processing program, but work well with Microsoft products. There are many other word processing programs, some of them free (check at www.openoffice.com for samples). Realistically, at this time, it is a Microsoft world in business and if you want to easily transfer files to other companies for bids and proposals, you can assume they want them in MS Word. Beware of word-processing or other programs whose functionality is limited.
Computer Security
Firewalls and virus protection programs are essential tools in computer protection. European Union computer security experts estimated in 2007 that viruses begin to attack new computers on the Internet within seconds. Firewalls — whether hardware, software, or a combination of the two — protect your computer from unwelcome intrusions.
Virus protection programs protect your computer against specific, known viruses. Symantec, McAfee, and Norton are among the best-known software providers of this type of protection. Their programs must be updated regularly — preferably every day — to guard against the latest viruses, so you will want a renewable subscription, less than $100 annually for the basics.
If you are already familiar with computers, you are probably conscious of spammers, who send out millions of e-mail messages for products or services you have never requested, and the “phishing” schemes they pursue. If not, you need to know that dishonest computer hackers constantly try to steal your passwords, bank account numbers, and other personal or business identity information to steal your money or your identity. The simplest way to protect yourself is to never click a link sent by someone you do not know, especially if the person claims to be a “webmaster” at a bank, your Internet service provider, or some other legitimate-sounding source. If you are doubtful, phone the company that is supposedly requesting the information from you. You want to make sure you have every resource available to help protect your computer against the latest schemes of hackers who want to access your bank accounts, credit cards, passwords, and all of the other information you need to protect.
Accounting Software
There are numerous brands of accounting software. Some are so popular that other software providers create “add-ons” that improve the functionality of the software. Again, there are many choices and you should work with your accountant to coordinate bookkeeping with her or him.
QuickBooks, which was mentioned earlier, is one of the most widely used programs. It is offered in both PC and Mac versions. There are small-business versions that allow you to balance your checkbook, do your payroll, track expenses by category, and create custom forms. You will want to discuss all of the accounting details of your business with your accountant before you set up your books so you will all be on the same page. There are many accounting terms that he or she may use that you might not understand, for example: “Are you on an accrual or cash basis?” QuickBooks takes a little practice to use effectively, but it is not difficult if you take an hour or two to get the basics, set up accounts, and gain some understanding of what it does. QuickBooks offers a contractor edition that allows you to track job costs and profits and to manage progress on several jobs at once.
However, QuickBooks is not the only highly rated business accounting program available. Peachtree, Microsoft Money, MYOB Business Essentials, NetSuite Small Business Accounting, and Simply Accounting Pro are others. They will all provide the basic features you need to run your business, and they offer special features besides helping to balance your checkbook and calculate payroll taxes. They offer sophisticated business applications that can help you grow your business into more than an entity that cuts grass.
Once you have a good accounting program and have categories set up correctly, you will not need your accountant every day. Instead your accountant can do weekly, monthly, or even quarterly oversight and monitoring. If you do not enjoy working with the figures, you may choose to hire a part-time bookkeeper to maintain the numbers and perform data entry. However, if you hire someone else to oversee your financial resources check the records periodically to be sure everything adds up, or ask your accountant to review your employee’s work if you do not understand it. Companies of every size have had to grapple with misuse of funds or embezzlement. The best way to prevent this is to keep monitoring the books, or have someone you trust do it for you.
Obviously, you will want to start your business financial dealings by using a separate business bank account. It is confusing and risky to co-mingle your personal funds with the business resources. Maintain a business checking account under the business name. Deposit all business checks into that account. Have credit card payments deposited there. If a customer pays you cash, deposit the money into the business account. If you are operating as a sole proprietorship, and need to pay yourself for the work you have performed, write a check from the business account to yourself, then deposit it into your personal account. Run your business squeaky clean today to avoid nasty problems tomorrow. Here are some basic accounting terms you may want to discuss with your accountant — together you can decide what will work best for your particular situation:
Cash versus accrual. The cash method is recording a sale when the money is received and an expense recorded when the cash goes out. This measures only what happens in your business, not necessarily when you made the sale. Accrual is recording the income when you invoice the job and recording expenses when they are incurred, not when they are paid.
Double entry versus single entry. Double means every one of your business entries is registered twice: once as a debit, once as a credit. You must be sure that everything balances—dollars are recorded coming in and going out. Single-entry bookkeeping is easier but is more prone to mistakes because there is no automatic balance. Your accountant will probably use the double-entry system.
Debit versus credit. Debit is the payout. Credit is where you got the money. Your company buys a rake. The rake is a debit. The money to pay for the rake is the credit.
Calendar year versus fiscal year. Businesses operate on a 12-month cycle. Theoretically, it can begin at any time of year. If your business operates on a calendar year, that means your annual bookkeeping begins on January 1 and ends December 31. If you operate your business on a fiscal year, it means you begin your 12-month bookkeeping cycle some time after January 1 and end it 12 months after that. For instance, the federal government’s fiscal year begins October first. Some business structures, such as sole proprietorships, are required to operate on a calendar year. However, you maintain your books, your business-year structure is important for tax issues and to anchor your annual business planning and assessment.
What we are discussing here is the critical importance of keeping accurate and detailed books. There are lots of terms and systems, but nothing is as important as committing yourself to fine bookkeeping. You must keep track of all accounts, income, and expenses. This is critical to the health and growth of your company. It is the only way you can know how your business is doing and whether you are meeting projections. It is the method by which you will track the effectiveness of your marketing because your record keeping will tell you where your leads come from, what your closing rate is, how much your average customer spends, what services they need (and request), what your materials cost, how much you pay your employees, and all of the other small and large details of operating a successful landscaping business. Use the best software that offers the most small business support.
Business planning software can assist you in putting your business plan together, as well as plan its growth and future. Palo Alto Software offers something called Business Plan Pro, which provides hundreds of sample business plans as examples and helps you work through the process of putting your own plan together. Plan Writer Deluxe and Ultimate Business Planner are two other options for planning software. HomeOfficeReports.com reviews business-planning software and looks things like ease of use, cost, support, features, and compatible software. The cost of this type of software from is $50 to $1,000, depending on features, sophistication, and other factors. You probably do not need business-planning software that can support a Fortune 500 company. A program that can help you put your business together and plan for growth is adequate. Beware of loading your computer with too many large programs that slow down your operating system. Look over your business planning software options and pick one that meets your needs. Remember, if you are using QuickBooks Pro or another high-quality accounting program, it will contain some of the planning elements you need so you do not need to duplicate these features with another program. For a small, startup business, it is a good idea to keep things simple.
Landscaping or nursery software is specific to your business. As with other software decisions, you have many choices, although none of the outdoor services management software we found was available to run on a Mac. However, if you are a Mac owner and run Parallels software, which allows Windows programs to run on a Mac, these products may work well for you. Here are a few examples of what is available:
Gopher Software (www.gophersoftware.com) offers basic, plus, and pro versions. The basic version is for smaller landscaping companies. Gopher Plus is designed for larger companies that want to directly export information to Quickbooks or track expenses for individual jobs. It allows you to do such things as factor late fees and other bookkeeping issues, and Pro expands on it to include chemicals, equipment maintenance scheduling, and more. All Gopher landscaping versions allow you to schedule jobs, track progress on these jobs, schedule work by routes, price jobs, bill jobs, create bids, and estimate and track invoicing aging. Gopher’s software links to QuickBooks. Gopher product pricing ranges from about $100 to more than $200.
Groundskeeper (www.groundskeeperpro.com) offers three landscape-related software programs: Groundskeeper Pro, Groundskeeper Lite, and Blizzard Buster. Groundskeeper Lite allows you to track up to 10,000 customers, price regular and special services, and provides most of the features that Gopher offers. Groundskeeper Pro expands in the manner of Gopher’s Pro version. Blizzard Buster is, as the name implies, for companies that offer snow-removal services. Groundkeeper software is priced from under $300 to about $400.
Tree Management Systems (www.treemanagement.net) offers professional landscaping software in ArborGold and TurfGold versions. ArborGold specializes in tree care and management. TurfGold is for lawn care companies. TurfGold and ArborGold are compatible with QuickBooks and MS Office. The company also offers a PhoneCenter program to take calls. TurfGold will help you manage your landscaping business and has special features such as the ability to determine which of your crews is most productive. This may not be something you will need as you start your company, but it could be useful later. TurfGold is $995 and can hold up to 500 different customer’s information.
There are also some shareware programs available, like Lawn Manager Pro. It is available for download at several shareware sites. The cost is under $100. As a landscaping professional, you may also want to consider software programs that allow you to draft landscaping design projects on your computer. Computer Assisted Design (CAD) programs allow you to enter the dimensions of the yard or lot you are working with and draft 3D plans. You can show these plans to your customer to give them a better understanding of how their yard or home exterior will look. If they want changes, it is as easy as moving your mouse around. There are many CAD programs available for prices that reflect their features. You can expect to spend more than $1,000 for a top-of-the-line program. A basic CAD program is around $50.
For example, 3D Garden Composer (www.gardencomposer.com) is primarily an inexpensive graphics program for landscapers or do-it-yourselfers. It allows you to insert your photographs into a garden plan and manipulate them; it provides an encyclopedia of plants and explains plant diseases. If you are offering nursery or garden design services this program is less than $50 and a good beginning program.
At the other end of the cost spectrum, VizTerra is a 3D design system for professional landscapers and landscape architects. It can do everything, from creating design templates from your drawings to showing your designs under different lighting conditions (based on the various times of day). VizTerra is remarkably detailed, and is available for use on a monthly ($95) or annual license ($995)—not a contract. So if you do not need the program all the time, you do not have to pay a fortune. The site offers a very detailed description and downloadable demo at www.structurestudios.com/website/vizterra/vizterra.html.
This list is just a sampling of the many software programs offered for professional landscapers. As you search the Web or talk to other professionals, you will find other programs to look at. Groundskeeper and Gopher get most of the buzz and their reviews are generally positive. To some degree, both are accounting programs, so compatibility with QuickBooks is good because information is shared between the programs.
For the lawn care or nursery business management software, look for features like these:
• Compatibility with your accounting software, so you avoid entering all the numbers twice
• Maintain your customer base information such as who they are, what they purchase, and when they get it
• Account history
• Pricing for regular and special services and products
• Rates
• Special fees
• Materials pricing
• Print bills
• Track payments
• Job estimates and proposals
• Contract forms for residential and commercial accounts
• Marketing and lead tracking
• Suppliers and vendors history and pricing
Calendars for jobs, seasons, and marketing
You may add or subtract items from this list according to your needs and the features you find in your accounting software, which may duplicate some of the above. The goal here is to help you manage your landscaping services business. Do not buy software features you do not need, and do not pass up important features simply to get a cheaper price.
Ideally, you will have software that allows you to sit down, open it up, and see everything you have scheduled for that day and the status of projects you have bid on, contracted, begun, and finished. It also should tell you who owes you money and to whom you owe money, how much, and its status. In short, it tells you where you are in your business. It will be much easier to run your business if you are not digging around on a cluttered desk looking for key documents such as your schedule of jobs.
Some Web sites to check for software that is specifically designed for landscape professionals include:
• CompuScapes (www.compuscapes.com) software management solutions for the green industry
• Design Imaging Group (www.designimaginggroup.com/landscape.cfm)
• LM Software (www.lawnmonkey.com) schedule software
• Qxpress (www.qxpress.com) offers an add-on for QuickBooks for landscapers
• Slice Technologies (www.sliceplus.com) software for nurseries and retail garden centers
• UDS Green Industry Software Inc. (www.udsgis.com) customized for green industry businesses from ten users or less to major corporations.
Bookkeeping
We are fortunate to be living in a time of computerized accounting programs which make estimating prices, sending invoices, paying bills, writing checks, and keeping financial records a far easier task than dealing with old-fashioned paper ledgers. If you are not sure which program to buy, your accountant can guide you in choosing accounting software that works with your computer. He or she will explain the preferred system of accounting for you to use, whether cash or accrual. If you have decided to do your own recordkeeping and do not want to use an accountant, QuickBooks is relatively easy to use and reasonably priced, available at www.intuit.com. It will help you organize your vendors and customers, track delinquent payments, and automatically recall previous statements among many other features.
No matter what software program you choose, you or an assistant will have to regularly enter all the financial records. Do not let financial data pile up on the desk. There is nothing worse than being forced to enter three months of neglected financial data just before tax time, or reconcile several belated bank statements one after the other. You might even lose track of an invoice, forget to bill a customer, and never be paid.
Hiring Office Help
After your business is underway and you start going out to quote jobs or work in the field, you may decide that a phone answering machine is not enough. There are definite advantages in having someone in the office to answer the phones, call the vendors, and do phone marketing or set schedules for bidding. Some of this work cannot wait until dark when the outside jobs are done.
You may want to tiptoe into the role of employing an office worker. Part-time help is easy to come by in today’s economy. You may simply ask around among friends or relatives. Or, if you are reluctant to take a chance on a friend’s recommendation, and you live in an urban or suburban area, place a classified ad in your local paper or online publication, or on a local/national site such as Craigslist.org or Monster.com. You will probably receive more job applications than you can handle.
Start the selection process before you place the ad by describing exactly what you want this employee to do, what experience he or she will need before starting, and what software programs or equipment skills the person will need to have. Also remember that your office helper may well become the “face and voice” of your business. So the person you choose should be able to get along with the public, in person and especially on the phone. You may want someone who can also do cold calling to solicit business for an extra bonus if an appointment is actually set. Or, perhaps you would rather have a bookkeeper to take over some of the data entry responsibilities. Whatever it is you want, write it down, read it over several times, and picture the kind of person you would feel comfortable with. Personality counts. You know who you can and cannot get along with. If your office is in your home, this person will be in your home too, so your family will also have to find your employee a congenial presence in their lives.
Once you place the ad and the applications roll in, make sure you keep all the “possible” job applicant letters you receive. The first person you hire may not work out. If that happens, you will have the stack of letters sitting there, and can contact some others on your list. It is polite, if possible, to notify those you turn down that they were not accepted, and thank them for their application. You want to be polite with everyone you come in contact with, because you will never know if that job applicant is the son, daughter, or cousin of a current or potential customer. Besides, getting in the habit of being polite to everyone pays off over time.
When you interview the applicants, note their personality and how comfortable you feel with them in the room. Go down your checklist of job requirements to see how they fit. Be careful to avoid certain personal questions, such as age, whether or not the person is married, has children, or their religion. The federal government posts a general description of what you legally cannot ask a potential employee at www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html
The following excerpt from that site will give you an idea of what to avoid doing or saying to stay in compliance with federal law:
Discriminatory practices
Under Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA, it is illegal to discriminate in any aspect of employment, including:
• Hiring and firing
• Compensation, assignment, or classification of employees
• Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
• Job advertisements
• Recruitment
• Testing
• Use of company facilities
• Training and apprenticeship programs
• Fringe benefits
• Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave
• Other terms and conditions of employment.
Discriminatory practices under these laws also include:
• Harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age.
• Retaliation against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices.
• Employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of a certain sex, race, age, religion, or ethnic group, or individuals with disabilities.
• Denying employment opportunities to a person because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability. Title VII also prohibits discrimination because of participation in schools or places of worship associated with a particular racial, ethnic, or religious group.
Employers are required to post notices to all employees advising them of their rights under the laws that EEOC enforces and their right to be free from retaliation. Such notices must be accessible to persons with visual or other disabilities that affect reading.
These guidelines should be followed by all business people, even small, start-up businesses like yours.
Once you select a person to hire, you will need to set up a personnel file for him or her, prepare the appropriate government paperwork for tax withholding, and other new-hire policies. If you are not sure what is required, your accountant, your state tax officer, or your local chamber of commerce can point you in the right direction.
You will also want to set aside some concentrated time to train your new employee in the way you want the business to be handled. He or she may be spending a lot of “alone time” in the office if you are out in the field. You will want to closely monitor the results of the office work you assign to be sure the job is done. With any luck, there will be no problems, but if there are you will have to retrain or fire the individual. Neither of these tasks is much fun; it is much easier to pick your employee carefully from the start.
Finally, since you hired an office worker to take the burden off yourself, you will want to see some payback in terms of increased revenue within a fairly short period of time. Be sure you do a cost analysis of your hiring experiment to see if it is bringing you more income, or costing you more money than you expected.