Any experiences running a "home" shop in Utah?

[Yan Wo]

All interesting replies, and a couple really funny ones. My thoughts:
1) If you're thinking of moving to Tooele, you'll need to learn how to pronounce the name. It's not obvious.
2) There are no "Mormons" in Utah, or anywhere else. I used to be one, but I no longer am. I'm now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Kind of a mouthful, I know.)
3) I disagree that people who are not members of that church are treated as second-class citizens in Utah.
4) Yeah, you will get baptized after you die -- eventually.
5) (for the humor impaired)

 

[Garwood]

I've been curious if it's possible to have a successful small business in the SLC and surrounding areas without being Mormon (or whatever you want to call it). I send a lot of my products to that area and it seems like everyone buying in that area has ties to the church.

When a large majority of a local populous all belong to the same club it's highly likely to have a negative effect on the local aspects of your business if you aren't part of the club.

 

[Houdini]

I've been curious if it's possible to have a successful small business in the SLC and surrounding areas without being Mormon (or whatever you want to call it). I send a lot of my products to that area and it seems like everyone buying in that area has ties to the church.

When a large majority of a local populous all belong to the same club it's highly likely to have a negative effect on the local aspects of your business if you aren't part of the club.

Nah, Its not true, the rumors have always been larger than the truth.
I'm not Mormon, or LDS, or what ever the new thing they said they call themselves.
Lived here my whole life 50 years.
My in laws are pretty well off, none of it was due to the church ties, that guy worked hard for it.
He was a bishop, and now one of the stake presidents, but that happened after he made it.
Running a biz in Utah/SLC is not only doable but good. Read up on statistics in the US per state.
And that large majority, isn't the majority anymore, they are les than 50% in the state and in the SL County even far less.

If you do need some help ,I've noticed they are their to help, they have to, it's part of their belief system, which is a plus.

The only downside, air pollution, not enough water, hard liquor only in the state store, and no NFL team cause they cant play on Sunday.
We are getting a MLB team in a minute though.

2 Cents

 

[Houdini]

Here is something I have thought about in the past also.

Having a large group that strives for something can be a plus or minus.
The large group here is pro business, laws and regulations would then be pro business, and they are.
Now those benefits apply to all, not just those in the group.

A large group networking together would be a plus to conducting business, but that doesn't mean that it causes a negative to those outside the group.
it just means that if you also created a large network in business you could have similar benefits.

But also if customers dislikes the service from a local business, in the group or not, the fact that you are local makes you subject to gaining that lost business from others within the group.

Just because you are a part of some large group doesn't necessarily mean that you have other benefits from that group other than networking within the smaller group of people you directly know.
So just because your LDS in Ogden doesn't mean you benefit from elder Bob in American Fork.

The affects of a large pro business group affecting government is a plus to all those in business.

2 Cents

 

[kustomizer]

One day soon you'll be an idahoan, muttering, "them goldurn californians, comin up here jackin' up prices and messin up the traffic, why can't they just stay in their own hellhole state and leave us alone !"

We were doing that before we got here

 

[john.k]

other catch is that your farm shop today will have 100 houses all around in 10 years time...........my old friend and one time trucking partner (now decd) had a proper farm with cows in a housing estate .......thats cows crapping on the street in front of houses.........partly his own fault ,as he once owned the whole street ,both sides ,and sold to the developers.

 

[DethloffMfg]

Our operation is similar to yours, we ended up in Idaho where they are very welcoming to small business. We have our home and shop on 10 acres about 5 miles from a village of 160 people. As mentioned above, getting material is more challenging but otherwise we love it. Idaho is only slightly north of your target area.

I've spent a good amount of time in Boise area and it didn't make the list. It's been about 6-7 years but I found it almost impossible to run my business there - no laser cutters, no precision sheet metal, stupid expensive tubing, and the biggest support companies were still tiny. Maybe I missed something but unless you were making railcars Boise didn't seem ready to support much industry aside from some modest machining operations. It also feels like an area that would get boring pretty quick. And if you've never been so SoCal, that whole area is the spitting image of Azusa.

You could look into Santaquin. It's on the south end of Utah County and you may still be able to get some property large enough to do what you want. Genola and Goshen out there which I've always liked. You could also look into Mona in Juab county -honestly the next town south of Santaquin- or somewhere in Millard county. My brother in law just started a powder coating shop in Delta and does really well, despite not really having customers right next to him. There are many towns out there will less than 100 people population and very open.

Mona, Goshen, and Genola will have what you need space wise. If you decide to build in these areas you'll have to dig a well and all that fun stuff.

We checked out that area and really liked it, we loved the drive south of Goshen. If we found a place in there it would work well for us. Our Church parishes are around SLC, Payson, Price and St. George so we want to stay within driving distance of those. Going farther south into Millard Co would be too far a drive for us.

I would try looking north of salt lake, there may be some areas out that way more also.
When its rural, sure, I agree, let it rip.
But we have zoning laws for a reason, I don't want the guy next to me lowering my property resale value, or just seeing his big mess of hot rod collections, or big delivery truck,
his loud ass machine shop, outside air compressors.....In my neighborhood, I also wouldn't want to buy a home contaminated with who knows what from who knows what business that was ran their.
Chemicals absorbed in the walls, oils in the ground......

So I am one of the people that agree on the zoning deal.

But I live in the city, as a kid when we lived out in Duchesne, miles away from anyone, anything, sure, let it rip.

There are the places that are in between, Utah country used to be one, but that filled in a while ago, was more farm lands.

I would try the north, North Salt Lake to North Ogden, see if there are still some holes available, that type of area is going away.
The city is growing too fast, wish they would stop telling people its one of the top 10 places in the US to live and business, STOP!

But as it grows within the city, they are building tons of apartment compex now instead of houses. on the undeveloped areas, which is the west of the valley they have already earmarked it, homes, and retal...

Commercial some also out west, but zoned, so no homes and businesses mixed on a plot. Mixed zoning like that is going away quick.

Eagle mountain is really earmarked as residential for the most part, and being on the other side of the lake is yuk, far too drive anywhere.

But yeah tooele, or possibly north of SL, or rural, or smaller places like Vernal or similar.
I don't know the zoning out in the Kamas area, look in that area first, that is sweet area, branch from there also.

edit" as @spinninquin mentioned, places down south, out the bottom of the city strip.

I'm not fully against being north of SLC but the fun stuff for us is south of it. We do a lot of vehicle exploring and our business designs and makes parts for Ram trucks, so the fun and marketing potential is better down south and east.

I'm with you on zoning. I like that there are places that you can do what you want with a property but it's just weird when everyone's yard is a junkyard. I want to run a business that's all under a roof and out of sight so some of the regs seem overbearing.



As far as neighbors go, we would much rather be surrounded by people who actually believe something than be surrounded by the 'whatever you want goes' crowd we live around now. We have a traditional family and being around other traditional folks is welcome to us, even if we have fundamental differences in certain beliefs.

 

[Houdini]

other catch is that your farm shop today will have 100 houses all around in 10 years time...........my old friend and one time trucking partner (now decd) had a proper farm with cows in a housing estate .......thats cows crapping on the street in front of houses.........partly his own fault ,as he once owned the whole street ,both sides ,and sold to the developers.

If you don't go full rural, yep.
Trying to go on the outer edges of the city, or the small spots still in the city already there are issues in the future.
A inner city large plot with a house and a large shop will probably not give you a permit to expand, waiting for you to sell and turn it into apartment complexes.

It's either full rural, and have to have all material trucked back and forth, or just buy a shop.

 

[Houdini]

You could be the nut job like I tried to talk my wife into doing, go buy a big as shop in the primo industrial area, and build living area within the shop.
My wife was like NO!! I know it's illegal, but cost effective. Had a friend do it, it was sweet having a industrial loft apartment in a giant warehouse.

 

[Houdini]

Then look south just out of the larger city, and east Kamas area and radiate out.

 

[Garwood]

You could be the nut job like I tried to talk my wife into doing, go buy a big as shop in the primo industrial area, and build living area within the shop.
My wife was like NO!! I know it's illegal, but cost effective. Had a friend do it, it was sweet having a industrial loft apartment in a giant warehouse.

I've met a few guys who've done this and all have been very happy with it. Laws don't usually make it impossible, they just make you call it something different like "night watchman's quarters" or such. I know a guy with hundreds of old cars collected. He bought a 60k sq ft building. Decked out half of it to live in and store his cars and rents out the other half to a business. He and his wife love it.

 

[PDW]

But we have zoning laws for a reason, I don't want the guy next to me lowering my property resale value, or just seeing his big mess of hot rod collections, or big delivery truck,
his loud ass machine shop, outside air compressors.....In my neighborhood, I also wouldn't want to buy a home contaminated with who knows what from who knows what business that was ran their.
Chemicals absorbed in the walls, oils in the ground......

So I am one of the people that agree on the zoning deal.

Same. And I live on 3.5 acres with 415V 3 phase power, a decent sized shop and ATM I'm building a second big boat, which is basically light industrial.

But I'm VERY careful about the noise levels and I never have piles of waste etc around the place, nor waste oil or other chemical issues.

I can't see, personally, what the problem is with the 10+ acre rule. As long as the land isn't too expensive, a block that size is better for everyone concerned. I can understand the logic of that.

PDW

 

[Houdini]

10acres in Tooele is probably expensive, but good option.

 

[john.k]

The yard I sold ,I could have legally built a 'caretaker residence' of max 70 sq m.floor space...........but even though it was zoned industrial,there was all sorts of expensive crap like stormwater drainage and a roadworks before i could develop it ............didnt matter if it was a huge or small ,same expensive crap...........basically meant I borrowed $5 mil and covered the whole area to be cost effective.

 

[DethloffMfg]

10acres in Tooele is probably expensive, but good option.

That's currently what we're looking at, and it's looking good. The kids can feed the goats between machine cycles

 

[Houdini]

That's currently what we're looking at, and it's looking good. The kids can feed the goats between machine cycles

its really the perfect scenario, rural, so you can do the home/shop thing.
but you are as close to the major city, vendors and shipping as you possibly could be.

 

[Glug]

Don't forget to put your hat on backwards ! All true artisans do that !

No, that was the 80's. Now you need to have your hat turned sideways 29 degrees.

 

[LOTT]

No, that was the 80's. Now you need to have your hat turned sideways 29 degrees.

Wait a minute- the hat is set at the same angle as a compound rest while threading...

Coincidence? I think not. Where's @TeachMePlease with his 118 degree mohawk to get to the bottom of this?

 

[triumph406]

Utah is ok, spent some time in Orderville, met a Mormon girl there with a great great rack, luckily she wasn't as hard core as the other residents there.

so Utah gets my vote.

Never met a Mormon who I didn't like, never heard of anybody ever having trouble working with Mormons. Same as anybody else, treat 'em right and it'll be reciprocated.

 

[Donkey Hotey]

Never met a Mormon who I didn't like, never heard of anybody ever having trouble working with Mormons. Same as anybody else, treat 'em right and it'll be reciprocated.