Do Home Based Businesses need a business license?

Licensing Requirements for Home Based Businesses

Starting a home-based business is a rewarding and flexible option for thousands of small business owners. However, starting up is not as simple as hanging an “Open for Business” sign on the front door. Understanding the required permits you’ll need to legally operate your business can save you from big head-aches (and big fines) down the road. Regulations vary based on industry and location, and while there is no one-size-fits-all permit checklist for home-based businesses, there are general guidelines home-based business owners should be aware of:

1. General Business Licenses
Most home-based businesses owners will be required to file an application for a general business permit from their city or county to legally operate in that area. County registrations may apply to you if your home-based business is outside the jurisdiction of a town/city.

2. Professional and Trade Licenses
Some industries may have to obtain professional/occupational licenses, such as a nursing certificate or a real estate license, at the state government level. You can contact your state’s business license office for a complete list of the occupations that require licensing in your area.

3. Home Occupation Permit
Many city and county zoning and planning agencies require all home-based businesses to get a Home Occupation Permit. If a permit is not required in your city, the zoning office should tell if your neighborhood is zoned for the business activity you plan to conduct from your home. If your area is not zoned for your type of business, you may need to file for an additional variance or conditional-use permit. Visit the Zoning Laws for Home Based Businesses page for more information about zoning laws for home-based businesses.

4. Sales Tax Permit

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Business that can be started at home

Need a Business Idea? Here are 55:

1. ACCOUNTANT
Experience, training or licensing may be needed

Create a flier outlining your services. Before you do that, you need to know what those services will be. Do you want to simply do bookkeeping for a small business? A more involved level of accounting would be do actually work up balance sheets, income statements, and other financial reports on a monthly, quarterly, and/or annual basis, depending on the needs of the business. Other specializations can include tax accounting, a huge area of potential work. Many business owners don’t mind keeping their own day-to-day bookkeeping records but would rather get professional help with their taxes.

2. BICYCLE REPAIR

In many parts of the country, this business tends to be seasonal, but you can find ways around that. Rent a storage unit and offer to store people’s bicycles over the winter after you do a tune-up and any needed repairs on them. If you want to cater to the Lance Armstrong wannabes, you can have business all year round. These road race riders are training through snow, sleet and dark of night. Some of them work on their own bicycles, but many of them don’t, so you can get their business all year. And if you keep Saturday shop hours, you can be sure you will have a group of enthusiasts coming by to talk all things cycling.

3. BOAT CLEANING
Experience, training or licensing may be needed

Boats that are hauled out of the water for the winter or even just for mid-season repairs will need the hull cleaned. And depending on the type of boat, it is a good time to give a major cleaning everything else too–the decks, the sleeping quarters, the head, and the holds. Start by approaching homes that have a boat sitting in the yard. Or you could market your services to the marina to contract you to do the boat cleaning it offers to customers.

4. BUSINESS PLAN SERVICE
Has expansion possibilities

Offer a soup-to-nuts business plan, including market research, the business plan narrative and the financial statements. Plan your fee around the main one that the client will want and offer the others as add-on services. You can give clients an electronic file and allow them to take it from there, or you can keep the business plan on file and offer the service of tweaking it whenever necessary. Have business plan samples to show clients–and make sure to include your own!

Network Blogger
Has High Returns possibilities (HIGH RECOMMENDATIONS – 5 Stars)

Network with the best Bloggers and Provides a array of options for advertising your services and providing Training to your customers. High returns are possible for the Training Programs that so your customers how to get more people on their site or even in there store. Setup in 3 Easy to use steps into a Very High Ranked system on Google and Alexa Traffic Rank.

Sent directly to your email in box!! Special Funding Information

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