Have you started your own business, or are you considering it?
Something that is often overlooked in the exciting and sometimes daunting process of starting your business is that there may be licenses and permits that are required for you to conduct business on a Federal, State and local (city, county, or town) level. The importance of knowing what business license requirements are associated with your venture can be significant.
Certain types of businesses, such as restaurants, construction companies, online businesses or even home-based businesses may have requirements which are very important to understand; but, you may be unfamiliar with in reference to your particular business and location. Requirements can range from a basic business license to operate within a city or county, to a specific permit to sell alcohol or lottery tickets for example.
In the United States, there are over 75,000 Federal, State and local jurisdictions or licensing authorities, each of which, have their own requirements. There are literally thousands of different types of licenses. Knowing how to contact these different jurisdictions and licensing authorities, knowing what their requirements are or what license types one needs can be far from simple, nor is it necessarily easy to obtain information beyond a basic level. In depth research can require extensive time, whether searching online, in-person or over the phone, with multiple government entities.
Worse yet, Governing bodies frequently change their license requirements and forms. Licensing authorities may have different timing and recurrence of filing requirements for different licenses. Frankly, understanding the requirements of one business license filing may not apply to other required filings.
Certain business activities have special requirements for business licenses and some seemingly common business events may also cause new unforeseen licensing requirements. Such as, in some states, changing a business name or office location can require an entirely new license.
It is important to note that failure to obtain and maintain all required business licenses or permits could end up being costly. Typically, businesses that fail to do either have to pay fines or penalties. However, authorities could shut down all business activities until all violations have been cleared possibly costing the company both goodwill and financially, or it could threaten the success of the company’s strategic plans if it were to cause delays in acquisitions/mergers, new product and service launches, or even the opening of new locations.
Accumera provides customized business license research, based on all activities performed within each state, to help you determine all State, County and Municipal licenses required for your business.
Your customized License Research Package results will answer the following questions:
- What licenses are required at the state level?
- What licenses are required at the county level?
- What licenses/registrations are required at the municipal level?
- What are the processes and the costs to obtain any required licenses?
Searches can be completed within 3 business days and include all necessary application forms, state fees, and filing instructions.
When the search is completed you will receive a comprehensive License Research Package in electronic form, with all necessary application forms, state fees, and filing instructions.
After reviewing the Package, you may determine to proceed with the required applications directly with the associated departments or jurisdictions, or you can request Accumera’s additional services of assisting with preparation and filing of the specific applications.
