After you have met the above mentioned requirements for starting your business, and you’ve decided to follow through, you will need to apply for all of the needed permits and licenses that you may require. Some of these can include:
You will have to register the name of your retail business before you can place it on the market. You will need to think of a name that is catchy and easy to remember. The law requires you to register your business’ name so that no other company uses the same name as you do.
Each State and Municipality have their own laws regarding this so you would be better off asking your local registrars office what the proper procedure is beforehand. Registering your business will ensure that your retail business has its own business number that you can use when setting up accounts with warehouses that host your merchandise.
You will also need to register for your vendors permits. This is basically a piece of paper that states that you are legally allowed to charge money for certain merchandise. Your vendors permit should be placed in an area that is visible to the public at all times.
The reason that you need a vendor’s permit is because you will also have to charge taxes on your merchandise. You can’t tax your merchandise without a vendor’s permit. Permits are always very particular, so you will need to include the exact type of merchandise that you plan to sell in order to receive the correct permit.
If you are planning to open a clothing outlet, but want to add some food items to your shelves, you will need a special permit to sell both. That is why you want to make sure that you are very specific with the type of permit that you request.
Believe it or not, you also have to register for a special tax number so that you can charge the taxes to your customers. You need this number because each time you process a purchase and charge the necessary taxes, the taxes go directly to the internal revenue service. If you don’t charge taxes to your customers, then you will be responsible to pay all of that money yourself.
You must file the yearly taxes with the IRA each fiscal year end. This means that your business taxes are due every year around the same time as you first began your business. You would have a lot to account for if you didn’t charge any taxes to your customers and if you weren’t properly registered with your local tax service.
Although it is not necessary that you apply for insurance on your residential property, you must apply for insurance on your business property. With the crime rate being what it is, you have to have insurance. But there are at least 3 types that you must apply for when starting your own retail business, and they are:
1. Workman’s compensation: You have to be able to support your employees should they get hurt on the job. You as the employers have to apply for this from a private insurance company.
2. Liability Insurance: This is in the event that a consumer is injured on your property. At the least you have to apply for ‘limited liability” insurance.
3. Property: Naturally this type of insurance will protect you in the event of a fire or theft etc. It just helps to know that you can regain some of your property or merchandise back in case of a disaster or crisis.