Business Licenses

Just a reminder that when you open a business, you are required to obtain various licenses. These could include both county and city business licenses, depending on where you live.

The easiest way is to just tell them that you are a lecturer and present seminars, similar to the Dale Carnegie courses. Then they will understand what kind of business you have and what kind of license is appropriate. You will probably call the tax assessor for the county or city where you live for this.

Also be sure to obtain a "sales and use tax" of 'VAT" permit. You do not "charge" sales tax, but you must collect it for the state. Here in Texas this is handled by the state comptroller's office, and for a small business, you only need to report once a year.

If you lease your own space for a permanent place to hold seminars, you can ask the local Fire Marshall to inspect it and let you know of anything you need to do to keep it safe and avoid liability problems if someone is injured. You can protect yourself even more by obtaining business insurance.