# having a hard time acquiring a business license...



## kidoekid (Jul 21, 2010)

hey guys,

so im having a real hard time acquiring a business license and other lagalities needed in order to become a legitimate business as a clothing line in the market. i contacted my local business building and got a rough breakdown of all that i need. im wondering if anyone has came accross the same bumps on the road and if so, how did you get "around" or "over" them.

so i've been hoping to be able to launch an online store through my own clothing lines website (domain not yet attained) and be able to manage it from home, however, id like to be able to print my own stuff as i have been for the past year at home. local business building says i cannot run a home based-web based store UNLESS i setup as a drop-ship online store, meaning i may not have or produce any of my merchandise at home. the conflict with this rule is that i dont have the money to rent space, so what to do? how can i attain legalitie docs and permits and still start my clothing line from home without having to be known as a "drop-ship" business/online store?

Has anyone had this conflict before? any info and or success stories would be awesome help. thanks guys!


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

This could be a local zoning code issue. You didn't state where you are located but I know some areas allow home based businesses and some areas don't. Also, some of the areas that do allow home based businesses may have restrictions to what type of business it would be. They may not want any type of chemicals used in relation to printing to be put in the sewage lines or pose a potential hazard to neighbors. Let us know where you are so if there is another member from your area that has experienced these issues they would be able offer better advice.


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## kidoekid (Jul 21, 2010)

Mtnview said:


> This could be a local zoning code issue. You didn't state where you are located but I know some areas allow home based businesses and some areas don't. Also, some of the areas that do allow home based businesses may have restrictions to what type of business it would be. They may not want any type of chemicals used in relation to printing to be put in the sewage lines or pose a potential hazard to neighbors. Let us know where you are so if there is another member from your area that has experienced these issues they would be able offer better advice.


oh, i apologize... im in Las Vegas. this is a zoning issue in fact. i really hope theres a way to get around this.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

kidoekid said:


> oh, i apologize... im in Las Vegas. this is a zoning issue in fact. i really hope theres a way to get around this.


Have the powers that be stated no home businesses whatever or are there certain aspects of what you want to do that they have issues with?


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## kidoekid (Jul 21, 2010)

Mtnview said:


> Have the powers that be stated no home businesses whatever or are there certain aspects of what you want to do that they have issues with?


they said they'd allow me to run a webased clothing line store from home, however, i cannot print at home nor can i hold any of my merchadise. they want me to have a "supplier" that will drop-ship all my orders, and i dont want to go that route. i own my own equipment and would like to continue using it. 

Say i was setup as a drop-ship online store... would it be safe to just print my own stuff anyway or is this something that i can face big problems over? well, i guess i could face big problems, but how likely is it that i would?


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

kidoekid said:


> they said they'd allow me to run a webased clothing line store from home, however, i cannot print at home nor can i hold any of my merchadise. they want me to have a "supplier" that will drop-ship all my orders, and i dont want to go that route. i own my own equipment and would like to continue using it.
> 
> Say i was setup as a drop-ship online store... would it be safe to just print my own stuff anyway or is this something that i can face big problems over? well, i guess i could face big problems, but how likely is it that i would?


I know that can be frustrating but you could face some fines if caught. There are a few reasons I can think of for the rules they stated. One of which I stated earlier about the chemicals in a neighborhood sewage system as opposed to a commercial system or fumes bothering other residents. Another reason is the township, or whatever type of government your neighborhood is part of, may have concerns about delivery trucks in and out of your property and once again bothering residents.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

If you are doing screen printing, that can be a big issue. I know that in my city, you cannot LEGALLY do screen printing in a residential area...there are inspections, chemicals, etc that they get very nervous about. If you are doing inkjet and/or laser or vinyl...you might be able to appeal the process


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## kidoekid (Jul 21, 2010)

Mtnview said:


> I know that can be frustrating but you could face some fines if caught. There are a few reasons I can think of for the rules they stated. One of which I stated earlier about the chemicals in a neighborhood sewage system as opposed to a commercial system or fumes bothering other residents. Another reason is the township, or whatever type of government your neighborhood is part of, may have concerns about delivery trucks in and out of your property and once again bothering residents.


yeah, definately very frustrating. Thanks a lot for your opinions.



charles95405 said:


> If you are doing screen printing, that can be a big issue. I know that in my city, you cannot LEGALLY do screen printing in a residential area...there are inspections, chemicals, etc that they get very nervous about. If you are doing inkjet and/or laser or vinyl...you might be able to appeal the process


its the same here, they specifically said no silk screening equipment is allowed in residential neighborhoods. i was hoping id probly be able to get away with printing at home for a little while until i can afford some space. super frustrating.


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## Posylane (Mar 3, 2011)

> legalitie docs and permits and still start my clothing line from home


Are you really ready to start a business? I don't understand what keeps you from getting a sales tax permit, a federal tax ID, and a website, and simply going into business. I am sure that if I started asking questions of my HOA/City they would give the same answers as where you are.

But, are they doing annual inspections or something where you live? 



> you could face some fines if caught


I promise you many people right where you live are running all sorts of businesses from homes and nobody is catching them.

Here is the reason why I asked my initial question. Unless there is some sort of home inspection you can't get out of, there is a 1/1,000,000 chance of "getting caught" running a web business from home. If the first 1/1,000,000 problem is a big hurdle, there are a lot more coming.


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## kidoekid (Jul 21, 2010)

Posylane said:


> Are you really ready to start a business? I don't understand what keeps you from getting a sales tax permit, a federal tax ID, and a website, and simply going into business. I am sure that if I started asking questions of my HOA/City they would give the same answers as where you are.
> 
> But, are they doing annual inspections or something where you live?
> 
> ...


Well, I plan on printing my own stuff and thats the problem. When I called downtown with nu questions recently, they said id have to "drop-ship" my stuff directly from a source contracted by me to print my stuff for me, and I dont want to go and pay someone else to print for me when I can do it myself and save money. I do plan on getting a p.o. box, if that mames a difference. As for the second question, I dont know how likely they are to randomly audit my business and ask to see where the shirts are coming from. Its a heart breaking headache. Lol... I wanna get started already! Thanks for all the feedback, btw.


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## Posylane (Mar 3, 2011)

> I dont know how likely they are to randomly audit my business and ask to see where the shirts are coming from.


Who are 'they' that would audit your business and ask to see where the shirts are coming from? Is there a department of shirt source auditors in your state? Lets say just for argument that someone DID call and ask. Are you somehow legally obligated to answer the questions?

What I am getting at is, why are you asking anyone about any of this? Why arn't you simply doing? Nobody from the goverment gets access to your home without a court order. Court orders only come from criminal offenses and EVIDENCE that is put in front of a JUDGE. Just to keep going with the farce, someone guessing that you MIGHT be making shirts in your home is not evidice of a crime. That's just the way our freedoms work. And nobody from your HOA has a legal right to come into your house without permission, period. Just like a bank can't knock on my door tomorrow and demand to look things over and see how I am keeping the place up.

My mind is boggled that some nameless faceless numbnut can tell you that you can't do XYZ in the privacy of YOUR OWN HOME and you have invented inspectors and auditors that don't exist, just to keep yourself down. 

Try this. Type "screen printing las vegas" in google and look at the map on the right. Click on the map to make it bigger. See all the little red dots, the ones that don't have letters bubbles and look like they are in residential areas? Guess what, they are! Here is one specifically:

screen printing las vegas - Google Maps

There are dozans of red residential dots doing screen printing from home in Las Vegas and basically advertizing the fact publically on google and they aren't getting raided or audited or inspected. And Google only puts a dot on the map if you WANT it there. For every dot you do see, there are many many more Google does not have a dot for but are doing business in their home just the same.

So it is time to take charge of your life and buck up and not let fears of nameless faceless men in black keep you down. Put your energy into solving the problem of how to get your merchandise into the hands of customers.


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