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Will Your Planned Business Interest Need a Licence

If you think you've got an idea that's going to make you big

money, there might be a reason why everyone else isn't doing it

- and that reason could be related to the law. Many types of

businesses are strictly regulated and controlled by governments.

I once knew a guy whose great idea for a 'home business' was to

run poker tournaments from his house. Needless to say, that

didn't last long once the police heard about it.

Many local governments have a thing called a Smart Licence".

SmartLicence is a one-stop shop for all business licensing,

registration and information requirements.

Alcohol

Yes, it seems odd to some people that you need a license to

serve alcohol - after all, you can invite people round to your

own house for a drink perfectly legally, can't you? As soon as

you start charging them for those drinks, though, the nature of

what you're doing changes drastically in the eyes of the law,

and you're going to need a license. If you don't get one, then

you could be heading off to jail for quite a while.

Again, you're going to have trouble getting an alcohol license

for your home, unless you're holding some kind of event there

and the drinking is just incidental. Alcohol licenses are

usually subject to appeals from people who live near the

premises being considered, and you can guarantee that your whole

neighbourhood is going to turn out to say what a bad idea it

would be.

Gambling

However fun and profitable it might be to put fruit machines in

your house, run a mini card casino or just invite the local old

people over to play bingo, it's almost certainly illegal without

a license. Gambling is an industry that's almost always strictly

controlled - it might be fine to gamble privately with your

friends (or, depending on where you live, it might not be), but

as soon as you start running it as a business you're on very

dodgy ground. You'll also find that most places have laws

against for-profit lotteries - sorry. Applying for a license to

turn your home into a gambling premises is unlikely to succeed.

If you wonder why, consider what would happen if people in your

area could do that. It wouldn't be pretty.

Medics

If you plan to do anything medical, then you'll probably need a

license. When I say medical, I mean doctors, dentists,

opticians, and even vets. You might think it'd be fine to turn

your home into an 'animal hospital', but you need to be

qualified and licensed. Of course, if you've previously been a

doctor, dentist, or whatever, then you shouldn't have too much

trouble getting licensed to do the same thing from home.

Food

If you're going to sell food, you usually need to register, for

hygiene and safety reasons - imagine if just anyone could sell

you food, without any checks! For various reasons most local

government agencies are especially strict if you plan to handle

raw meat. It's usually fine to sell cooked meat, but raw meat is

considered more dangerous. Food licenses aren't too hard to get,

anyway, provided you have a relevant hygiene qualification and

you're willing to have your kitchen and products inspected at

regular intervals.

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Children

People get jumpy around children, and you're very unlikely to be

able to look after any as part of your business without jumping

through all sorts of hoops. Just to be a nanny, there are all

sorts of courses to take and regular inspections to go through.

If you ever wonder why there's a shortage of small-scale

childcare, it's because it's so hard to keep within the rules

while making any profit.

More

This list is nowhere near exhaustive - it just covers some of

the most common kinds of businesses that people think of. If

you're planning to do something more unusual, then you really

need to check your local laws.

Should I Bother?

Most home business owners don't know about the rules that apply

to them, and don't especially care either. Every day you operate

in a regulated industry without a license, though, you risk

being shut down, or worse. It's only going to take one upset

customer or neighbour to get you into big trouble - so unless

you want to be worrying all the time, make sure you're properly

licensed for whatever you want to do.

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