Getting a Business License for Your State
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No matter what state you are in, you will more than likely need a business license (or something equivalent) to sell your jewelry for a profit on a regular basis, even if you are just working from home. The cost of getting a business license varies significantly from state to state, as do the licensing requirements.
If you live in a state that collects sales tax you will need to educate yourself on what your requirements are for collecting tax as a business owner to be sure that your business is complying with the law. You may also need to register a trade name if you are doing business in a name other than your own. Additionally, there may be licenses required by your city or county that you need to run your business.
Many cities also having zoning restrictions for operating a business out of your home. These restrictions are usually geared more toward keeping traffic down in residential neighborhoods. If your business will not be bringing extra traffic into the neighborhood, it is likely that you will be OK, but you will need to check to make sure. Be sure to research all of the requirements for your location so you don’t get in trouble down the road.
The following links will take you to the business licensing web page for each state where you can find additional information on how to get licensed in your state. These links are current at the time of publication, although for some reason it seems that state websites are constantly moving their information around and forgetting to update links. If any of the links don’t work, do a Google search for “your state name + business license” and it should get you to where you need to be.
- Alabama – http://www.ador.state.al.us/licenses/authrity.html
- Alaska - http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/buslic.htm
- Arizona - http://www.revenue.state.az.us/609/licensingguide.htm
- Arkansas - http://www.arkansas.gov/business_res.php
- California - http://www.calgold.ca.gov/
- Colorado - http://www.state.co.us/oed/industry-license/index.cfm
- Connecticut - http://www.ct.gov/ (click on the “Doing Business” link in the left hand menu)
- Delaware - http://revenue.delaware.gov/
- District of Columbia - http://www.dcra.dc.gov/dcra/site/default.asp
- Florida - http://www.state.fl.us/dbpr/
- Georgia - http://www.sos.state.ga.us/corporations/regforms.htm
- Hawaii - http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/business/start_grow/
- Idaho - http://business.idaho.gov/StartingaBusiness/tabid/482/Default.aspx
- Illinois - http://www.business.illinois.gov/licenses.cfm
- Indiana - http://www.state.in.us/sic/owners/ia.html
- Iowa - http://www.sos.state.ia.us/business/buslicenseinfo.html
- Kansas - https://www.accesskansas.org/businesscenter/index.html?link=maintain#licenserenewals
- Kentucky - http://www.sos.ky.gov/business/onestop.htm
- Louisiana - http://www.louisiana.gov/wps/portal/.cmd/cs/.ce/155/.s/1114/_s.155/1110/_me/1110
- Maine - http://www.maine.gov/portal/business/licensing.html
- Maryland - http://www.dllr.state.md.us/
- Massachusetts - http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/coridx.htm
- Michigan - http://www.michigan.org/medc/services/startups/index2.asp
- Minnesota - http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/home.do?agency=LicenseMN
- Mississippi - http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/mssbdc/going_intobus.html
- Missouri - http://www.missouribusiness.net/docs/license_registration_checklist.asp
- Montana - http://mt.gov/dli/bsd/
- Nebraska - http://assist.neded.org/license.html
- New Hampshire - http://www.revenue.nh.gov/business/index.htm
- New Jersey - http://www.state.nj.us/njbgs/bgsclientreg.htm
- New York - http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lcns/licensing.html
- New Mexico - http://rld.state.nm.us/
- Nevada - http://secretaryofstate.biz/comm_rec/index.htm
- North Carolina - http://www.nccommerce.com/servicenter/blio/
- North Dakota - http://www.nd.gov/sos/businessserv/registrations/business-search.html
- Ohio - http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/businessservices/corp.aspx
- Oklahoma - http://www.okcommerce.gov/
- Oregon - http://www.filinginoregon.com/
- Pennsylvania - http://www.paopenforbusiness.state.pa.us/paofb/site/default.asp
- Rhode Island - http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/jobseeker/license.htm
- South Carolina - http://www.sc.gov/Portal/Category/BUSINESS_TOP
- South Dakota - http://www.sdreadytowork.com/community/resources/startup/step8.asp
- Tennessee - http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/business.html
- Texas - http://www.governor.state.tx.us/ecodev/sba
- Utah - https://secure.utah.gov/osbr-user/user/welcome.html
- Vermont - http://www.sec.state.vt.us/
- Virginia - http://www.dba.state.va.us/licenses/
- Washington - http://www.dol.wa.gov/
- West Virginia - http://www.state.wv.us/taxrev/busreg.html
- Wisconsin - http://www.wdfi.org/corporations/forms/
- Wyoming - http://soswy.state.wy.us/corporat/corporat.htm
If you are located outside the United States you will need to research the licensing requirements in your country to be sure you are complying with all local laws.