Running a business from home: learn how to register it

Posted by Cynthia Madison on February 16th, 2018

Most people decide to start a home-based business due to the familiar setting, the flexible schedule and the convenience of the situation, but most importantly, they do not have to sit every day in the office listening to the superior complaining about their lack of productivity. They get to make their own decisions and even start a new career. Indeed, running a business from home comes with many perquisites, but it also comes with government requirements that you have to meet and risks that you must face. These refer to business finances, insurance, employment, taxation and registration, not to mention about licenses and permits as well as council approval. Furthermore, even though you operate a small business, you still need to possess certain characteristics and skills, have industry expertise and a long-term vision. You need to possess the ability of finding efficient solutions for unexpected issues and secure the evolution of your business.

Take all the necessary legal steps for running a home-based business

Ask yourself several important questions before opening such a business. Can you find another location better than your home? Are you fully aware of your legal obligations? Would you be able to find the right balance between family and work? How are you going to register the business? If you did some research regarding business management, it means that you are familiar with business structures and IRS. Moreover, you are no stranger from Singapore company registration. Nevertheless, you do not have to take all these details as they are. You need to apply them to your situation and your type of business. The reality is that you are not running a massive company, but a small home-based business. Of course, the basic requirements do not change. These include business registration with the state, the city or the county, choosing the business structure, contacting the Internal Revenue Service and obtaining a zoning permit. The main idea is that you have to make sure that you start on the right legal footing in order to avoid possible issues in the future.

Learn how to register your home-based business

Returning to the main subject of the article, namely registering your home-based business, there are a few mandatory steps that you need to follow. Establish the business structure: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or LLC. Next, you need to find a suitable name for your business and visit the state secretary office and inform the representative there about the type of business you intent to run and its structure, which represents useful information for the registration. You will have to fill in some paperwork and move on to the city department of business in order to receive your occupational license. You are almost there, but you need to contact the IRS because they will give you a federal tax ID number. The final step is to receive a zoning permit for your business. By contacting the zoning office, you will find out if you need a permit for your residence or not. Then you can proceed to obtain it.