Your Questions About Doing Business Online Government

Jere answers:

A Tax ID and a business license are two separate catagories.

First you tax ID can be your own Social Security Number when having a business run as a sole proprietor or owner. Which is how many small business start. You would use your Social Security Number when filing taxes for your business.

The other number you will need is a Use Tax number for collecting Sales Tax. This would be through your State Revenue Department. Since you would be collecting Sales Tax. Contact your states Revenue Department for information.

A main concern would be copyright and trademark infringement. Do you have a name for your store? Have you done searches to see if any other business or established enterprises uses the name or wording similar? This would also include your logo, too. You can use a website that has a domain search function. Type in the name you are considering and see what comes up. The best names would end in .com since most people would type that extension. When you have searched and searched (it took me almost a month to find a .com I liked and was easy to spell)
register the domain as soon as you can. Since the next day it could be gone. It is best to register your domain with one service and use a different web host service. This way you are not stuck using a service that you find out later does not work well for you. Do not transfer your domain to the web host company.

After you have your domain registered then start seaching and comparing web hosts services. Go to websites that review different web hosts that are not getting paid to be affiliates for the web hosts, as they more than likely will give good reviews to collect commision if you sign up from thier site. I found that the big companies are not always the best.

A business license you would get from a state, county, or city government. This varies since you will not have retail traffic coming to your home, and you don’t plan to sell door to door. A business license will depend on your local and state government.

The Small Business Administration offers a lot of information on starting, maintaining, legalities and other information. You can enter SBA or the full name to locate them on the Internet.

I hope this information helps,
Linda

Jere answers:

You can apply for a Tax ID number online. Here is the link.
Http://www.sba.gov/content/obtain-your-federal-business-tax-id-ein

A tax id number must be used to purchase things wholesale. Also, by obtaining a tax id number, you are declaring to the government that you have a business, and hence must file a tax return every year for your business.

IRS- http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online

Hmm….regarding age, I don’t remember having to state my age when I filled out for mine, but I did have to put in birthdate. I don’t know for sure about age, but I would assume age 18. Because if someone is under 18, they can’t even get a bank account on their own without a parent co-signing for them.

I buy things online at wholesale and re-sell them as part of my business. I have never heard of a resale license before.

Good luck to you.

Jere answers:

Yes, they must have all the requirements of the state/province you live in. Even though the business is on-line, and your server may be in another country, you are legally liable for all the local business regulations, licensing, tax collection, tax payment, income tax, and labor laws.

Most businessses never need to worry about most of these – but you must register the business, see if your local government demands a busines license, and pay taxes.

Jere answers:

You DON”T copyright a business name, you register it; but as a sole propiertor you can use your own name and there is no need to register it; if you want to use other name than yours then you need to register the trade name or “Doing Business As” with a government agency.

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_proprietorship

As for the domain name NO you can’t copyright it by itself (the content is copyrighted: pictures, text; but not the web site; you don’t need to formally copyright every single stuff you put at the page since copyright is granted since creation but for some stuff like books is better to do so) what you can do obviously is used the same “Trade mark name” you already registered or your own name as your website name.

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doing_Business_As
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name

Now remember a, Company name, Copyright and a Trade Mark are three different things and they follow different rules.

Go to the Copyright Office web site and read the whole thing.

Jere answers:

If you plan to incorporate then you need to register with the federal,state and city government. If you plan to run the business as a sole proprietor then all you need is a business license from your local city government. Some cities do not require you to get a business license until the business makes $3,000 to $4,000 so see what your local government requires for an e-commerce business.

Steps for getting started:
First and foremost write up a business plan.
1. Forming the business either through incorporating or as a sole proprietor. If you plan to incorporate then you need to get with your states Secretary of State to do this.
2. Find your SIC and NAICS code you will need either one or both for your business formation with the government entities.
3. Getting an EIN if required
4. Setting up a Franchise and Excise Tax and Sales and Use Tax account with the Dept of Revenue in the state you are in. You need to determine if you need one or both of these accounts. Just call the Dept of Revenue in your state and they are usually pretty helpful in answering all your questions.
5. Set up a business bank account or bank account with a DBA attached to it if you plan to do the business as a sole proprietor if you incorporate then a business bank account is what you need.
6. Set up a merchant and or paypal account. The merchant account you can set up through your bank and this allows you to take all major credit cards.
7. Build a website and get a domain name and hosting. You can either build your own website or have one built for you, some start out with a blog because it’s free and you can make it look like a standard website so take a look at this option and see if it will work for you. Just keep in mind if you use a blog you need relevant content in the body of the blog if it’s just full of product links then you will eventually get shut down. As far as building your own you can either buy software or use the online website builders. Using the software allows you to create your site how you want it just make sure the hosting provider you use will support the software the online website builders you will be limited to their templates and I believe you have to use their hosting but you can buy your domain name from anywhere and just direct to their server.
8. Get inventory.
9. Figure out how you plan to ship product. This all comes down to how you plan to handle inventory. Some people have their own and some get involved with companies that have the product and you sell it and they drop ship the product for you. This saves on you having to carry the product yourself and having unsold inventory in your possession. If you plan to do affiliate marketing then you need to sign up to the affiliate programs and get your code specific links to post on your site.
10. Marketing your website. Just because you publish a website doesn’t mean it’s visible to the search engines and the public at large so you need to submit the site to the 3 top search engines at the least and start marketing the site.

This is a basic order and some of these may overlap each other during the process but I hope this helps out. I’ve been through the routine and had to figure it all out myself. Just ask a lot of questions with the people you are dealing with to get things in order.