Licensing Is a Slobbery Beast Best Tamed by a Pro

With the business-license preparation service (starting at $175), you practically wash your hands of all the grunt work: Necessary forms are found, filled out and submitted on your behalf.

The company also has audit services to make sure you renew when you have to. "If you're not up to date, it's like you never got through the licensing process," Polatseck points out.

There's also a filing service for industries, such as window installers, that need licenses on an ongoing basis. Pella Windows, one of Polatseck's clients, for example, needs a contractor's permit every time it installs a window. Economically, these services make sense for a business of any size, as the number and frequency of licenses normally goes up in proportion to the size of the business.

Survey Says

An ongoing survey done by Business Licenses reveals that 70% of its clients are small businesses that operate out of one or two locations. The bulk of its revenue, however, comes from the 30% of larger companies and corporations with numerous locations and the myriad licenses to match.

The most difficult industries to obtain the required licenses are in food, contracting, trucking and medical-related businesses.

About 75% of new companies are not incorporating, making them sole proprietors, says Polatseck, maybe because they realize that incorporation doesn't make a business legal. They still have to get a license from the local town.

The absence or omission of paperwork or license updates can lead to penalties and other padlocks, so make sure you know what you're doing -- or find someone who does. With licensing, don't be embarrassed about throwing your hands up and asking for help.