Why is it so hard to start a business?

Share |

I am an entrepreneurially minded individual. The last I checked, we are in a down economy which means if there is a possibility of starting a business and making money and creating tax revenue, that is something that should be encouraged. In to be a legit business that means, in Utah, that means you need to register the name, the entity, get a sales tax permit, (depending on the business) permits and licensing, and then each city has a business license with its accompanying fee's and taxes.

Whatever you do, don't miss a deadline in this process because that is nightmare on top of a nightmare. But the part that stuck out to me as the cherry on top of this ridiculous "sundae" is that when I went into our city hall to file the paperwork for a home based business for the city business license they asked me, "What car do you drive?" Seriously?! What car do I drive? Why do you need to know that?

The staff were unable to give me any kind of rationale but said that planning and zoning needed to know it. My best guess than was to ascertain if my business was using a delivery vehicle, or something with obnoxious signage. Me being the smart guy that I am, I offered them my shoe size as well.

As I see it, the problem here is that if I was working for some other company with signage that was in violation of code they can't do anything about it. It is someone's personal work vehicle. So if I worked for Domino's Pizza and the sign on top of my car was larger than approved signage they aren't going to do anything about it. But if I am going to start my own business I have to open the door to them telling me what I can and can't do to run a business. The hard part of all this is that I have been freelancing doing the same business for over 7 years and nothing has come of it. Now that I am trying to be legit, to pay the city some of the taxes they don't deserve, they are going to further punish me.

As far as I am concerned this is just like illegal immigration. We make and encourage people to be illegal. We give them drivers licenses, discounts on education, health protections that they don't have to pay for, and so on. Then we have people who want to be here legally, they want to be citizens and they are denied and have to go through years worth of paperwork and costs -- essentially they make it not worth being legit. I feel the same way (on a smaller scale) and wonder why government puts up all these hurdles to people who want to be legal, legit, and to pay their fair share.