Licences for an online business versus a shop

Selling from a physical shop: areas to check

• Business registration and the trading name
• Tax registration and your filing obligations
• Local authority requirements for trading at that address
• Premises requirements such as health, safety and zoning
• Sector-specific licences, for example food handling or health services
• Anything written into the lease itself

Selling online: areas to check

• Business registration and the trading name
• Tax registration and your filing obligations
• Sector-specific rules that follow the product, not the address
• How you take payment, and what your provider requires of you
• Consumer obligations: refunds, delivery, what you claim in your adverts
• Whether working from home has any local restrictions

What changes and what does not

What usually changes is the premises side: no shop address means no shop-specific approvals for that address.

What does not change is that you are still running a business. Registration, tax and any rules attached to what you sell still apply. Food is still food, whether it leaves a shop counter or your kitchen.

A sensible order to do it in

• Confirm which registrations your trade needs, in writing where you can
• Register the business and keep the certificate somewhere safe
• Sort out tax registration and understand your filing dates
• Keep simple records from your very first sale
• Only then commit to premises, if you need them

Common mistakes

• Assuming online trading has no obligations at all
• Taking a friend's word on a requirement instead of checking it
• Keeping no records in the first year, then struggling to catch up
• Advertising claims you cannot back up