Every step from the guides, in one place. Ticks are kept by this browser, on this
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All 18 checklists
Get licensed & registered
Register the business with the state
Check zoning with the city or county before you sign anything
If you will operate from premises, including a space you are about to leaseAsk whether your specific use is permitted at the exact address, before money changes hands. A zoning answer after a signed lease is information; before, it is a decision you can still make.
Do not stop at the state license
Most Nevada businesses also need a license from the city or county they operate in — separate applications with their own fees and timing.
No order is asserted for these — they are separate applications to separate bodies.
Check zoning with the city or county before you sign anything
If you will operate from premises, including a space you are about to leaseAsk whether your specific use is permitted at the exact address, before money changes hands. A zoning answer after a signed lease is information; before, it is a decision you can still make.
No order is asserted for these — they are separate applications to separate bodies.
Check zoning with the city or county before you sign anything
If you will operate from premises, including a space you are about to leaseAsk whether your specific use is permitted at the exact address, before money changes hands. A zoning answer after a signed lease is information; before, it is a decision you can still make.
The board license is not the whole job
It is separate from the state business license and from the local one - a licensed practitioner running a business still needs both.
No order is asserted for these — they are separate applications to separate bodies.
A SAM.gov registration expires twelve months after it activates, and an expired one disqualifies you from award until you renew. Set a reminder.
Paying someone to do it
Paying someone to do it. SAM registration is free and self-service; the paid services that appear alongside it in search results are not required and are not affiliated with the government.
Bidding cold on open solicitations first. Most first contracts come through subcontracting or small purchases, and a counselor will point you there before the big open bids.
Assuming a certification generates contracts by itself
Assuming a certification generates contracts by itself. It makes you eligible for set-asides; someone still has to know you exist, which is what the APEX counselors help with.
Treating the 501(c)(3) letter as the whole qualification
Treating the 501(c)(3) letter as the whole qualification. Federal awards also need a SAM.gov registration renewed every year — a lapsed one disqualifies an otherwise winning application.
Hunting for a grant to start a business. Nevada’s own startup guide lists none — its funding chapter is lenders, CDFIs and investors — and federal calls fund a defined project, not your start-up costs.
Stopping when a bank says no. Nevada’s own funding list points at CDFI lenders — Nevada Business Opportunity Fund, Prestamos, Accion Opportunity Fund, DreamSpring — that lend where banks decline.
Reaching for equity because it is the funding you read about
Reaching for equity because it is the funding you read about. You are selling ownership permanently, and Nevada’s funds carry Nevada strings — FundNV backs companies that will grow jobs in the state.
Assuming a Nevada business serving Nevadans qualifies
Assuming a Nevada business serving Nevadans qualifies. Standard abatements require more than 50% of the project’s revenue to come from outside the state — this rewards bringing money in, not trading locally.
Reading it as a grant with extra paperwork. A cooperative agreement means substantial federal involvement in carrying out the work — the agency collaborates and participates, so plan for a partner, not a check.
Waiting until the idea is “ready”. Nevada’s free advising
Waiting until the idea is “ready”. Nevada’s free advising — SCORE, the Nevada SBDC, the Women’s Business Center — is built for people who have not started yet, and turning up early is the point.
Hunting for one all-purpose mentor. An operating business usually needs a specific advisor for a specific decision — pricing, a first hire, a lease, a loan — and Nevada’s advising network is organized that way.
Hire employee number one without a compliance surprise
Calling employee number one a contractor to skip the paperwork
Calling employee number one a contractor to skip the paperwork. Nevada’s Labor Commissioner publishes guidance on avoiding misclassification, and the state and the IRS both test the working relationship rather than the label.
Treating recruiting as entirely your own problem. Nevada runs a public workforce system — the EmployNV Business Hubs and Silver State Works, which offers incentives for hiring pre-screened workers — and small employers most often miss it.
Renting an office at the idea stage. Nevada’s coworking and maker spaces — Reno Collective in the north, Work in Progress in Las Vegas — exist so that you need not sign a lease before you know the business works.
Signing without a licensing contingency. If the jurisdiction will not permit your use at that address you still hold the lease — ask for that clause before you sign, not after.
