How to Start a Small Business in Somerset: Licenses, Permits, and Local Help

A workshop off a Taunton side street. A coffee roaster working out of a shed near Shepton Mallet. A mobile hairdresser covering Bridgwater and the villages around it. Most businesses in Somerset don't begin with an investor or a polished plan — they begin with someone who knows how to do a thing, plus a spare room, a garage or a market pitch.

That's the good part. The less good part is that the paperwork doesn't care how small you are. Registration, licensing and tax each switch on at different points, and the rules run on a different clock depending on whether you're selling coffee, cutting hair or letting out a holiday cottage. Here's what actually needs doing, roughly in order.

First, decide what kind of business you are

Sole trader, limited company, or partnership. Sole trader is the simplest: you register with HMRC, file a self-assessment return each year, and you and the business are the same legal person — which means you're personally on the hook for its debts. A limited company is a separate legal entity; you register it with Companies House, and being a director carries duties well beyond filing accounts. A partnership needs a written agreement setting out who owns what, who decides what, and what happens when someone wants out.

If you're testing an idea, sole trader is often enough. If you're taking on premises, staff or real financial risk, spend half an hour with an accountant before you commit. That conversation is almost always cheaper than unpicking a wrong choice eighteen months later.

Register in the right order

1. Check the name properly. Search the trademark register, check the domain and look for existing local businesses. A name that clashes with someone three streets away will cost you goodwill you can't buy back.
2. Register with HMRC. Sole traders register for self-assessment. The deadline is 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you started trading — but you can register well before that, and it's less stressful if you do.
3. Incorporate, if that's your route. Companies House handles this online for a modest fee. Be aware that your name and address go on the public register.
4. Register as an employer if you'll pay anyone. That means PAYE, and it also means employer's liability insurance, which is a legal requirement for almost every business with staff.
5. Open a separate bank account. Not strictly required for sole traders, but it saves you a miserable weekend every January.
6. Watch the VAT threshold. Once your turnover crosses the current limit, registration isn't optional.

Licences, permits and the council's role

Somerset Council handles most of the licensing you'll encounter, and what you need depends entirely on what you do.

Food and drink

Any food business — café, food truck, farm shop selling prepared food, or a home kitchen baking cakes to order — must register with the local authority at least 28 days before trading. Registration itself is free. You'll need food hygiene training appropriate to your role, and you will be inspected.

Alcohol and late-night trading

Selling alcohol requires a premises licence, and normally a personal licence held by at least one person. Pubs, clubs, restaurants and shops all fall under this. Late-night refreshment carries its own rules, so check before you plan your opening hours.

Trading outdoors

Street trading consent, market pitches and pavement licences for tables and chairs each have their own application and fee. Market operators often add their own conditions on top, so read both sets of rules.

Working from home

Plenty of home-based businesses need no planning permission at all, provided there's no noticeable change to the property or the neighbourhood. But if you're taking deliveries all day, converting a barn, or running a holiday let, planning comes into play. Speak to the planning team before you spend money on a conversion.

Other licences you may meet along the way: waste carrier registration if your business moves waste, a music licence if you play recorded or live music in a public space, animal activity licences for boarding, breeding or grooming, and taxi or private hire licensing.

What it actually costs to start

Close to nothing if you start small and online. The costs arrive with premises and people.

Business rates apply to commercial property, but Small Business Rate Relief can reduce or wipe out the bill on smaller premises — check your rateable value and the current thresholds rather than assuming. Insurance matters more than most new owners expect: public liability if customers come to you, contents and stock cover, business use added to your vehicle insurance if you drive for work, and employer's liability if you have staff. Licence fees vary by type and are set out plainly on the council's application pages.

Budget for the dull things too — an accountant, invoicing software, and a small contingency. On money, tax and legal questions, get proper advice: an accountant who regularly works with small businesses, or a solicitor for leases and partnership agreements. A commercial lease is the one document you should never sign without reading it properly first.

Free help that already exists in Somerset

• Somerset Council's business support pages — the starting point for licensing, business rates and premises questions.
• The Heart of the South West Growth Hub — free, impartial start-up and growth advice for businesses in the region.
• Somerset Chamber of Commerce — events, networking and practical support, especially useful if you'll sell to other businesses.
• Your local library — several run business databases, market research tools and free space to work.
• Trade bodies for your sector — often the fastest route to a straight answer about regulations.
• Other owners. Ask a café owner in your town how they handled licensing. Most will tell you, and some will tell you more than you wanted to know.

Start before everything is perfect

The Somerset businesses that last tend to be the ones that started small and adjusted. Test at a market stall before signing a lease. Take orders before buying the equipment. Register, get the licence you genuinely need, keep clean records from day one, and ask the council a question rather than guessing at an answer.

The paperwork is finite. Most of it can be done over a few evenings, and most of the help available locally is free. Get the structure and the permissions right first — then get on with the part you're actually good at.

Photo: mastma / Pixabay