starting up legal issues, few ??'s

[AdamZx3]

too give you some backround for my question,

I would like to start up a photo retouching/resto business next year to help put myself though college (majoring in graphics design) so I can quit working at the bodyshop and focus more on school as well as gain further experiance with photoshop and getting a taste of freelancing. I don't think I will be doing this all my life, though if I could make enough to live on combined with my future wifes income I could be very happy with that.

also I realize I need at least prosumer equipment to do a good job, what I had in mind:

apple macbook pro 17" / powermac dual 2ghz
cinema display 20"
Epson 4990 pro flatbed scanner
Nikon V film scanner
spyder pro calibrator
eventually a intuos 3 tablet and nikon d50

will be sending photo's out to a lab.
and will be going with the sell less work for more money approach. Really all I need is $75 a month for bills plus gas money

okay now a few questions


1.Will I be in any legal hot water if I hand out brochures/flyers door to door, posting on bullitan boards etc?? I have been told by someone that unless you make so many thousand per year (i belive 3k) you don't have to register as a business. It will be in Ohio, I still have to find someone to ask officialy (any ideas?)

2. What do you usually have to do to get setup as an official business? getting a vendors liscense is a must, any other requirements? any legal fee's, red tape ? (found a bunch of red tape for custom painting/airbrushing!)

any info would be appriciated and thank you for your time

[Doug Nelson]

Regulations vary a great deal from state to state. Check with Ohio's dept. of revenue for specific details.

One tip: I've been audited one time in my life, and that was when I called the dept. of revenue. Nothing came of the audit, it was quite educational in fact, but you might want to stay anonymous.

The "few thousand a year" is probably referring to either staying under the minimum earnings for tax filing (but if you have another job that won't apply) or to maintaining a "hobby" status (another question for the dept. of revenue).