FRENCH CONNECTION
NOT EXACTLY BUSINESS FRIENDLY
BY DOUG FRENCH

Starting a business is tough. You may have a good idea, plenty of starting capital and a bulletproof business plan, but then your partner, the government, shows up to make things difficult - if not impossible to do business. So, while many consumers believe the businessmen and women who sell them products are cheating them, and some employees carp that their employers are taking advantage of them, it's a wonder anyone starts a business at all - especially one requiring a state license.

The odyssey of one entrepreneur (we'll call him John Galt) illustrates the gauntlet the state can put a would-be businessperson through, all so that he or she can provide a service or product the public purchases of their own free will.

John Galt started his application process with the state of Nevada by downloading the required application forms from the state's Web site. If the government is giving someone a license to operate, the folks in Carson City want to know everything about the applicant: his entire work history, family history as well as his spouse's, including not only their names, but where they lived, where they worked, and if any had a criminal background. Fingerprints were required for the application, necessitating a trip to Metro. Three references were required, vouching for Galt's character. Lastly, the state wanted to know the tentative address of the new business. 

All of that and a check for $1,500 were sent to Carson City as the applicant was leaving town for vacation. Galt provided the state his e-mail address and phone number where he was staying, obviously eager to follow the progress of his application.

While away for six weeks, Galt heard nothing from Carson City. But, when he checked his messages upon returning home, our entrepreneur learned that the state had called his home, even though he had told them specifically that he wouldn't be there for the next six weeks. Worse yet, the public servant left the message that the $1,500 check was not included in the package, and that if they did not receive a check in the next 48 hours, the application would be returned.

Unavailable to respond, Mr. Galt started all over with a new application and wrote the state another $1,500 check. (The first one never did surface.) By this time, six months had passed.

Two months later, the state's Web site indicated that the application was conditionally approved. Great news, except no approval letter was received from Carson City. Galt then attempted to talk to a live person in Carson City. Unfortunately, no state employees answer the phone. Meandering through a telephone tree is required with the end result being, ?Leave a number and someone will call you back.?

A friendly bureaucrat did finally call, and told Galt that yes, the letter had been sent. He wondered why Galt hadn't responded. Of course, Mr. Galt was ready and willing to please the state so he could get on with business, but he hadn't received the conditional approval letter. He asked where the letter was sent. It had been sent to the tentative business address Galt had listed on his application.

But, Galt wasn't doing business at that address, or receiving mail at that address because he didn't have the required state license. Yet, that's where someone in Carson City thought the letter should go.

By now 10 months had passed, and a handful of documentation items were still needed. The state needed a copy of something it already had ? his Limited Liability Company (LLC) documents. A copy of Galt's lease for the space he was going to do business from was also required. However, he was hoping to get licensed before he obligated himself to a landlord.

An inspection of the leased premises by a state examiner was also required, as well as a copy of Galt's Clark County business license. But, when Galt showed up at the county to get a business license, he was informed that the county required a copy of his state license before a county license could be issued. The Catch-22 was solved when an employee at the county finally relented upon seeing proof that the application fee had been paid to the state.

Finally, more than a year from beginning his initial application, John Galt was licensed and opened for business. Remember this story the next time you hear our politicians crow about what a ?business friendly? state Nevada is. LW