Business Licenses and Permits: Then
The use of business licenses and permits can be traced back centuries. Here in California, the use of business licenses and permits started to become more prevalent in the early 1900s. In order to be licensed or permitted by the state, one would have to fill out an application, pay a fee, and then submit it for approval.
The approval process often started locally in one’s county clerk’s office. The clerk’s office would review the application against local and county records to ensure there were no conflicts. Afterward, the application also could be sent to the state’s government licensing offices to be reviewed.
Checking the application locally and at the state level reduced the likelihood of having two business with similar names selling similar products. It also made sure that if the business names were identical that the products or services being sold were in differing industries, like Dove chocolates and Dove soaps.
The process to get business licenses and permits approved could take weeks, sometimes months. It was a slow, tedious process, but, thanks to advances in technology, things slowly started to change.
