The one-stop: permits, licenses and a person to call
One place, one person and one plain guide for opening or expanding a business in your city.
A business one-stop is one place, one person and one plain-language guide for opening or expanding a business in your city. Big cities build a licensing counter; small cities write the guide, list every step and phone number, and name a navigator.
What is a business one-stop?
Big cities build it as a counter: El Paso's Planning and Inspections Department runs a One-Stop Shop business licensing center, and the State of Texas runs a free Business Permit Office as a clearinghouse for state-level requirements. The small-city version is simpler: a written guide to opening a business in your city, with every step and phone number, and one named person who walks owners through it.
Permitting is one of the most common complaints in BRE visits. Making it easier to open and expand is retention work, even though it lives in a different department.
Why does it work?
- Time to open is money to an owner. Cutting it is the incentive that costs nothing.
- A named navigator turns a complaint into a relationship.
- The guide answers the same ten questions so staff do not have to.
How do you start a business one-stop?
- Map the steps for your three most common business types: restaurant, retail, home-based.
- Write the guide in plain language, with names and phone numbers.
- Name the navigator, and put their number on the guide.
- Offer a pre-application meeting for anyone building out a space.
- Track time to open and report it.
Texas examples
- City of El Paso, One-Stop Shop business licensing
- Office of the Texas Governor, Business Permit Office (state-level clearinghouse, free)
What to watch out for
- The guide goes stale fast. Put a review date on it and update it twice a year.
Pair it with: the newsletter. Every new permit holder gets the guide and a subscription.
Questions directors ask
What does the State of Texas offer?
The Texas Business Permit Office is a free clearinghouse for state-level permit and license questions.
What goes in a small-city guide?
Every step for the three most common business types (restaurant, retail, home-based), with names, phone numbers and a review date.
How does this help retention?
Permitting is a common complaint in BRE visits. Cutting the time it takes to open or expand is an incentive that costs nothing.