Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004130786
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Compton, a business license inspector, said about one-third of the new businesses she encounters are at-home occupations, including people making the craft jewelry that is so popular at area shops.
Philip Shorter is one of the county's "at-home" businesses. Shorter got a business license last August to hang drapes, pictures and blinds.
It was the type of work he had done all of his life, but most of the time he worked for someone else. When he retired, he went to work for himself and now gets jobs from several designers. He works only through design firms and only often enough to stay under the limit he is allowed to make at 65.
He said he is trying to "hold the work down," but it is something he wanted to do to keep busy.
"I can do my own thing and I got all my time occupied," Shorter said.
Though there are plenty of the home businesses scattered among the city and county licenses, the contracting businesses probably dominate.
Compton said they make up a big chunk of new licenses for the county and account for a sizable number of the 3,600 licenses on file.
Contractors also play a prominent role among Roanoke's 4,465 registered businesses. There are 655 contractor licenses on file in the office of Jerome Howard, commissioner of revenue.
Both the city and county license-issuing offices are quick to point out that business licenses in Virginia are for the purpose of generating revenue, not for regulation of businesses.
A lot of people have a misconception about the licenses and think that if a business has registered, it means that business meets certain operating qualifications, said Compton.
"It simply means the business is complying with the license law," she said.
License costs are based on gross receipts, or anticipated gross receipts.
Compton said the county sorts its businesses into large categories, such as retail and business services, and tucked into those categories are people like Philip Shorter.
Roanoke breaks them into smaller groups that include categories of tailor, taxicab and junk dealer, but there also are broad groups, such as retail (1,472 businesses).
They are eight tailors, one taxi company and one junk dealer registered in the city along with 11 interior decorators, one pool hall, 11 carpet cleaners, one dance hall and 28 photographers.
The largest categories in addition to retail and contractors are real estate salespeople, repair businesses, personal/business services, doctors, wholesale merchants, lawyers, beauty shops and beer and wine sellers.
by CNB