Step by step. Official links included.
This is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Read the official pages linked here. Partner offers are optional and labeled.
Pick the machines you already know how to finish and can get parts for. Refrigerators and washers are a common pair. Add ranges and dishwashers when the parts source is real. Leave gas lines and sealed-system work off the page until you are trained and insured for them. In Georgia the first customers are in Atlanta. New households arrive with a broken fridge and no one to call.
Georgia summers are humid, pollen is heavy, and ice storms are rare but hard on trees. Crawl spaces and red clay are common outside the newest slabs. Confirm the state licensing division and the city permit counter separately.
We could not confirm a direct filing address for Georgia. Open the SBA: state registration lookup and choose this state. We do not have a filing fee for Georgia that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Georgia, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
Some boxes are labeled Partner. ServiceBase has not joined those programs. The links go to each company's own homepage, not a tracking link. If a program later approves us, the address will change and we may earn a commission. You can file, insure, and bank anywhere. Official government links are not partner links. Nothing on this page is a discount code.
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The guide stays public. An account saves your state, city, and trade, and lets you mark each filing as you go. The advertising credit is reserved when you register. It can be spent after the free website is live.
Create a free account to track your progressUse a name that says repair, so a person with a dead fridge can tell you from a store that only sells new machines. Search the state filing office and the city. The name on the invoice and the voicemail should match. Keep it short enough to spell in a text.
Search that name at the SBA: state registration lookup before you print shirts. Use the same spelling on the truck and on a quote in Atlanta.
Many one-van repair routes start as a sole proprietorship. An LLC is a reasonable filing once you are taking deposits on parts or sending someone else into houses. The filing does not decide whether the city wants a business license, and it does not let you repair gas lines or panels. Read those separately. This page is not legal advice.
We do not have a filing fee for Georgia that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Georgia, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
An employer identification number is the business tax ID. The IRS issues it online at no charge and says you never have to pay a company to get one. If you form an LLC, file with the state first. The IRS says an EIN application can stall when the state filing is not done. A sole proprietor can often start with a Social Security number and get an EIN when a bank or a hire requires it.
Apply on the IRS page if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner beside this step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero either way.
Georgia licenses residential and general contractors through the Secretary of State. We could not load that licensing page from here, so this page does not guess the address. Use the SBA lookup, then the Secretary of State licensing division, and confirm the URL before you apply.
Read the contractor board far enough to see whether appliance repair, gas, or a small-job threshold is on it. Then get the city business license. Do not advertise panel, gas-line, or HVAC work unless you hold that license.
A city or county can require its own registration even when the state page is quiet. The city guides name the local permit counter. Call that office and write down what they say. Do not pay a third party that promises a license until you have read the official page.
General liability before you pull a machine out of a cabinet. Water damage from a dishwasher and a scratched floor are the ordinary claims. Tell the insurer you repair appliances in homes. Commercial auto if the van is how you work. Workers' compensation before a second person is lifting a fridge. Ask. Do not copy a headcount from another state.
Workers' compensation is a state program. Before anyone works with you, including a friend, ask an insurer and the state labor office whether you must carry it. This guide does not quote a headcount, because those rules differ and the state page is the source. The SBA page describes the common policies. It does not sell them. Buy the policy before you work in a house in Georgia.
Parts orders and the small repair tickets both go in a business account. A part you bought for a job that cancelled is easier to see when it did not hit a personal card. Set tax money aside the day a larger repair pays.
The bank will usually ask for your ID, the EIN or your Social Security number, and the formation papers if you filed an LLC. A checking account and a habit of setting tax money aside are enough at the start.
Write a diagnostic price and a clear rule for parts. The diagnostic covers the visit and the answer. The repair is quoted after you know the part and the labor. Say whether the diagnostic is waived if they approve the repair. Do not invent that policy in the kitchen.
A stacked laundry and a first-floor laundry room are different hours. Condos add access time. Price the city you are actually in. A national 'from' price for a refrigerator repair will be wrong.
Atlanta: humid heat, pollen season, pine debris, and ice storms that are rare but hard on trees and lines The machines you stock parts for, and a clear no on HVAC and panels. In Atlanta, GA, list Decatur and Sandy Springs together only if one crew really covers both.
Google Business Profile with the machines you repair and the cities you drive. Reviews should name the machine and the neighborhood. The website lists those machines, the brands you can get parts for, and the work you refer. The form asks for the symptom and the access. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps the requests. It does not stock the parts.
In Atlanta, the profile, the reviews, and the site should name the neighborhoods you actually drive. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps quote requests in a list on your account. No card. It does not file the LLC, get the EIN, or buy the insurance.
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Signup asks for an email and a password. No card. This guide opens the next step with the trade filled in. You can change every line after.
We do not have a filing fee for Georgia that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Georgia, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
Georgia licenses residential and general contractors through the Secretary of State. We could not load that licensing page from here, so this page does not guess the address. Use the SBA lookup, then the Secretary of State licensing division, and confirm the URL before you apply. Read the contractor board far enough to see whether appliance repair, gas, or a small-job threshold is on it. Then get the city business license. Do not advertise panel, gas-line, or HVAC work unless you hold that license.
Start where you can reach the stops in a day. The city guides cover Atlanta. Intown customers want a crew that can park and protect old floors. A statewide claim is a weak service area.
Yes. Use the IRS link in the steps if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner on the EIN step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero.
All appliance repair business steps · Appliance repair website guide
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