Introduction
Do you want to start your own business in Hong Kong but are unsure of what licenses or permits you need to obtain to run your business legally in Hong Kong? The requirements and the processes to obtain the licenses can seem confusing, but look no further than this handy resource that we would like to introduce to you.
Business Licence Information Service by SUCCESS
SUCCESS (Support and Consultation Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises) by the Trade and Industry Department of the Government of Hong Kong provides a convenient website on which you can find all the basic information you need to identify the licenses you need to obtain.
The interactive website will ask you to provide answers to some short questions about your business operations and list out all the relevant licenses and permits that you should consider.
An Illustration – Opening a Take-out Restaurant in Hong Kong
To demonstrate how you can effectively use the Business Licence Information Service, we’ll make use of an imaginary example of a new take-out restaurant.
1. Select your industry
When you first enter the Business Licence Information Service website, You can select the categories that are the most relevant to your business by either conducting a keyword search or selecting the products and services that your business offers.
For our example of a take-out restaurant, we will select “Accommodation & Food Services” from the Services category.
2. Choose your business type
After selecting your industry, the form will ask you to narrow your selection. If several options seem to be relevant to your business, browse through the different choices to see what results are given to you – as the tool will suggest the licenses and permits you need to obtain per the selection you make. If you think that none of the provided options apply to your business, try choosing the most fitting one instead and/or contact the authority directly to gain further insight.
Once you have selected a business type, the website will ask you further questions about the business operation.
For our example of a take-out restaurant, we selected “Fast Food Shops, Take-Away only” as the business type and below is the question we are asked:
Select ALL boxes that apply to your business. In our example, we ticked the third box only – “Your business entity will operate as a company with limited liability in Hong Kong.”
3. Review the output
After you have gone through all the questions, the tool will return you the list of licenses you need to obtain to legally run your business in Hong Kong along with supplementary information such as the application forms, notes, and more.
Note that the output is summarized into three parts:
- Part A: Compulsory – what is legally required for you to obtain to run your business
- Part B: Additional – what you may need in addition to the licenses if you have not yet obtained the same (e.g. business registration, incorporation documents etc.)
- Part C: Other – what you may need based on situations and circumstances, including specific activities or ways of operation for your business.
More tips
- If this tool does not give you the answers that you were looking for, or should you need further clarification, we strongly recommend you to contact the respective authority directly to seek further advice.
- Make use of the files and links provided by the tool – review the application guides and also make use of the direct contact details of the most relevant party to reach out to if need be.
