Discussion on:

iOS Developer Program application headaches and tips

Pros/Cons to individual vs. company?

What business (small or large) doesn't have a fax machine? If you have a printer, then you should have an All -in-1 . . . printer, fax, copier & scanner. A no-brainer. And all businesses should have a business license, no matter how small the county is.

I know LOTS of businesses (including mine) that do not have fax machines. Why should they get a phone line installed (money), turned on (money), and buy a fax machine (money) all too send 1 - 5 pages of fax a year? That's how many faxes I send in a year... and I should spend hundreds of dollars a year just to send 1 - 5 PAGES? No thanks, I'll just head out to Staples on the rare occasion when it comes up.

Regarding business licenses, you are mistaken. The issue isn't the "size of the county", the issue is that the county does not issue business licenses, only the municipality. And in many places of the country, there is a lot of area that is not formally in the municipality, and as a result their rules do not apply. For example, my mailing address is in "Lexington" South Carolina, but town limits cover something like a 5 mile square... meanwhile, "Lexington" covers probably 8 x 8. That leaves a ton of area outside city limits. All sorts of rules and laws are different. If I dial 911, Lexington city police will NOT respond, I get the county sheriff. Town of Lexington forbids the discharge of firearms... I could set up a shooting range in my backyard if I wanted to, so long as no one complained about the noise. Etc.

And along with that, is that while the Town of Lexington issues business licenses, the County doesn't, and there is no possible way for me to get a business license.

So yes, these are headaches... unless I relocate my office into the Town of Lexington to get a business license (which has never come up until now) and spend hundreds of dollars on phone lines just to send faxes...

J.Ja

wow. I guess I am mistaken. Even in my small rural county, they issued business licenses. Didn't know it could be more country than that.

I am on the same boat to get to the land of iOS developer membership as a small business. I just recently got my certified copy of business corporation (mine is New York). I was expecting a copy with embossed NY state sealed, but it was just a paper copy in blank ink. I had to pay 25$ for each copy. Anyway, I faxed it to Apple and they accepted it, but now they are asking me to send company letter, verification of address and ownership with my name on it. It is a HEADACHE. I just started a small IT business venturing out to the development of mobile apps. I feel as instead of Apple is helping small companies in United States, it is making more difficult. I wonder how businesses from other countries get membership approval (especially from China) and how they could get pass through legal verification process. I wish they have a single point verification system or paperless that will smooth the process and help to grow small company like mine in US market. I don't think they care. By the way, it's been more than two months now.

Does signing up as an individual mean your assets are on the line if something goes wrong? Is that why you did corporate?

My enrollment took about 5 months. I had to sign up a government entity - there is no "certificate of formation" or anything like that. We had to submit tax exempt documentation too. I had to submit a letter signed by legal representation stating that we wanted to enroll in the program. And EVERY time I faxed something they seemed to ignore it until I finally got tired of waiting and called them. Then they'd find my fax buried in some list from weeks before. It was seriously a nightmare.