If you are opening a restaurant, club or local bar and you plan to serve alcohol to people on the premises, you will need to get a liquor license that allows it. The license if more of a way for the state to track who is selling liquor and to make sure people are following all the rules set forth with these sales. Many of the rules set forth by these agencies are in place to protect the public and the business owner, so take the time to look at them carefully before applying for your license.

What Do You Want To Serve?

When you apply for a liquor license, the regulating agency or state may want to know what you plan to serve. For a restaurant to serve only wine, for instance, the process for getting the license to do so may be much different than for the club owner that wants to serve beer, wine, and hard liquor. The state or local agency that oversees these sales is still going to go through all the steps to make sure you are okay to license, but the process may be a little different for different licenses.

Checking Your Personal Background

When you apply for the licenses you need to serve alcohol, you can be subject to a personal background investigation by the regulating agency. If you have ever been convicted of serving minors or violations of a previous license, you may be denied the license. Check with the liquor commission or board to see what events are disqualifiers before you put the time and money into a business that you may not be able to open if you don't get the license you need. If would not be good to pour your life savings into a business only to find out you cannot get the permits and licenses you need to operate it.

Inspecting The Property

The regulating agency may want to come out and inspect the property before they issue a license, even if you do pass their background investigation.  Be sure to check the regulations for your business to serve different types of alcohol. Storage, cleaning procedures, and storage may all be scrutinized, so take the time to go over all the stipulations in the rules before they arrive at your business. It is easier to do it right the first time than to have to keep correcting problems and rescheduling inspections with the inspector. And remember, some states or local authorities may limit the number of times they will come back out, so getting it done right is just a better solution.

To learn more about liquor licensing, contact a company like Arizona Liquor Industry Consultants.

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