Ownership & License Rules by Industry
Every Industry
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| Guide | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting (CPA firms) | Licensed CPA firms performing attest work must keep majority CPA ownership in nearly every state. | Non-CPAs buy non-attest practices (bookkeeping, most tax prep) or partner with a CPA majority owner. | Accounting (CPA firms) Guide |
| Bakery | A bakery is usually permitted as a retail food establishment, and falls to the restaurant regulator instead where it serves for immediate consumption. | Establish which regulator permits it, because the class decides the inspection regime, the fee, and which revenue lines an exempt home kitchen may compete for. | Bakery Guide |
| Barbershop | Barbering is frequently a separate board from cosmetology, with its own shop license, its own inspection, and its own list of permitted services. | The shop license commonly reissues in the buyer's name at a transfer fee, so confirm which board issued it and price only a service mix that license covers. | Barbershop Guide |
| Childcare | State licenses set capacity through space and staff-ratio rules; director qualifications are often license-critical. | Director retention treated as a closing condition; read the license and floor plan together. | Childcare Guide |
| Coffee Shop | The premises is licensed by the food regulator, and states commonly require a certified manager plus trained employees within set deadlines. | Food service licenses commonly transfer with neither owner nor address, so the buyer must hold one before opening rather than after closing. | Coffee Shop Guide |
| Dental | Most states restrict practice ownership to licensed dentists; the license never transfers. | Non-dentists use management-company (DSO-style) structures with specialist counsel, or partner with a dentist owner. | Dental Guide |
| Dry Cleaner | No personal credential exists in the trade; the plant registers with the environmental regulator, commonly jointly with the owner of the real property. | Bring the landlord into the registration and the environmental review before the lease assignment is negotiated, not after. | Dry Cleaner Guide |
| Electrical | Most states require a master electrician to pull permits and supervise work. | Non-owner masters are the scarce asset; retention agreements are part of the deal. | Electrical Guide |
| Fencing | Fence installation falls under general or specialty contractor licensing where a state requires it, commonly above a project-value threshold; requirements vary widely. | Verify the contractor license class for the states and job sizes worked, and whether it transfers or must be re-earned. | Fencing Guide |
| Flower Shop | No practitioner license gates the trade, and where a permit exists it is a per location sales permit that may not be gated behind an exam. | Price free entry as a competitive fact: the defensible assets are standing orders and referral relationships, never the permit. | Flower Shop Guide |
| Funeral Homes | Most states require a licensed funeral director of record on staff; the license is personal to the individual, not the company. | Retain the selling director or employ a licensed one; the director of record must be in place at closing. | Funeral Homes Guide |
| Hair Salon | Anyone may own a salon, but the salon itself is licensed and every person performing services holds a personal credential. | The salon license commonly cannot pass to a buyer even though it may move address, so apply in your own name early and retain the licensed staff. | Hair Salon Guide |
| Handyman | States cap unlicensed work by job size, and the caps move: California raised its ceiling from $500 to $1,000 at the start of 2026 and Florida's casual-work line is $2,500, with the licensed trades carved out at any price. | Confirm the average ticket clears the state's cap, or hold the contractor license the book actually requires. | Handyman Guide |
| Home Care | States license home-care agencies; Medicaid personal care adds federal visit-verification requirements. | Confirm every state license matches services delivered; W-2 caregiver models are what buyers and lenders expect. | Home Care Guide |
| HVAC | Most states require a licensed qualifier to hold the contractor license the business operates under. | Employ or retain a qualifying license holder; buyer licensure timelines vary by state. | HVAC Guide |
| Liquor Stores | Sales require a state or local license; quota jurisdictions cap license counts and transfers need regulatory approval. | License transfer is a closing condition with a months-long timeline in many jurisdictions; verify class and violations history. | Liquor Stores Guide |
| Locksmith | A meaningful minority of states license locksmiths, and commercial accounts often require bonding and background-checked technicians. | Hold or hire the license where required; settle the license question in writing before closing. | Locksmith Guide |
| Med Spas | Corporate-practice-of-medicine rules in many states restrict non-physician ownership of medical services. | Management services organization (MSO) split: physician-owned clinical entity, buyer-owned operations. | Med Spas Guide |
| Moving | Interstate moves require federal operating authority; many states license intrastate movers separately. | Authority and insurance filings must transfer or be re-established cleanly at close. | Moving Guide |
| Optometry | A handful of states, including New York and Texas, restrict non-optometrist ownership of a practice under corporate-practice doctrines; most do not. | In restricted states, a management services organization separates the business you own from the licensed clinical entity; confirm the rule state by state. | Optometry Guide |
| Painting | Many states license painting above a project-value threshold and some separate residential from commercial work, but Florida went the other way and bars a local government from requiring any painting license at all. | Employ or retain a qualifying license holder where the state requires one; confirm the thresholds and classes for the work actually done. | Painting Guide |
| Pest Control | Applicator and certified-operator credentials are issued to individuals and do not transfer with the company. | Retain licensed technicians and the certified operator; map every license before close. | Pest Control Guide |
| Pharmacy | North Dakota alone requires majority pharmacist ownership; every state requires a licensed pharmacist-in-charge on the permit. | Non-pharmacist buyers keep a compliant pharmacist-in-charge and, in North Dakota, a pharmacist-majority structure or a different state. | Pharmacy Guide |
| Plumbing | A master plumber typically must qualify the business; the license is personal, not corporate. | Retain the selling master or employ another; confirm transferability rules in your state. | Plumbing Guide |
| Property Management | Most states require a real estate broker's license to manage property for a fee, with a few exceptions. | Retain the selling broker, employ a qualifying broker, or get licensed on a realistic timeline. | Property Management Guide |
Method & Source
Each row restates what that trade's own buying guide verified, and the guide is where the source sits. Most trades with a guide carry no rule here. A trade that is not on this list has nothing recorded on this page, which is not the same as having no rule: check its guide first, since a license requirement is stated there before it is summarized here.
Rows summarize the pattern across states rather than any one state's rule. Before an offer, verify the current rule in your target state with licensing counsel: these regimes change, and the structures that satisfy them are state-specific legal work.