website, trademark, licensingI am an individual and want to make a match-making website as I am also a developer. I want to host that website online and let people use it, promoting it through Facebook and general friend circle. However along with that I am also planning on launching counselling services and helplines on the same website which will not cost user anything except for a phone call fee that he will pay to his provider in case required. Services I am thinking might require user to share certain personal information like his personal details and stuff. Do I need any kind of license or need to be a registered business in order to launch it ?
In practice you probably don’t need any specific license beyond incorporating your business - which you should do anyway. At least not until you hit the stage where you’re on any regulator’s radar.
The sorrier realities of theory kick in when you grow bigger: you need to take a few administrative steps in countries that care about privacy and have laws to that effect. Count EU countries among the latter. In particular France, where you’d need to register your list to the CNIL and comply with French privacy laws. (Failing to do so can land you in jail with a €300k fine.) Companies are for the most part not compliant, of course, so don’t fuss too much about it. But have it in mind for when you grow big and are expanding in areas where privacy laws might actually matter.
There might also be some specific requirements depending on what activity you’re doing - e.g. you can’t set up shop saying “I’m a Doctor” without having an MD. Think of it this way: if you need some kind of special license or registration to operate offline in your country, you’ll need to go through the same in order to operate online.
Lastly, and based on the tags you used: no, you don’t need to register a pricey trademark upon setting up shop. That can - and should - wait until you’ve a modicum of traction and can afford it.
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