naturally, some of these are specific to the type of business you own. websites such as business.gov and sba.gov provide information on the licenses and permits specific to different types of businesses, and where they’re located. a general state business license is not required in texas, but many personal service businesses are state-regulated. most businesses require a county or city business license to operate in the area legally. you must file a dba for every business with the county clerk in the county where the business is located. without a dba, the business is registered in the names of the partners; many business partnerships prefer to declare the business name using a title other than the names of the individual partners.