Questions about starting a business (help!)
 

A friend of mine has his own carpet cleaning machine and has been doing small side jobs around our state for the past few years. I have helped him on occasion and we are talking about ways we can go out and make more money doing this. I've been thinking of making a website, putting ads in newspapers and distrubuting flyers. Also I'm going to get some T-shirts made to give a more professional look and setup a cell phone line and e-mail address to use just for our business. We don't need any start up money because we only need to cover the cost of soap and gasoline. The questions I have is, are we doing anything illegal by not being registered with any government agencies? I don't see us needing any outside help as far as money goes, so whats the next step?

Depends on the area. You'll at least need a tax ID, probably a contractor's license of some type for the cleaning, and you'll want insurance. Check with state & local to find out which are necessary. Get insurance regardless.

I would check out some local rescources myself. Library is a good place to start. A local branch of the BBB would probably be helpfull too.

A caution: the carpet cleaning machine may not stand up to regular intense use as well as it has to more casual use.