Built for businesses like yours

Opening a restaurant in Austin requires 12 to 16 different permits from 5 or more government agencies. Each has different renewal dates, different fees, and different consequences for non-compliance.

Most small business owners track these in a spreadsheet — if they track them at all. The result? Fines that can reach thousands of dollars, forced closures, and the constant anxiety of not knowing if something slipped through the cracks.

51% of small business owners say permits and licensing hinder their growth. Not because the permits aren't necessary — but because the system is needlessly complex.

Our approach

PermitDashboard aggregates permit data from official state and municipal sources, gives you a personalized checklist, tracks your deadlines, and reminds you before anything expires. All your permits, all your deadlines, one dashboard.

We believe in what we call "gracious business" — being genuinely helpful rather than artificially engaging. That means:

• Transparent pricing. Free checklist for everyone. One-time $49 Playbook when you need the full action plan.
• No dark patterns. No countdown timers. No guilt trips. No confusing cancellation flows.
• Honest about limitations. When data is unverified, we say so. Accuracy matters more than confidence.
• Value before gates. Permit Finder runs without requiring an account. You see what you need before we ask for anything.

Who built this

I'm Bryan, and I've spent over 25 years designing software — including stints at Microsoft and Indeed — with one consistent throughline: making complex systems understandable for the people who actually have to use them.

I also run small businesses myself. Which means I've sat in the same chair you're sitting in right now — staring at a government website at 11pm, trying to figure out whether I need a state license, a local permit, or both, and what happens if I get it wrong.

PermitDashboard exists because I got tired of watching good people with good ideas get tripped up by bureaucratic complexity that has nothing to do with whether their business deserves to succeed. The permit system isn't designed to help you navigate it. So I built something that is.

This isn't a venture-backed startup optimizing for growth metrics. It's an independently owned product built to solve a real problem and stay useful. That "gracious business" philosophy above isn't a marketing angle — it's how I run everything I build. I'd rather have fewer customers who trust me than more customers I've tricked into clicking something.

If you have questions, feedback, or just want to tell me about your business, I'm genuinely reachable at the contact page.

Our data

Permit requirements are sourced from official state and municipal websites. Every data point is attributed to its source with a verification date. We cover all 50 US states with over 1,000 permit types across 500+ jurisdictions.

We don't guess. If we can't verify a permit requirement from an official source, we flag it as unverified rather than presenting it as fact. Incorrect permit information can have legal consequences — we take that seriously.