Listing your business: the application

Listing your business on LocalFor.Me takes a single short wizard. Your progress is saved as a draft as you go, so you can stop at any step and pick it back up later from Apply.

We're also rolling out a guided store wizard: the "Start the store wizard" buttons on the Why sell on LocalFor.Me page (and in the strip at the bottom of the home page) open a friendly welcome page, walk you through these same steps with a fuller progress bar, and then — right after you submit — let you add your first products (name, price, photo) so your shop is stocked the moment it's approved. Same application, same steps; just more hand-holding.

The five steps

A progress bar at the top of every page shows where you are:

1. Basics — your business name, web address, description, contact details and (optionally) a company registry number. Every new listing is a storefront — you sell through LocalFor.Me; there's nothing to choose here.
2. Categories — pick every subcategory that fits what you sell or do.
3. Location — your primary address and postcode, which we put on the map.
4. Photos — optional logo and cover image. (Verification documents aren't collected here any more — add them later from Manage → Edit → Verification if you want the Verified badge.)
5. Review — a final summary, then Submit application.

You can move ← back and forward freely, and every section on the review page has an Edit link that jumps you straight to the relevant step.

Choosing your web address (the slug)

On the Basics step you choose Your URL — the bit after localfor.me/b/. For example, localfor.me/b/joes-bakery.

• It's auto-suggested from your business name as you type, so you usually don't need to touch it.
• You can override it. Use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes only, at least three characters.
• As you type, a live indicator shows Available, Taken, or a hint such as 3+ chars or a–z, 0–9, dashes if the format isn't valid.

Tip: keep it short and memorable — this is the link you'll share on social media, flyers and your shopfront. Once your listing is approved the web address is fixed, because changing it would break customer bookmarks and search results, so choose carefully now.

What you need before you start

• The name, description and a contact phone number (these three are required to submit).
• At least one category.
• Your business postcode (UK or Isle of Man).

Everything else — images, documents, website link, VAT and registry numbers — is optional and can be added later from your business settings.

After you submit

Your application goes into our review queue and we'll email you when there's a decision, usually within a few business days. While you wait you can already start adding items and shop sections — see the After you apply article.