California is home to many new startups every year. If you’re one of these fearless entrepreneurs, one of the first questions you may have about your startup is what permits you need to legally operate. The reality is that it depends on the types of products and services that you offer.
A look at your industry
During the business formation and planning stage, you’ll need to determine what permits you need. As a general rule of thumb, industries that require some sort of special training are required to have a license. These include health care companies, insurance brokers and beautician shops. Industries that don’t require special training typically do not need a license to operate. A good example of one of these is consulting.
There are certain industries where you may need to acquire particular types of permits and licenses. For example, if you are selling food, you’ll need to have a permit from the health department to do so. There are many different types of industry-specific permits and licenses. It’s a good idea to contact a lawyer to assist you with determining just what specific permits or licenses that your business may need to operate legally.
A look at tax information
Apart from having general licenses to operate, you’ll need to record the revenue of your business each year. This may require you to get a federal tax identification number from the IRS. All business entities other than a sole proprietorship are required to have a federal tax identification number. Even if you have a sole proprietorship, you may apply for an EIN number so that you don’t have to put your own Social Security number on many different tax documents.
Getting your business underway requires a lot of diligent research and effort. It’s a good idea to consult a business law attorney when it comes to questions regarding licenses and permits.