//Fullerton, California

How to start a business in Fullerton.

Fullerton pairs a walkable historic downtown with a big student population and a deep manufacturing and medical base. Here is the practical sequence to register, license, and open, with the official links and where to get free help.

Starting a business in Fullerton? The official steps and source links are below.

Already operating or launching with budget in place? You can also

Fullerton is one of North Orange County's most distinct markets. Cal State Fullerton and Fullerton College put tens of thousands of students and staff in the city, the SOCO and downtown district draws a nightlife and dining crowd from across the county, and a long manufacturing and aerospace heritage still anchors a serious professional and medical base around St. Jude. The Fullerton train station makes it one of the easier OC cities to reach without a car.

That mix means your customer could be a student, a downtown regular, or a decision maker at an established firm, and each finds you differently. Getting open cleanly, with the right registration and permits, is the first step. Getting found afterward is the second. This guide covers the first in detail, then points you to the second at the end.

//The sequence

How to start a business in Fullerton, step by step.

Fullerton calls its business license a Business Registration Certificate. Here is the full order, including the county and state pieces the city process assumes you already know.

1
Confirm your location works before you sign
Fullerton routes commercial locations to the right departments for approval, which can add time, and home occupation businesses need zoning review. If you plan to sell food or alcohol, offer live entertainment, tattooing, automotive or adult uses, run a school, tutoring, martial arts or a gym, or open a place of assembly or religious institution, call Planning at (714) 738-6559 before you apply.
City of Fullerton: Business Registration
2
Register the business and the name
Form an LLC or corporation with the California Secretary of State through bizfile Online, or stay a sole proprietor. If you use a name that is not your legal name, file a fictitious business name (DBA) statement with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder within 40 days of starting business. It costs $23 for one name. The first newspaper publication must run within 45 days of filing or the statement expires, then it runs once a week for four weeks and you file the affidavit of publication.
CA Secretary of State: bizfile Online Orange County Clerk-Recorder: Fictitious Business Name
3
Get your free EIN and any seller's permit
The IRS says you generally need an EIN to hire employees or to operate a partnership or corporation. It issues the number online, immediately if approved, and never charges for it. If you sell or lease goods that would ordinarily be subject to sales tax, you also need a seller's permit from the CDTFA, which does not charge for it but may ask for a security deposit.
IRS: Get an EIN CDTFA: Seller's permit
4
Get your Fullerton Business Registration Certificate
Anyone doing business in Fullerton, or keeping a place or base of operations there, needs a Business Registration Certificate before starting (Municipal Code Chapter 4), and each branch or location may need its own. Register, renew or pay online, or send the application by email, mail or in person to the Business Registration Division, 303 W. Commonwealth Ave. Some types cannot apply online, including nonprofits, hotels and motels, massage businesses, rideshare companies and rental property owners. Questions: (714) 738-6531.
City of Fullerton: Business Registration
5
Pull any industry permits
If you sell or serve food: Every food facility needs a health permit from Orange County Environmental Health before it opens, and a new or remodeled facility needs written plan approval before construction. The first plan review usually takes 20 working days. Permits are not transferable, so a new owner needs a new permit. For other permits, GO-Biz offers permitting and regulatory help for any size company.
OC Environmental Health: Food Facility Health Permit GO-Biz: Permit & Regulatory Assistance
6
Check the $800 California tax rules for your entity
Every California LLC owes the $800 annual tax, even in a year it does no business, until it is cancelled. Corporations owe an $800 minimum franchise tax, but newly incorporated or qualified corporations do not pay it in their first taxable year.
Franchise Tax Board: LLC $800 annual tax Franchise Tax Board: Corporation minimum tax
7
Use the free help that already exists
The Orange County Inland Empire SBDC offers no-cost help for entrepreneurs across Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Use it before you pay a consultant.
Orange County Inland Empire SBDC (free advising)

//Free Fullerton checklist

Take the steps with you.

Get the Fullerton business checklist with the city, county, state and federal source links in one place, plus the licensing office for every city in Orange County. We keep the source page dated so you can see when it was last checked.

//Common questions

Things we get asked first.

Do I need a business license in Fullerton?

Yes. Fullerton calls it a Business Registration Certificate. Anyone doing business in Fullerton, or keeping a place or base of operations there, needs one before starting, and each branch or location may need its own.

Source: City of Fullerton, Business Registration

How do I open a restaurant or bar in Fullerton?

Call Fullerton Planning at (714) 738-6559 before you apply, because the city asks anyone planning to sell food or alcohol to check with Planning first. Every food facility also needs a health permit from Orange County Environmental Health, and a new or remodeled facility needs written plan approval before construction; the first review usually takes 20 working days.

Source: City of Fullerton, Business Registration

Can I run a business from my home in Fullerton?

Yes, with a Business Registration Certificate. Home occupation businesses need zoning review as part of the application.

Source: City of Fullerton, Business Registration

How do I apply for a Fullerton Business Registration?

Register, renew or pay online, or send the application by email, mail or in person to the Business Registration Division, 303 W. Commonwealth Ave. Nonprofits, hotels and motels, massage businesses, rideshare companies and rental property owners cannot apply online. Questions: (714) 738-6531.

Source: City of Fullerton, Business Registration

How do I register a business name in Orange County?

If you use a name that is not your legal name, file a fictitious business name (DBA) statement with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder within 40 days of starting business. It costs $23 for one name. The first newspaper publication must run within 45 days of filing or the statement expires, then it runs once a week for four weeks and you file the affidavit of publication.

Source: Orange County Clerk-Recorder, Fictitious Business Name

Where can I get free help starting my business?

The Orange County Inland Empire SBDC offers no-cost help for entrepreneurs across Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Use it before you pay a consultant.

Source: Orange County Inland Empire SBDC

//Already operating?

The marketing question starts after the filing question.

If the business is already open, or the launch is funded, tell our founders what you want to change. We will look at the business before recommending SEO, paid media, the website or anything else.

For operating businesses and funded launches with budget available to act on the plan.

//Bookmark these

Official Fullerton, Orange County, and California resources.

Every link here goes straight to a government or nonprofit source. These are the agencies that actually issue your registrations and permits, so go to them directly rather than a paid middleman.

City of Fullerton: Business Registration
A Business Registration Certificate is required before you start. Apply online, or by email, mail or in person at City Hall. (714) 738-6531.
County of Orange: Apply for a Business License
The county's links to the business license office of each of Orange County's 34 cities.
County of Orange: Starting a Business
The county lists no general business license for unincorporated areas and points those businesses to the fictitious business name filing.
Orange County Clerk-Recorder: Fictitious Business Name
$23 for one name, plus $7 for each additional name and each registrant after two. The first publication must run within 45 days of filing or the statement expires.
OC Environmental Health: Food Facility Health Permit
Needed by every food facility, from restaurants and markets to carts and event booths. Small displays of prepackaged food only register. (714) 433-6000.
Orange County Assessor: Business Property Statement
Form 571-L is due April 1 if your business equipment cost more than $100,000 in total or the Assessor asks. A 10% penalty applies after May 7. (714) 834-2930.
OC Development Services
Zoning and building for businesses in unincorporated Orange County.
Orange County Inland Empire SBDC (free advising)
No-cost help for entrepreneurs across Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. (800) 616-7232.
CA Secretary of State: bizfile Online
Where LLCs and corporations file with the California Secretary of State.
IRS: Get an EIN
Your federal tax ID. Apply online and, if approved, the number is issued immediately. The IRS never charges a fee for an EIN.
CDTFA: Seller's permit
Required if you sell or lease goods that would ordinarily be subject to sales tax. The CDTFA does not charge for it, though it may ask for a security deposit.
Franchise Tax Board: LLC $800 annual tax
Every LLC doing business or organized in California owes the $800 annual tax, even in a year it does no business, until the LLC is cancelled.
Franchise Tax Board: Corporation minimum tax
Corporations owe an $800 minimum franchise tax, but newly incorporated or qualified corporations do not pay it in their first taxable year.
GO-Biz: Permit & Regulatory Assistance
The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development says it will assist any size company with permitting and regulatory questions.