//Westminster, California

How to start a business in Westminster.

Westminster is the heart of Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam, and a dense small-business economy. Here is the practical sequence to register, license, and open, with the official links and where to get free help.

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

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

Westminster sits in central Orange County, and its Little Saigon district along Bolsa Avenue is a destination in its own right. The Asian Garden Mall, known to locals as Phuoc Loc Tho, anchors blocks of family-run restaurants, jewelers, herbalists, bakeries, and professional offices that draw Vietnamese American shoppers from across Southern California. It is an immigrant small-business economy at full volume, and a first-generation storefront can sit next to a second-generation firm that grew out of it.

That density means your customer might be a longtime neighbor who reads the local Vietnamese press, a weekend visitor searching in English on their phone, or a supplier three cities over. Each finds you differently. Getting open cleanly, with the right license 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 Westminster, step by step.

Westminster's business licenses run through HdL Companies, which administers them for the city. Here is the full order, including the county and state pieces the city assumes you already know.

1
Confirm your location works before you sign
Westminster asks a business at a non-residential location to file a Zoning Clearance Application, and a home business to file a Home Business Zoning Clearance Permit Application, so confirm your use is allowed at the address before you sign a lease.
City of Westminster: Business License
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 Westminster business license
Westminster's business licenses are administered by HdL Companies. Apply, renew and pay online at westminster.hdlgov.com, and submit every form there: the standard application, a contractor application, a home business application, and the zoning clearance for your location. Leasing out property counts as a business: commercial property, or more than 3 residential units, needs a license. Help: Westminster@HdLGov.com or (657) 622-0222, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
City of Westminster: Business License
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 Westminster checklist

Take the steps with you.

Get the Westminster 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.

How do I get a business license in Westminster?

Westminster's business licenses are administered by HdL Companies for the city. Apply, renew and pay online at westminster.hdlgov.com and submit every form there, including the zoning clearance for your location. Help: Westminster@HdLGov.com or (657) 622-0222.

Source: City of Westminster, Business License

Can I run a business from my home in Westminster?

Yes, through the home business application, filed with a Home Business Zoning Clearance Permit Application on the HdL portal.

Source: City of Westminster, Business License

Do I need a license to lease out property in Westminster?

Yes, if you lease out commercial property or more than 3 residential units. The city counts leasing property as a business.

Source: City of Westminster, Business License

How do I open a restaurant in Westminster?

Beyond the Westminster business license, every food facility needs a health permit from Orange County Environmental Health. A new or remodeled facility needs written plan approval before construction, with 3 sets of plans, and the first review usually takes 20 working days. Preliminary and final inspections come at 80% and 100% completion, and the permit is issued after the final inspection.

Source: OC Health Care Agency, Food Facility Health Permit

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 Westminster, 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 Westminster: Business License
Administered by HdL Companies for the city. Apply, renew and pay online, with a zoning clearance for your location. Westminster@HdLGov.com, (657) 622-0222.
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.