The great city of Irvine is practically the “commercial capital” of Orange County California.  Irvine is located right nearby the shoreline of Southern California, nearby Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Santa Ana (the County Seat) where the weather is cooler (at compared to the desert of the Inland Empire).  Irvine was chosen in 2012 by CNNMoney.com as the sixth best place to live in the United States.   In September 2011, Business week listed Irvine as the 5th best city in the United States.

Irvine is very business friendly (compared to the rest of California), but any new business that wants to start here in Irvine must bear in mind that certain things need to be accomplished:

1.  Firstly, of course what type or legal form of business that you want to be (e.g. a simple sole-proprietorship, an LLC, a C-Corporation, or even an S-Corporation).  If you are not sure which of these options are good for your proposed business, please contact us or call us at 949-756-8494, we will help you to decide with a free consultation no strings attached.  https://www.kayatax.com/contact-us

2.  Secondly, once you figure out what type or legal form your business is, then you have to formally register your business, at least with the City of Irvine by obtaining a business license, within 60 days from the date you start conducting your business, and of course there is a filing fee.  However the City government is so business-friendly that it fixes at a flat rate of $51.  Other cities throughout California would substantially charge more; based on the line of business you are in.  This is an annual business license, which must be renewed every year.

3.  If you need an “alternative” name of your business, such as “doing business as” (a.k.a. dba), you need to file such dba with Orange County, which is for a five-year term. If you think your business needs such a dba then other steps need to be done. These steps can be done by yourself or we can help you accomplished them.

Those are the minimum three steps in establishing a business; forming it legally (if necessary); register it with the City of Irvine, at very low fee, and if you believe you need it, file a “dba” with Orange County.  Of course you have to take into consideration the tax consequences of the legal type of business, which shall be addressed in a future blog.