In the state of California, does one need a license of any kind to do
garden design and consultation, or can this be done without a license?
 No actual physical labor or ground breaking would take place. The
service would only provide design ideas and general garden info to the
consumer.  It would be a single person enterprise.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 14 Aug 2003 09:57 PDT

It may depend on where you are located/based (city and county).

regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by nerv-ga on 14 Aug 2003 11:16 PDT

I live in Whittier, which is in Los Angeles County, CA.

I contacted CalGOLD (http://www.calgold.ca.gov/) on your behalf, a
government website which provides information on all types of business
permits required in the State of California. Here was their response:

"You would need a basic city Business License, as well as, either a
Fictitious Name Filing from the Co. if you plan to use a name other
than your own for the business (i.e. Nerv's Lawn Design vs. Happy
People's Lawn Design), or you would need to file your Name (even if
it's your own) with the Secretary of State's office if you plan to be
anything other than a sole-proprietor (i.e. corporation, enterprise,
partnership, etc.)"

So yes, even though your business would be relatively small, you do in
fact need a license. To obtain a business license, you can contact:

Office of Business Licensing
13230 Penn Street
Whitter, CA 90602
562-4643410

This address was obtained from the link below. Where you can also view
other permits which don't necessarily apply to you at this point, but
will be a good thing to have a knowledge of if you ever decide to
expand your business.
http://www.calgold.ca.gov/Results1.asp?TYPE=541620&TYPE=561730&CNTY=19&CITY=302

As stated above, if you plan on using a name other than your own for
the business, you will need to do what is called a Fictitious Name
Filing. More information can be found here:

http://regrec.co.la.ca.us/clerk/naming.htm

I hope this information is of help to you. Thanks for the question.


Search Strategy:

california business license

Thanks for the answer directrix-ga.  It's just what I needed!  I
appreciate your help.