Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: internet business

The type of license you seem to mean is issued at the city (or county) level, and so the rules as to which businesses must have one are local in nature. You would have to ask locally.

Nevertheless, my guess is that "Internet" is not a magic word that exempts a business from obtaining a license. It is only a means of communication and publicity, and no more authorizes a proprietor to escape regulations such as license laws than would, for example, use of telegraph or FAX or third-class mail. A business is a business.

Customers visiting your house or not may be determinative of whether you are violating a zoning law. In most towns it does not determine whether you need a license. If you have a business, you need a business license.....unless you KNOW that you are exempt because you have found an applicable exemption in your town's ordinance.