Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Zoning ?

You could go through the arduous process of obtaining a variance from the zoning board, or you could just get a private mail box in a commercial zone.

Postal regs require you to use either "PMB" or the # sign, so use the # sign. Your address would look like this:

Cool Internet Business

1234 Folsom Avenue, # 44345

San Francisco, CA 94110.

When you apply for your business license, they'll make you go through zoning check. Use your new address and they're unlikely to know it's a mail box.

Good luck.

Re: Zoning ?

I think you may be jumping to an unwarranted conclusion about the zoning. Start by getting a clear explanation from "city hall" as to what really is forbidden and permissible under the zoning. In a lot of cities, zoning that prohibits running a business from a residence will only apply to businesses that generate traffic and parking, such as retail or professional services, and would not apply to something that is as unobtrusive as an internet business. In addition, I'd recommend against using anything other than a real street address when filing a fictitious business name statement. As I recall, the form itself lays out a fairly severe penalty for making a false declaration; they want you to list where the business is really run and not use the address of a mail drop or secretarial service.