This is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Read the official pages linked here. Partner offers are optional and labeled.
Take punch lists you can finish in one visit. Property managers and new homeowners are the first customers if you show up when you said you would. Leave panels, gas, and roofs to the people who hold those licenses. In California the first customers are in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Riverside, Sacramento. Los Angeles handyman lists die in traffic. San Diego handyman work is stucco cracks, interior drywall, mounts, and small carpentry. Older housing means small carpentry, drywall, and fixtures in tight rooms. Older housing means small carpentry, drywall, and fixtures in tight rooms. Tract-house punch lists, TV mounts, and doors in new subdivisions. Tract-house punch lists, TV mounts, and doors in new subdivisions.
California is several climates. Coastal fog, inland heat, drought rules, and earthquakes all change the work. A license from the Contractors State License Board is the state starting point. The city permit is a second step.
File an LLC with the California Secretary of State. California Government Code section 12190 sets the fee for filing articles of organization at $70, and the fee for the statement of information at $20. The Secretary of State's LLC-1 cover sheet also says an LLC may have to pay a minimum $800 tax to the Franchise Tax Board. Read the Franchise Tax Board page before you treat $70 as the whole cost. A sole proprietorship can still be you, under your own name, without this filing. The fee is not a suggestion to form an LLC.
Some boxes are labeled Partner. ServiceBase has not joined those programs. The links go to each company's own homepage, not a tracking link. If a program later approves us, the address will change and we may earn a commission. You can file, insure, and bank anywhere. Official government links are not partner links. Nothing on this page is a discount code.
$500 in free advertising when you launch
Keep the checklist on your account
The guide stays public. An account saves your state, city, and trade, and lets you mark each filing as you go. The advertising credit is reserved when you register. It can be spent after the free website is live.
Your own name works. So does a plain two-word name. Search the city and the state. The fear customers have is that a handyman will start a job that needed a licensed trade. A clear name and a clear list of jobs reduce that fear. Use the same name on the text thread and the invoice.
Search that name at the California Secretary of State before you print shirts. Use the same spelling on the truck and on a quote in Los Angeles.
Most handyman businesses start as a sole proprietorship. An LLC is reasonable once you are in other people's houses every day and want the bank account and the insurance in a company name. It does not expand the list of jobs you may legally do. If a state sets a dollar cap on unlicensed work, read the current cap on the official page. Do not rely on a number from a forum.
California Government Code section 12190 sets the fee for filing articles of organization at $70, and the fee for the statement of information at $20. The Secretary of State's LLC-1 cover sheet also says an LLC may have to pay a minimum $800 tax to the Franchise Tax Board. Read the Franchise Tax Board page before you treat $70 as the whole cost. A sole proprietorship can still be you, under your own name, without this filing. The fee is not a suggestion to form an LLC.
An employer identification number is the business tax ID. The IRS issues it online at no charge and says you never have to pay a company to get one. If you form an LLC, file with the state first. The IRS says an EIN application can stall when the state filing is not done. A sole proprietor can often start with a Social Security number and get an EIN when a bank or a hire requires it.
Apply on the IRS page if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner beside this step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero either way.
The California licensing page we could verify is the California Contractors State License Board. Open it and read the part that names the work you will sell.
Read this page for your trade. A city or county can require its own registration even when the state does not.
Read any handyman or small-job exemption on the contractor board, including the dollar cap and the trades it excludes. Then get the city business license. Refer panel, gas, sewer, and roof work unless you hold that license.
A city or county can require its own registration even when the state page is quiet. The city guides name the local permit counter. Call that office and write down what they say. Do not pay a third party that promises a license until you have read the official page.
General liability before you drill into someone's wall. Tell the insurer you are a handyman and name the jobs, so a claim is not denied for 'contractor work' you did not disclose. Commercial auto if the truck is the business. Workers' compensation if anyone helps, even occasionally. A property manager will ask for the certificate before the first punch list.
Workers' compensation is a state program. Before anyone works with you, including a friend, ask an insurer and the state labor office whether you must carry it. This guide does not quote a headcount, because those rules differ and the state page is the source. The SBA page describes the common policies. It does not sell them. Buy the policy before you work in a house in California.
Small jobs paid in cash and checks disappear in a personal account. Deposit them into a business checking account and write the address on the deposit note. Set tax money aside weekly. The amounts feel too small to matter, which is why they become a tax problem.
The bank will usually ask for your ID, the EIN or your Social Security number, and the formation papers if you filed an LLC. A checking account and a habit of setting tax money aside are enough at the start.
07Price the work California actually has
Price from a short list: a minimum visit, an hourly rate after that, and a flat price for the jobs you repeat, such as a drywall patch or a door that sticks. Send the price before you load the truck when the list is clear.
Occupied houses take longer than empty ones. Stairs and parking change the hour. Say so. Decline the item on the list that belongs to a licensed trade, and price the rest.
Los Angeles: a mild coast, hot valleys, drought, and wildfire weather that changes how people build and water Drywall, mounts, doors, and stucco cracks inside one part of the basin. San Diego: a cool marine layer on the coast, real heat inland, drought, and almost no winter freeze Stucco cracks, drywall, mounts, and small carpentry inside a real drive radius. San Francisco: marine fog, a mild wet winter, dry summers, almost no freeze, and earthquakes that changed how houses are braced Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In San Francisco, CA, list Sunset and Daly City together only if one crew really covers both. San Jose: mild wet winters, dry warm summers, drought, earthquake risk, and wildfire smoke that sometimes sits on the valley Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In San Jose, CA, list Willow Glen and Cupertino together only if one crew really covers both. Riverside: hot inland summers, Santa Ana winds, a dry year most years, and wildfire weather on the edges Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In Riverside, CA, list Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga together only if one crew really covers both. Sacramento: hot dry summers, cool wet winters, valley fog, and a delta breeze that does not replace air conditioning Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In Sacramento, CA, list Midtown and Roseville together only if one crew really covers both.
08Get found, then create the free site
Google Business Profile with photos of finished small repairs in real rooms. Reviews should mention the task and the neighborhood. The website is a list of jobs you like and a sentence on what you refer out. The form lets them send several items. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps the list.
In Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Riverside, Sacramento, the profile, the reviews, and the site should name the neighborhoods you actually drive. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps quote requests in a list on your account. No card. It does not file the LLC, get the EIN, or buy the insurance.
California Government Code section 12190 sets the fee for filing articles of organization at $70, and the fee for the statement of information at $20. The Secretary of State's LLC-1 cover sheet also says an LLC may have to pay a minimum $800 tax to the Franchise Tax Board. Read the Franchise Tax Board page before you treat $70 as the whole cost. A sole proprietorship can still be you, under your own name, without this filing. The fee is not a suggestion to form an LLC.
What license does a handyman need in California?
The California licensing page we could verify is the California Contractors State License Board. Open it and read the part that names the work you will sell. Read this page for your trade. A city or county can require its own registration even when the state does not.
Where should a new handyman business start in California?
Start where you can reach the stops in a day. The city guides cover Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Riverside, Sacramento. Distance is the objection. A statewide claim is a weak service area.
Is the EIN free?
Yes. Use the IRS link in the steps if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner on the EIN step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero.
