Registering a sole proprietorship
Last updated: 28 March 2022.
A sole proprietorship must be registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities to receive an organisation number.
You are obliged to register in the Register of Business Enterprises if you operate resale of purchased goods, have more than five employees, are pledging your inventory or operate as an authorised auditor.
Registration in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities is free of charge.
Registration in the Register of Business Enterprises is charged with a fee.
In general you have to be of age (18 years) in order to start a sole proprietorship. You do not have to be a resident of Norway, but your business must have an address in Norway.
When registering a sole proprietorship, you normally do not have to attach documents.
The name of the sole proprietorship must include the owner’s surname. It is the surname from the National Population Register that has to be used.
You can read more about the choice of name and what considerations you need to take on the page How do I choose a name for my company?
You must in general be 18 years of age in order to run a business and register a sole proprietorship. If you are not yet 18 years old, you can still run a business if
- you have turned 15 years of age and
- your guardian gives you permission, and
- the State Administrator gives his/her consent
Inheritance of a self-employed business
If a business is transferred by inheritance to a minor, the guardian can with the consent from the State Administrator run the business on behalf of the minor.
Required attachments
- copy of consent from the State Administrator
You must provide as accurately as possible a description of the activity of the business. It is not sufficient to state a general description. Therefore, you must state what may be produced/ sold or what services/activities will be carried out.
Here are some examples of how detailed the description must be:
- Agriculture: Growing of cereals. Raising of dairy cattle
- Transport: Freight transport by road. Taxi operation.
- Trade: Retail trade with groceries. Online shop with sports equipment.
- Industry: Production of musical instruments. Manufacture of furniture. Manufacture of gold and silverware.
- Building and construction: Groundwork, Plumbing. Painting.
- Consultancy activities: Business consultancy. Technical advisory service in the oil sector. Advisory service in engineering and construction. Architectural activities within construction.
If you operate activities in multiple branches, you must specify each of them according to the size of the turnover or employment.
In the form Coordinated register notification, you must confirm that the information provided about the activity, meets the requirements for business operations.
The business description forms the basis for the enterprise’s industrial code. Here you can read more about industrial codes.