California Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Acton, California

Contemplating starting a business in Acton, California? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Acton.

Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?

Most startup businesses fail, in part because the business owner did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Acton. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
  • We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

Acton, California Demographic Information

Acton has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Acton demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Acton.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
261
5-9 Employees
75
10-19 Employees
75
20-49 Employees
15
50-99 Employees
6
100-249 Employees
0
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Acton Businesses
432

As a new Acton entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Acton for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that you are pursuing.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Child Day Care Services
1
Claims Adjusting
1
Coffee and Tea Manufacturing
1
Collection Agencies
1
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Electrical Contractors
5
Engineering Services
1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Florists
1
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Full-Service Restaurants
6
General Automotive Repair
1
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
2
Landscaping Services
4
Limited-Service Restaurants
5
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Masonry Contractors
2
Motion Picture and Video Production
3
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Dentists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
4
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Potash, Soda, and Borate Mineral Mining
1
Recreational Goods Rental
1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Residential Property Managers
1
Residential Remodelers
1
Roofing Contractors
1
Site Preparation Contractors
3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
1
Solid Waste Collection
1
Solid Waste Landfill
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Veterinary Services
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1

Picking a Company Name

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Acton, it's imperative that you check now that no other California company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Acton, California

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in California, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in California. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Where to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Acton, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Getting your Acton business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Business Credit Evaluation.

For Acton entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.

Building Up Your Sales

Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Acton business to do well.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Hiring Good Sales People is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

What's Next?

Most new Acton businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Acton businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Acton, California

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Acton.

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