Contemplating starting a business in Barstow, California? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Barstow.
Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Barstow. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Filter Cleaning Business guide or our Opening a Road & Highway Construction Machinery & Equipment Business guide.
Don't forget that your new startup will be located in Barstow. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Barstow. A critical consideration is whether Barstow demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Barstow, California Demographic Information
Barstow has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Barstow demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Barstow.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
1528 |
| 5-9 Employees |
756 |
| 10-19 Employees |
552 |
| 20-49 Employees |
402 |
| 50-99 Employees |
72 |
| 100-249 Employees |
12 |
| 250-499 Employees |
12 |
| 500-999 Employees |
0 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Barstow Businesses |
3334 |
As a new Barstow entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Barstow 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 |
| Aircraft Manufacturing |
1 |
| Ambulance Services |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
6 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Baked Goods Stores |
2 |
| Barber Shops |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
2 |
| Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers |
2 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
5 |
| Boat Building |
1 |
| Book Stores |
2 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business Associations |
1 |
| Cafeterias |
1 |
| Car Washes |
6 |
| Child and Youth Services |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
4 |
| Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
7 |
| Clothing Accessories Stores |
2 |
| Collection Agencies |
1 |
| Commercial Screen Printing |
1 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
2 |
| Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
1 |
| Consumer Lending |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
2 |
| Cosmetology and Barber Schools |
1 |
| Couriers |
1 |
| Credit Unions |
3 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
1 |
| Diagnostic Imaging Centers |
1 |
| Discount Department Stores |
1 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
5 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
1 |
| Electrical Contractors |
2 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
7 |
| Environmental Consulting Services |
1 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
1 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
11 |
| Fine Arts Schools |
1 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
2 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
2 |
| Florists |
3 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
2 |
| Food Service Contractors |
1 |
| Footwear Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
21 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
1 |
| Furniture Stores |
1 |
| General Automotive Repair |
10 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
2 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| General Warehousing and Storage |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
4 |
| Hand and Edge Tool Manufacturing |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
2 |
| Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores |
2 |
| Home Health Care Services |
1 |
| Ice Manufacturing |
2 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
7 |
| Investment Advice |
2 |
| Janitorial Services |
3 |
| Jewelry Stores |
3 |
| Land Subdivision |
1 |
| Landscaping Services |
4 |
| Lessors of Other Real Estate Property |
1 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
41 |
| Luggage and Leather Goods Stores |
2 |
| Meat Markets |
1 |
| Medical Laboratories |
1 |
| Men's Clothing Stores |
3 |
| Motion Picture and Video Production |
1 |
| Motor Vehicle Towing |
4 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
4 |
| New Housing Operative Builders |
1 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
1 |
| Office Administrative Services |
1 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
2 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
1 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
1 |
| Offices of Dentists |
13 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
7 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
2 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
2 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
1 |
| Passenger Car Rental |
2 |
| Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
5 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
1 |
| Private Mail Centers |
1 |
| Public Relations Agencies |
1 |
| Radio Stations |
5 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
2 |
| Residential Remodelers |
4 |
| Retail Bakeries |
1 |
| Roofing Contractors |
2 |
| Savings Institutions |
1 |
| School and Employee Bus Transportation |
1 |
| Securities Brokerage |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
11 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
1 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
3 |
| Solid Waste Collection |
2 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
2 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
2 |
| Temporary Shelters |
3 |
| Tire Dealers |
1 |
| Travel Agencies |
1 |
| Truss Manufacturing |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
2 |
| Used Household and Office Goods Moving |
2 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
2 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
2 |
| Veterinary Services |
3 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
1 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
1 |
| Water Supply and Irrigation Systems |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
1 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
2 |
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Examine a list of Barstow businesses and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our recommendation is that you look into purchasing a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Get More Franchisees. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.
A comprehensive list of franchisors is available via our List of Franchise Opportunities.
Sample franchise opportunities include AmeriCare Alliance and Santorini Island Grill. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Consulting Franchises and Franchises that Serve Liquor.
Note on Barstow Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Barstow.
Forming a Company in Barstow, California
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in California, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in California. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
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 Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Barstow, 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 Barstow business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.
For Barstow entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, we have assembled a List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Now It's Up To You
You have a dream -- starting a business in Barstow. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Barstow and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Barstow, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Barstow, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Barstow.
- Resources for Barstow, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Barstow entrepreneurs.
- California Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in California.
- Fresno, California Small Business Development Center - The UC Merced SBDC Regional Network assists Central California entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling, training and business information.
- Los Angeles, California Small Business Development Center - The Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network (LA SBDC Network) is part of the national, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) effort to provide free one-on-one customized consulting services and low-cost training workshops to growing businesses and start-up businesses.
- Sacramento, California Small Business Development Center - As Northern California continues to grow demographically and economically, the Northeastern California Small Business Development Center (NECSBDC) at CSU, Chico is committed to helping communities prepare and plan for future growth.
- San Diego, California Small Business Development Center - The Small Business Development & International Trade Center (SBDITC) at Southwestern College is part of the California SBDC San Diego and Imperial Regional Network. The SBDITC provides no-cost business assistance to start-up & existing businesses.
- San Francisco, California Small Business Development Center - The Northern California Network of Small Business Development Centers helps individuals start, manage and grow their businesses.
- Santa Ana, California Small Business Development Center - The Tri-County Lead Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in the Santa Ana District provides oversight and support for SBDCs located in the Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The Santa Ana SBDC Network is a leader in providing consulting, training, and technical assistance to the small business community.
- Barstow, California Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Barstow, California newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Barstow area.
- Barstow, California Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Barstow, California area radio stations.
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