Opening a Business in Burlingame, California

Are you starting a business in Burlingame, California? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Burlingame.

Burlingame, California Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Burlingame entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Burlingame 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.

Naming the Business

A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.

We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.

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

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Burlingame, it's imperative that you check now that your company name has not already been claimed by another California business.

Forming a Company in Burlingame, California

It's essential 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.

When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as 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. As it turns out, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Corporate Formalities. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Burlingame, California, our web page covering Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Raising money to fund your new Burlingame business is not an easy task. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.

For Burlingame entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Burlingame customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your successs.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Seven Marketing Ideas for Your Small Business discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Burlingame, California, you should get information on some of the many programs available at nearby California universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Burlingame entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Burlingame Entrepreneur Interviews

We're compiling a number of interviews with Burlingame entrepreneurs. Enjoy!

• Entrepreneur Interview with Qlubb Founder Sophia Chiang

Next Steps

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Burlingame and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Burlingame, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Burlingame, California

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

• Resources for Burlingame, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Burlingame 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.
• Burlingame, California Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Burlingame, California newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Burlingame area.
• Burlingame, California Payroll Services - This list includes Burlingame, California payroll services, national payroll services for Burlingame, and helpful information on choosing a Burlingame payroll service.
• Burlingame, California Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Burlingame, California, such as business brokers in Burlingame and other helpful information on how to buy a Burlingame business.