California Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Mountain View, California
Are you starting a business in Mountain View, California? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Mountain View.
Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Grab a meal or cofee with other entrepreneurs in Mountain View. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- Take a look at Starting a Company. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
- Talk it over with a close friend or partner. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.
Mountain View, California Demographic Information
Mountain View has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Mountain View demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Mountain View.
Businesses
As a new Mountain View entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Mountain View 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.
Businesses
Choosing a Company Name
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.
Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Mountain View, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only California company using the business name you have chosen.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Mountain View business is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Angel Investors.
For Mountain View entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Building Up Your Sales
Being able to sell is a key enabler to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Mountain View or are selling to customers throughout California, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
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.
Cold Call Selling is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
The best entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Mountain View, California, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby California universities, colleges and community colleges. We also recommend you look into networking organizations for Mountain View entrepreneurs.
Never Give Up
You have a dream -- starting a business in Mountain View. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Mountain View and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Mountain View, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Mountain View, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Mountain View.
- Resources for Mountain View, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Mountain View 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 Center (SBDC) at Southwestern College serves entrepreneurs and small businesses in San Diego and Imperial Counties. The SBDC 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.
- Orange County Small Business Development Center - The Orange County SBDC is a leader in providing consulting, training, and technical assistance to the small business community.
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