California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Santa Maria, California
Thinking about starting a business in Santa Maria, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Santa Maria.
Which Business to Choose?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Good Business Ideas.
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 Starting a Baskets Retail Business guide or our Starting an Exercise & Fitness Equipment & Supplies Dealers Business guide.
Remember that your new startup will be located in Santa Maria. Some businesses will do better in Santa Maria than others. Don't forget to review Santa Maria demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Santa Maria, California Demographic Information
Santa Maria has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Santa Maria demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Santa Maria.
Businesses
As a new Santa Maria entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Santa Maria 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Santa Maria Business?
We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Santa Maria.
If you are going to be buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Selecting a Name For Your 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.
Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in Santa Maria, it's very important that you make sure no other California company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Santa Maria, California
It's essential that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will insulate 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 popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. Just because 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Company Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Santa Maria, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Bring in Revenues
Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Santa Maria or are selling to customers throughout California, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Selling with Questions offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Santa Maria. 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.
We are here to help Santa Maria businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Santa Maria entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Santa Maria, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Santa Maria.
- Resources for Santa Maria, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Santa Maria 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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