California Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Tahoe City, California

Thinking about starting a business in Tahoe City, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Tahoe City.

Tahoe City, California Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
771
5-9 Employees
276
10-19 Employees
123
20-49 Employees
51
50-99 Employees
15
100-249 Employees
6
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
3
1000+ Employees
0
All Tahoe City Businesses
1245

As a new Tahoe City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Tahoe City 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
Architectural Services
7
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
1
Beauty Salons
3
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Boat Dealers
1
Book Stores
1
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Business Associations
2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
2
Caterers
2
Child Day Care Services
3
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
1
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Clothing Accessories Stores
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Convenience Stores
3
Convention and Trade Show Organizers
2
Credit Bureaus
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
2
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electrical Contractors
7
Electronic Shopping
1
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Engineering Services
6
Family Clothing Stores
4
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Floor Covering Stores
1
Florists
1
Full-Service Restaurants
22
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
3
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
6
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Graphic Design Services
1
Hardware Stores
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
2
Household Appliance Stores
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Inland Water Freight Transportation
1
Interior Design Services
1
Janitorial Services
5
Jewelry (except Costume) Manufacturing
1
Landscaping Services
7
Limited-Service Restaurants
8
Mail-Order Houses
1
Marinas
3
Masonry Contractors
2
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
3
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing
1
Museums
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
6
Offices of Dentists
4
Offices of Lawyers
5
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
2
One-Hour Photofinishing
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
9
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Real Estate Credit
3
Recreational Goods Rental
3
Residential Property Managers
6
Residential Remodelers
14
Roofing Contractors
4
Savings Institutions
1
Shoe Stores
2
Site Preparation Contractors
6
Skiing Facilities
2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
9
Sports and Recreation Instruction
2
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
2
Tour Operators
1
Travel Agencies
1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
2

Is Franchising a Better Option?

As you drive around Tahoe City, you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. Is franchising maybe a better way for you to start your business?

Our advice is to look into purchasing a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchising Mistakes. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

Note on Tahoe City Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Tahoe City.

Picking a Business Name

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

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.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Tahoe City, it's very important that you make sure no other California company is using the business name you want to use.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Plan Contests. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in California.

Marketing Your New Venture

To rise above the crowd in Tahoe City and grow your business, you need a solid marketing plan.

We have some useful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Marketing Research is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge

Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Tahoe City, California, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby California universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also beneficial to see if there are any networking organizations for Tahoe City entrepreneurs.

Next Steps

You have a dream -- starting a business in Tahoe City. 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.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Tahoe City and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Tahoe City, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Tahoe City, California

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

More Business Startup Guides for California

Starting a Business in Taft
Starting a Business in Tehachapi

Browse All Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

Share this article


Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

Business Glossary