California Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Fountain Valley, California
Need help starting a business in Fountain Valley, California? We've got the information you need to open a business in Fountain Valley.
Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?
Most new ventures fail, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before you open a business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:
- Grab a meal or cofee with other entrepreneurs in Fountain Valley. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
- Take a look at Business Failure. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
- Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.
Fountain Valley, California Demographic Information
Fountain Valley has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Fountain Valley demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Fountain Valley.
Businesses
As a new Fountain Valley entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Fountain Valley 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
Should You Franchise?
Browse the Yellow Pages for Fountain Valley and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Is it perhaps smarter to franchise a business instead of doing it from scratch.
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to evaluate the possibility of your buying a franchise opportunity. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Multi-Unit Franchising. 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.
Representative franchise opportunities include Superior Wash and DUCTZ Duct Cleaning. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Wedding Franchises and Hardware Store Franchises.
Note on Fountain Valley Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Fountain Valley.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Fountain Valley Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Fountain Valley.
If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Forming a Company in Fountain Valley, California
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. The principal advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
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. If you are starting a business in California, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in California. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.
There are many nuances to forming a company. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Offshore Company Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Fountain Valley, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Getting your Fountain Valley business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
Take advantage of our many articles on raising money, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.
For Fountain Valley entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Fountain Valley, California, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local California educational institutions. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Fountain Valley entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Moving Forward
Most new Fountain Valley businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Fountain Valley and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Fountain Valley 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 Fountain Valley, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Fountain Valley.
- Resources for Fountain Valley, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Fountain Valley 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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