California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Gardena, California
Thinking about starting a business in Gardena, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Gardena.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is hard work, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Gardena. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Private Investigator School guide or our Opening a Water Softening & Conditioning Equipment & Supplies Rental Business guide.
Don't forget that starting a business in Gardena has some implications. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Gardena. Make sure you fully understand Gardena demographics before you lock in on your business idea.
Gardena, California Demographic Information
Gardena has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Gardena demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Gardena.
Businesses
As a new Gardena entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Gardena 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
Naming the Company
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.
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.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Gardena, it's critical that you ensure that no other California company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Gardena, California
It's essential that you are forming a legal entity that operates independently from you. Doing so will shield 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. 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 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 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 Piercing the Corporate Veil. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Gardena, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Letting the World Know You Exist
To rise above the crowd in Gardena and advance your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. Six Tips for Getting Customer Testimonials is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
The Art of Selling
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Gardena business, you need to focus on sales.
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.
Tips on Customer Referrals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in Gardena, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Gardena businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Gardena, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Gardena, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Gardena.
- Resources for Gardena, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Gardena 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.
More Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business in Garden Grove
Starting a Business in Georgetown
Browse All Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs