California Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Gilroy, California
Are you starting a business in Gilroy, California? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Gilroy.
Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?
Running your own business is difficult, much more challenging than working as an employee. Are you sure 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 Gilroy. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. 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.
Gilroy, California Demographic Information
Gilroy has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Gilroy demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Gilroy.
Businesses
As a new Gilroy entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Gilroy 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 Buy an Existing Gilroy Business?
We've created a helpful 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 Gilroy.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.
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.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
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 planning on starting a business in Gilroy, it's critical that you ensure that 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 critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. 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 should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in California.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Gilroy business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Choosing VC Firms.
For Gilroy entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, you'll want to take a look at our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Promoting Your New Company
To grow your Gilroy business, you need a great marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Music on Hold is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Never Give Up
As an entrepreneur in Gilroy, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
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 Gilroy and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Gilroy, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Gilroy, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Gilroy.
- Resources for Gilroy, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Gilroy 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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