California Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Long Beach, California
Are you starting a business in Long Beach, California? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Long Beach.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Most new ventures don't make it, in part because the business owner did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before you open a business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Long Beach. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Long Beach, California Demographic Information
Long Beach has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Long Beach demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Long Beach.
Businesses
As a new Long Beach entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Long Beach 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?
As you drive around Long Beach, you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on 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.
Sample franchise opportunities include Ruffin's Pet Centres and FoodNet. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cartridge Recycling Franchises and Child Entertainment Franchises.
Note on Long Beach Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Long Beach.
Forming a Company in Long Beach, California
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporation 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 can 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Incorporating Online. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Long Beach, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
A business plan is critical in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in California.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Getting your Long Beach business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Choosing VC Firms.
For Long Beach entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, you'll want to take a look at our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Ramping Up Sales
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Long Beach business to do well.
Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Writing Great Proposals is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.
Some Interesting Long Beach Entrepreneurs
Enjoy these interviews we've had with Long Beach entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
Most new Long Beach businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Long Beach businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Long Beach, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Long Beach, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Long Beach.
- Resources for Long Beach, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Long Beach 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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