California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Malibu, California
Thinking about starting a business in Malibu, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Malibu.
Malibu, California Demographic Information
Malibu has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Malibu demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Malibu.
Businesses
As a new Malibu entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Malibu 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
What About Buying an Existing Malibu Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Malibu.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Forming a Company in Malibu, California
A critical step is ensuring that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as 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, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in California. As it turns out, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. 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 Dissolving a Corporation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Malibu, California, our web page covering Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
A business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read Business Plan Mistakes. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in California.
Getting the Word Out About Your New Business
Whether your goal is to attract Malibu customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your business achieving its goals.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Advertising in Magazines 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.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.
With your business being located in Malibu, California, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby California universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any Malibu networking organizations.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Malibu, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Malibu businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Malibu, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Malibu.
- Resources for Malibu, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Malibu 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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