California Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Manhattan Beach, California
Are you starting a business in Manhattan Beach, California? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Manhattan Beach.
Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?
Running your own business is hard work, much more challenging than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Manhattan Beach. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- 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.
What Business to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Fan Retailer guide or our Starting a Communications Companies & Services Business guide.
Don't forget that you are starting a business in Manhattan Beach. If Manhattan Beach already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. A critical consideration is whether Manhattan Beach demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Manhattan Beach, California Demographic Information
Manhattan Beach has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Manhattan Beach demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Manhattan Beach.
Businesses
As a new Manhattan Beach entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Manhattan 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
Naming the Company
A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Manhattan Beach, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another California business.
Forming a Company in Manhattan Beach, California
It's essential that you form your business as a legal structure. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.
When forming a company, you will decide among many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. 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 any state you would like to. 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 C Corp Versus S Corp. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Manhattan Beach, California, our web page covering Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
Having a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.
To learn more about business plans, read Expert Advice on Business Plans. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in California.
Startup Financing Basics
Raising money to fund your new Manhattan Beach business is not an easy task. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Choosing VC Firms.
For Manhattan Beach entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Never Give Up
As an entrepreneur in Manhattan Beach, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Manhattan Beach and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Manhattan Beach 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 Manhattan Beach, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Manhattan Beach.
- Resources for Manhattan Beach, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Manhattan 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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