California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Pleasanton, California
Thinking about starting a business in Pleasanton, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Pleasanton.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Free Business Ideas.
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 an Elderly Companion Service guide or our How to Start a Boat Painting & Refinishing Business guide.
Remember that you are opening your new business in Pleasanton. Some businesses will do better in Pleasanton than others. A critical consideration is whether Pleasanton demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Pleasanton, California Demographic Information
Pleasanton has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Pleasanton demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Pleasanton.
Businesses
As a new Pleasanton entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Pleasanton 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
Is Franchising a Better Option?
Examine a list of Pleasanton businesses and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchisees Versus Licensees. 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 ShockPR and Enviro-Tech Pest Services. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Gift Items Franchises and Home Furnishings Franchises.
Note on Pleasanton Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Pleasanton, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Pleasanton Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Pleasanton.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Startup Financing Basics
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Pleasanton business will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.
The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Borrowing Money from Friends and Family.
For Pleasanton entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Pleasanton customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Dealing with Angry Customers discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Bring in Revenues
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Pleasanton business to do well.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Selling Stuff on the Web offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
What's Next?
Most new Pleasanton businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Pleasanton and throughout the United States . 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 Pleasanton, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Pleasanton.
- Resources for Pleasanton, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Pleasanton 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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