California Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in San Mateo, California
Contemplating starting a business in San Mateo, California? We walk you through the process of opening a business in San Mateo.
Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is demanding, much more arduous than working as an employee. Are you sure you want to start a business?
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 San Mateo. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
San Mateo, California Demographic Information
San Mateo has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for San Mateo demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in San Mateo.
Businesses
As a new San Mateo entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in San Mateo 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 a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Visit the business district of San Mateo and it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including Questions to Ask Franchisors. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
You can find franchise opportunities by browsing our Franchise Opportunities Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include White Glove Placement and Elmer's Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Soccer Franchises and Bakery Franchises.
Note on San Mateo Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in San Mateo.
Should You Buy an Existing San Mateo Business?
We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in San Mateo.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Selecting a Name For Your Venture
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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in San Mateo, 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
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 Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in California.
Building Up Your Sales
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new San Mateo business, you need to focus on sales.
Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Writing Great Proposals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in San Mateo, 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 San Mateo and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in San Mateo, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in San Mateo, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in San Mateo.
- Resources for San Mateo, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist San Mateo 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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