California Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Santa Rosa, California
Need help starting a business in Santa Rosa, California? We've got the information you need to open a business in Santa Rosa.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
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 Santa Rosa. 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.
Santa Rosa, California Demographic Information
Santa Rosa has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Santa Rosa demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Santa Rosa.
Businesses
As a new Santa Rosa entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Santa Rosa 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 Franchising Opportunities?
Browse the Yellow Pages for Santa Rosa and you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. But is franchising the right option for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to look into purchasing a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Franchise a Business. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include MTO Cleaning Services and Worldwide Express. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Auto Rental Franchises and Modeling Franchises.
Note on Santa Rosa Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Santa Rosa.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Santa Rosa Business?
We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Santa Rosa.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Picking a Company Name
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
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.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Santa Rosa, it's very important that you make sure no other California company is using the business name you want to use.
Raising Money for Your Venture
Getting your Santa Rosa business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Attracting Investors.
For Santa Rosa entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Bring in Revenues
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Santa Rosa or are selling to customers throughout California, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Cold Call Selling 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.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Santa Rosa. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Santa Rosa and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Santa Rosa.
- Resources for Santa Rosa, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Santa Rosa 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.
More Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business in Santa Paula
Starting a Business in Santa Ynez
Browse All Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs