California Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Saratoga, California
Need help starting a business in Saratoga, California? We've got the information you need to open a business in Saratoga.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Being an entrepreneur is demanding, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you want to start a business?
Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Saratoga. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Saratoga, California Demographic Information
Saratoga has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Saratoga demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Saratoga.
Businesses
As a new Saratoga entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Saratoga 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 Business
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.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Saratoga, it's critical that you ensure that no other California company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Saratoga, California
It's essential that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating 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, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in California. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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. 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. Finally, if you are starting a business in Saratoga, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Make Sure You Have a Business Plan
A business plan is critical in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in California.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Saratoga business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Angel Investors.
For Saratoga entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Saratoga, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Saratoga and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Saratoga, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Saratoga, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Saratoga.
- Resources for Saratoga, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Saratoga 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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