California Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Seaside, California

Thinking about starting a business in Seaside, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Seaside.

Which Business to Choose?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

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 Data Processing Services Data Entry Business guide or our How to Start a Stair Treads Business guide.

Remember that you are starting a business in Seaside. Some businesses will do better in Seaside than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Seaside demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Seaside, California Demographic Information

Seaside has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Seaside demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Seaside.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1710
5-9 Employees
708
10-19 Employees
456
20-49 Employees
372
50-99 Employees
84
100-249 Employees
48
250-499 Employees
6
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Seaside Businesses
3384

As a new Seaside entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Seaside 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.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
3
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
6
Automotive Transmission Repair
2
Beauty Salons
4
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Book Stores
2
Building Inspection Services
1
Business to Business Electronic Markets
1
Car Washes
3
Caterers
2
Cemeteries and Crematories
2
Child Day Care Services
4
Civic and Social Organizations
3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Commercial Bakeries
2
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
2
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Concrete Pipe Manufacturing
1
Credit Unions
2
Dental Laboratories
1
Discount Department Stores
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electrical Contractors
10
Electronic Shopping
1
Engineering Services
4
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
3
Family Clothing Stores
2
Family Planning Centers
1
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Floor Covering Stores
3
Flooring Contractors
3
Florists
2
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
2
Food Service Contractors
2
Full-Service Restaurants
19
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
General Automotive Repair
15
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
2
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
3
Iron and Steel Mills
1
Janitorial Services
9
Junior Colleges
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
16
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
2
Locksmiths
1
Machine Shops
1
Masonry Contractors
3
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
2
Motorcycle Dealers
4
Museums
1
Nail Salons
5
New Car Dealers
18
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
2
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
5
Offices of Lawyers
1
Offices of Optometrists
2
One-Hour Photofinishing
1
Packaging Machinery Manufacturing
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
2
Passenger Car Rental
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Prepress Services
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Radio Stations
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Residential Remodelers
8
Retail Bakeries
4
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
2
Roofing Contractors
10
Shoe Stores
2
Sign Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Sporting Goods Stores
3
Sports and Recreation Instruction
2
Tax Preparation Services
3
Taxi Service
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
6
Tire Dealers
3
Used Car Dealers
1
Used Merchandise Stores
4
Vending Machine Operators
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Window Treatment Stores
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Seaside Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in California. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Seaside.

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Naming the Company

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.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Seaside, it's very important that you make sure no other California company is using the business name you want to use.

Promoting Your New Company

To rise above the crowd in Seaside and grow your business, you need a solid marketing plan.

We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Radio Ads is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

Being able to sell is fundamental to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Seaside 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. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Tips on Customer Referrals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

What's Next?

You have a dream -- starting a business in Seaside. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Seaside 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 Seaside, California

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Seaside.

More Business Startup Guides for California

Starting a Business in Seal Beach
Starting a Business in Sebastopol

Browse All Business Startup Guides for California
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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