California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Sonoma, California
Thinking about starting a business in Sonoma, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Sonoma.
Sonoma, California Demographic Information
Sonoma has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Sonoma demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Sonoma.
Businesses
As a new Sonoma entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Sonoma 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Sonoma 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 Sonoma.
If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Picking a Business Name
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.
Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Sonoma, it's imperative that you check now that you will be the only California company using the business name you have chosen.
Forming a Company in Sonoma, California
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in California, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in California. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
There are many nuances to forming a company. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as ESOP Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Sonoma, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Sonoma customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your succeeding.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Advertising on Google discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
Good entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
Given that you are starting a business in Sonoma, California, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby California universities, colleges and community colleges. We also recommend you look into Sonoma networking organizations.
Now It's Up To You
Most new Sonoma businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Sonoma businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Sonoma, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Sonoma, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Sonoma.
- Resources for Sonoma, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Sonoma 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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