California Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Sun Valley, California
Contemplating starting a business in Sun Valley, California? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Sun Valley.
Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?
Before you get too far along in the process, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Sun Valley. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.
Remember that starting a business in Sun Valley has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Sun Valley than others. Don't forget to review Sun Valley demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Sun Valley, California Demographic Information
Sun Valley has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Sun Valley demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Sun Valley.
Businesses
As a new Sun Valley entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Sun Valley 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
Company Formation in Sun Valley, California
A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporation is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in California, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in California. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Sun Valley, California, our information on Incorporating in California may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in California.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Find Sample Business Plans Online. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in California.
Marketing Your New Business
Whether your goal is to attract Sun Valley customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your successs.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. How to Write a Marketing Plan is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Now It's Up To You
You have a dream -- starting a business in Sun Valley. 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 Sun Valley and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Sun Valley, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Sun Valley.
- Resources for Sun Valley, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Sun Valley 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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