California Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Walnut Creek, California
Thinking about starting a business in Walnut Creek, California? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Walnut Creek.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Free Business Ideas.
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 Szechuan Restaurant guide or our Opening a Bridal Wear Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Walnut Creek. If Walnut Creek already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. A critical consideration is whether Walnut Creek demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Walnut Creek, California Demographic Information
Walnut Creek has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Walnut Creek demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Walnut Creek.
Businesses
As a new Walnut Creek entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Walnut Creek 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
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Visit the business district of Walnut Creek and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Evidently, there must be some significant advantages to purchasing a franchise.
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to investigate buying a franchise. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Growth Trends in Franchising. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
A comprehensive list of franchisors is available via our List of Franchise Opportunities.
Representative franchise opportunities include Hampton Inn/Hampton Inn & Suites and Just Dogs Gourmet. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Home Repair Franchises and Miscellaneous Franchises.
Note on Walnut Creek Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Walnut Creek.
Choosing a Business 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.
Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.
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 opening a business in Walnut Creek, it's imperative that you check now that no other California company is using the business name you want to use.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Getting your Walnut Creek business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Find Start-Up Capital.
For Walnut Creek entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of California Angel Investors and our List of California Venture Capital Firms.
Bring in Revenues
Mastering the art of selling is essential if you want your new Walnut Creek business to do well.
Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
How to Build and Motivate a Sales Team 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?
Most new Walnut Creek businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Walnut Creek and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Walnut Creek, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Walnut Creek, California
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Walnut Creek.
- Resources for Walnut Creek, California Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Walnut Creek 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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