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Starting a Small Business California

A lemonade stand works great Plan, plan, plan! When your idea is fresh and exciting, it's easy to start without a thought to how it will pan out and all the implications. There's nothing worse than an uncompleted project. It can completely ruin your confidence.

Local Companies

ABC Consulting
562-436-4711
1401 E 4th St
Long Beach, CA

Bond Consulting Services
562-597-3288
3450 E Spring St
Long Beach, CA

Baxter Business Consultants
916-966-2841
4768 Oak Twig Way
Sacramento, CA

Arrc Technology
661-281-4000
1600 Mill Rock Way
Bakersfield, CA

Acer Consulting Group
714-541-2003
1600 E 4th St
Santa Ana, CA

Barnes Bill
951-788-7943
5242 Wainwright CT
Riverside, CA

Bookkeeping Plus
951-276-3400
1760 Chicago Ave
Riverside, CA

Small Business Development Center
209-954-5089
56 S Lincoln St
Stockton, CA

Adamson & Associates
209-952-6007
4578 Feather River DR
Stockton, CA

Brink Bridges Consulting
209-473-6640
3031 W March Ln
Stockton, CA

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Steps

Come up with an idea, product or service. Put it down on paper. You're more likely to succeed if you plan. Put down things like name of the business, what resources you need, short and long term business and financial goals.
Chart your way to financial success. What price do you intend to sell your product or service for? How much will it cost you to produce? Work out a roughly estimated profit remembering to factor in fixed costs like rent, energy etc.
Check out your competitors. How much are they selling a similar product for. Can you add something to it to make yours different and hence a better price?
Put down your Unique Selling Proposition. Also how are you going to market your product? Via newspapers, a website, through word of mouth?
Decide what type of business you would like to be -- an incorporation, LLC, etc. This is important for tax purposes.
Think of how you're going to finance your business initially. The bank, venture capitalists, angel investors, SBA grants(government), your own savings are all options.
Make your product(s) or service available to customers using your marketing strategy above.
Keep a close eye on your running costs and keep them in-line with your projections.
Get your accounts in order right from the start. Saves you tedious work later.
Get a merchant account. A merchant account is a contract under which an acquiring bank extends a line of credit to a merchant, who wishes to accept payment card transactions of a particular card association brand. Without such a contract, one cannot accept payments by any of the major credit card brands.
Set up payment methods like credit card.

Tips

With the advent of the internet, online businesses are probably the easiest way to start and very much less expensive in terms of start-up cost than an offline counterpart.
You can also think of trading on eBay or Overstock.
A franchise is also a good option if you don't want to start from scratch.
Don't be afraid to experiment with prices.
A franchise is a great idea although the start-up capital is way too high for most people.
Find a direct selling company that will provide you the training and support. Also, find a personal mentor that you can trust.
Most direct selling companies have low start up capital compared to a traditional brick and mortar business. You can also break even rather quickly compared to the traditional business.
Keep in mind to always provide VALUE to those who may be your customers.

Warnings

Especially if going online, beware of people that ask for money before giving you business.

Sources and Citations

http://www.getyourebook.com - For step-by-step guide to starting an internet business. Good collection of reviewed business and finance ebooks
http://www.entrepreneur.com - All round information for small businesses.
http://www.start-cleaning-business.com - Start a cleaning business with Suze & Ev.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to How to Start a Small Business. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Featured Local Company

ABC Consulting

562-436-4711
1401 E 4th St
Long Beach, CA

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