| Are you contemplating starting a business in California? | | | | 18. - Any good business owner knows that the flow of |
| This is a guide to setting up a business in the sunny | | | | customers into their store is the lifeblood of their |
| paradise of California. | | | | business. But not all business owners know where and |
| California is a fantastic place to start a business, with | | | | how to advertise their services. Here are a few ideas: |
| several enormous cities like Los Angeles, San | | | | 19. - Offline |
| Francisco and San Diego. | | | | 20. - Set up business in a high traffic area |
| The population and diversity of the state is enough to | | | | 21. - Be sure your signage on the front of your |
| begin just about any business you could imagine, and | | | | business makes you easy to see. It should be big |
| thrive. | | | | enough to be easily read from the road, and bright |
| Here are a few things you should consider when | | | | enough to stand out from those around it. |
| starting your California business: | | | | 22. - Your signage should make it immediately clear, to |
| | | | someone driving by with only a second to glance at it, |
| 1. Where in the city is your market demographic? | | | | exactly what your business does. |
| 2. - The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San | | | | 23. Yellow pages |
| Diego are enormous, with many different pockets of | | | | 24. Billboards |
| demographics. Even the smaller communities in | | | | 25. Bus benches |
| California like Sacramento, Stockton, Bakersfield and | | | | 26. Poster boards |
| Palm Springs are large communities by any other state | | | | 27. Hand out flyers |
| standard. You may want to research in what location | | | | 28. Host groups and clubs at your business |
| of the city your particular business would be best | | | | 29. Attend local business networking functions |
| suited. | | | | 30. Local newspapers like the la times ( |
| 3. What does business space cost in your desired | | | | 31. Internet |
| location? | | | | 32. - Los Angeles Citysearch ( |
| 4. - Different parts of the city will have wildly varied | | | | 33. - San Francisco Citysearch ( |
| monthly lease costs. For example, in Los Angeles, | | | | 34. - Los Angeles Craigslist ( |
| Melrose Avenue or Downtown LA will have much | | | | 35. - San Francisco Craigslist ( |
| higher rates than Culver City or North Hollywood | | | | 36. - You can find a version of the above web sites |
| would. | | | | for almost any of the larger cities in California by |
| 5. What kind of business entity should you form? | | | | putting the city name at the front of the url. |
| 6. - Learn how to set up a California Incorporation ([ | | | | 37. - PPC ads on Google ( or Yahoo ( |
| 7. - Read about places to form a DBA, or "Doing | | | | 38. - Pay-per-click ads can be targeted to a very |
| Business As". | | | | localized area. You can ensure that only people surfing |
| 8. Get a Federal EIN number | | | | the internet in the Los Angeles area (for example) will |
| 9. - You can file for an EIN as soon as you get your | | | | see your ads. They will appear only when they're |
| EIN from the IRS ([ or you can have your incorporator | | | | actually looking for your product, or reading something |
| get it when you file your incorporation. | | | | similar to what you offer. |
| 10. Get a business license | | | | 39. Stay current on your California Tax Laws. |
| 11. - Get a Los Angeles business license ( | | | | 40. - One thing that can ruin a new business quickly is |
| 12. - Search in Google for the term "(city name) | | | | falling behind on taxes. Make sure you don't make that |
| business license" and you will be presented with results | | | | mistake! Make a solid effort to understand what you |
| for your particular city. | | | | need to know about California taxes - talk to your |
| 13. Set up a bank account | | | | accountant about it! |
| 14. - You need your EIN and Incorporation (or DBA) | | | | 41. Set up a web site |
| paperwork before you can open a bank account and | | | | 42. - Customers expect to be able to find you on the |
| deposit checks made out in your company's name. | | | | Internet. |
| Once you have this paperwork, it's a fairly easy | | | | 43. - Without a web site, you take away a potentially |
| process. You just walk into your local branch, and they | | | | lucrative advertising avenue (see the Internet |
| should help you get set up. The only bank I don't | | | | advertising tips above). |
| recommend is Washington Mutual, who wanted original | | | | 44. - Many places like Yahoo ( make it easy to setup |
| copies of paperwork that the state of California had | | | | your own website, with your own domain name. |
| kept. I had the certified copies from the state of | | | | 45. - Find a domain name. I always use GoDaddy ( to |
| California, but Wamu would only accept the originals. | | | | register my domain names. I've found that DomainsBot |
| I've had better luck with California National Bank, they | | | | ( is a great tool to find a cool domain name. Once you |
| have very good customer service. | | | | find it with DomainsBot, you can register it with |
| 15. Find an accountant | | | | GoDaddy. |
| 16. - Lack of bookkeeping is one of the top reasons | | | | They say that 9 out of 10 businesses fail within the |
| new businesses fail. As the owner of the business, | | | | first 5 years. Most businesses are not financially or |
| you'll be very business running your operations, and the | | | | legally ready to succeed. If you follow the simple steps |
| books will fall behind. Be sure to set up your books, | | | | in this article, you'll be better prepared to run a |
| and hire a good accountant at the outset so that this | | | | long-term and profitable business. Los Angeles is ready |
| doesn't become a problem. | | | | for you - you need to be ready to handle Los Angeles! |
| 17. Find advertising space | | | | Oh yeah, and have fun! |