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Are You Ready to Start a Business? Are you an Entrepreneur? What to Expect and Not to Expect From a Business Mentor....and much more to get you started on your way to success.
Are You Ready to Start a Business?
We won’t kid you. It’s not easy. Not everyone is ready for it, but the rewards are huge. We suggest that you start with these articles to see if you have the right personality and a workable idea.
- Are you an Entrepreneur?
- 39 Surprising Small Business Stats for Success
- Top 10 Reasons Small Businesses Fail - Before you get going, consider some of the points in this document.
- How To Really Start Your Own Business - How do I start a business? Here’s a guide to step you through the process.
- Welcome to the Startup Guide - City of Los Angeles Business Portal – Startup Guide
- A Simple Guide to Starting a Business - From Square Inc
Check our Startup Checklist: A Step-by-Step Checklist for Business Startups
Market Research
If you're determined to start a business, the first step is to do market research. Use these materials to learn how to perform market research and determine if there is a market for your business idea.
Introduction
Guide to Conducting Customer Interviews
- How to Interview your Customers
- Using mTurk to interview 100 customers (in 4 hours)
- An Uncomplicated Approach to Conducting Solid Market Research
- Surveys 101 by Survey Monkey
- 9 Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Validated Their Business Idea - Entrepreneur.com
Secondary Market Research
- Market Research Tools - includes links to government database, free & paid market research reports, academic research database, directory of professional associations, and others.
Feasibility Study
Business Plan
After you have completed researching your market, the next step is to write a business plan and prepare financial projections. We highly advise that you take this step because if you're looking for outside funding such as loans and investments, they ask for your business plan.
Assemble a List of Advisors
SCORE Mentors can help with this.
- Find a SCORE Mentor
- What to Expect and Not to Expect From a Business Mentor - Read what Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE has to say
Accountants and Attorneys are important advisors to your business as well.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides free, confidential consultation to small businesses.
How to Organize your Business
SCORE Mentors do not provide advice on picking the appropriate form of legal entity for your business. We can only provide information on the types of business entities out there. We strongly suggest you consult attorneys and/or accountants for this matter. That said, USC Gould School of Law Small Business Clinic also provided us with the following information sheet for your review. You may wish to get a consultation from the USC Small Business Clinic if interested.
Review Potential Risks for your Business
Bank, Accounting/Finance, Tax Information
How to Open Business Bank Accounts
Accounting System
State and Federal Tax Information for your Business
- State Tax Information: State of California Franchise Tax Board
- State Tax Information: California Resellers Permit-Sales Tax
- Federal Tax Information: IRS
Assemble Funding for your Business
Please visit our dedicated page for this topic.
Licensing & Permit Information
Use the information to research the required permits and licenses for your business.
- California Licenses & Permits
- The Business Registration Process
- Filing a Fictitious Business Name
- Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development - What are the rules in California? How do I register my business? Here’s some excellent information from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
- Restaurant & Small Business Express Program - City of Los Angeles
- "BESt" - Beverage & Entertainment Streamlined Program - City of Los Angeles
Business Development (Sales & Marketing)
Please visit our dedicated page for this topic.
Labor Laws, Employee vs. Independent Contractors, Healthcare & Safety
Please visit our dedicated page for this topic.
