Small Business Start-Up Kit for California [Paperback]

Peri H. Pakroo J.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2008

The best step-by-step guide to starting a business in California!

If you dream of starting a business, but fear that, without an MBA, you'll get lost in the maze of government red tape here's the handbook you need.

The Small Business Start-Up Kit for California outlines how to set up your enterprise in the Golden State quickly and easily, pointing out the hurdles, fees and forms along the way. Clear and straight to the point, the book explains how to:

choose the best business structure

write an effective business plan

file the right forms in the right place

price, bid and bill your projects

draft and use contracts, online and off

manage your finances

be prepared for, and file, required taxes

reach customers online

and much more

The 7th edition is completely updated, and includes new chapters on e-business and doing business from home. It also covers the latest California-specific business information, including sales tax rates by county, registration forms and fees. Updated forms and business-planning spreadsheets are included on CD-ROM. (20090101)

Editorial Reviews

Review

An excellent resource for beginners... written specifically for entrepreneurs who want to start their own business in California. (StartupJournal.com 20090101)

The perfect one-stop publication for any group or individual that wants to start a business. (Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 20090101)

Excellent advice... for would-be small-business owners, and heeding it can help you avoid many early mistakes. (Los Angeles Times 20090101)

Provides step-by-step instructions for setting up a small business in California and guiding it safely through its first year and beyond. (Reference & Research Book News 20090101)

The Small Business Start-Up Kit for California puts all the California-specific information you need to begin your business -- right at you fingertips. (San Francisco Chamber of Commerce )

A good-to-have, step-by-step guide to starting a business in California: Forms, licenses, business plan, taxes and more. (San Francisco Examiner )

From the Publisher

Updates
Here are summaries of important legal or procedural changes that affect the latest edition of this product. If you want to check on the accuracy of any other information in the book, please follow the legal research instructions in the book or in Nolo's research manual, Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law.

What's New in the 7th Edition of Small Business Start-Up Kit for CA

Overview of What's New

The new edition is revised and updated to include the latest business, legal, and financial information, including:

A new chapter focusing on marketing and promoting your business inexpensively.
A new section that explains the basics of search engines in electronic commerce. This section helps readers decide whether search engine optimization is important for their business and offers sensible strategies for improving search engine results.
New material about hiring and managing employees, including discussing the importance of carefully defining positions and writing job descriptions before beginning the hiring process, and establishing periodic and regular review processes.

Chapters Most Affected

Chapter 12 is an entirely new chapter on marketing, which includes discussions about defining a businesses market, conducting market research, and cost-effective marketing tools, such as networking and community relations.

Chapter 13 discusses how to drive more traffic to a businesses website by using search engine optimization (often called SEO), inbound links, keywords, and other methods.

Chapter 15 includes a new section about hiring and managing staff, including discussions about the importance of creating job descriptions, job reviews, and employee handbooks.

Appendix A (a comprehensive list of resources and contact information for government and small business agencies) has been thoroughly updated.

Forms That Have Changed The following forms are updated:

IRS Form SS-4
IRS Instructions for Form SS-4
IRS Form 8716
IRS Form SS-8
IRS Form 8832

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: NOLO; 7th edition (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413307582
• ISBN-13: 978-1413307580
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Business & Investing > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Legal Guides

More About the Author

Peri Pakroo is a business and communications consultant, specializing in legal and start-up issues for businesses and nonprofits. She has started, participated in, and consulted with start-up businesses for 20 years. She owns and runs P-Brain Media (www.pbrainmedia.com), a strategic consulting and communications firm that develops information-rich media for web, print, video and other formats.

Peri received her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1995, and a year later began editing and writing for Nolo, specializing in small business and intellectual property issues. She is the author of the top-selling Nolo titles The Small Business Start-Up Kit (national and California editions) and Starting and Building a Nonprofit, and has been featured in numerous national and local publications including Entrepreneur, Real Simple, Investors Business Daily, and BusinessWeek.

Peri teaches adult education courses at WESST (www.wesst.org) in Albuquerque, a nonprofit whose mission is to fight poverty by facilitating entrepreneurship among women and minorities in the state of New Mexico. She is active in supporting local, independent businesses and is a co-founder of the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance (www.keepitquerque.org).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, December 27, 1999

By 

chelbell (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Open Your California Business in 24 Hours: The Complete Start-Up Kit (Paperback)

This is my first book review, because this is the first book I've purchased where I've truly felt moved to tell people how excellent it is. If you are starting up a small business in California, this book is invaluable. It tells you where to find all of the information you'll need to start up your business, in easy to understand terms. Also includes a CD-ROM with lots of forms. All of her advice is really helpful and I find myself going back to the book all the time. Just knowing it's there makes me feel better!

She includes URLs to web sites with information - and even tells you what other books to get on a subject she doesn't cover too in-depth. And all the information you need is easy to find.

5 stars!

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY, A BUSINESS START UP BOOK FOR THE REST OF US, February 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Open Your California Business in 24 Hours: The Complete Start-Up Kit (Paperback)

Well worth the price! It answered every question I had -- and answered a lot of questions I hadn't even thought about. Really easy to understand and set up in a smart way - going through the steps you would when creating a business. The section on "hobby or business" is the best explanation I ever read about that stuff. Much better than going to a lawyer and has lots of first person battle stories. Even if you've got a Cal business going -- this book is still cool!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent tutorial and reference, August 1, 2002

By 

A. McFadden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Small Business Start-Up Kit for California with CDROM (Paperback)

Everything you need to know about starting a small business in California is in here. What legal structure to choose, which agencies you need to deal with, what forms you need and where to get them, web addresses, phone numbers, and all the details.

It also has a wealth of information on running a business, including information on accounting, taxation, and employees. It's well organized and easy to read.

The only gaps are in some of the details on forming LLCs and corporations. The reader is referred to other Nolo books for the gritty details. If you're forming a partnership or sole proprietorship -- probably the most common types for "cottage industry" -- the book is reasonably complete.