Start a New Business in California

San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development‘s (OEWD) supports businesses of all sizes.

For small businesses and entrepreneurs, OEWD provides:

• Office of Small Business: San Francisco's central point of information for small businesses.

• Permit Center: The Permit Center offers in-person, over-the-counter permits and services.

• Economic programs for the Dream Keeper Initiative.

Employer services include:

• Business Development: Providing specialized support to address the needs of businesses including nonprofits, life sciences, information technology, clean technology, manufacturing, fashion, nightlife, and international commerce.

• Get help recruiting employees: Save time and money finding quality workers for your business with personalized, zero-cost recruitment services.

• Get help for your business before a layoff: Help is available to you and your employees if your business is facing layoffs or closure.

• Comply with the First Source Hiring Program: Learn about program requirements and how to hire for an entry-level job opening.

City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Room 448
San Francisco, California 94102
Phone: 415-554-6969

San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development website

The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) supports economic growth and innovation and ensures that California small businesses and startups have the information and direct support they need to better navigate resources, programs, and regulations.

CalOSBA serves as the voice of small business, representing their views and interests across the state and advocating for equitable access to capital, markets, and networks so that all California small businesses successfully start, manage, grow, and become more resilient.

1325 J Street
Suite 1800
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: 334-353-2113

California Office of the Small Business Advocate website

Local small business advisors are located across California. To contact one, please visit the California Small Business Center’s map.

The California SBA has six district offices located across California. Their services include business funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

The Fresno District office serves Alpine, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties. Office location: 801 R Street, Suite 201, Fresno, California 93721, Phone: 559-487-5791

The Los Angeles District office serves Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. Office location: 312 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, California 90012, Phone: 213-634-3855

The Orange County / Inland Empire District offices serve Orange and San Bernardino counties, and Riverside county west of the San Jacinto Mountains as well a Riverside county East of the San Jacinto Mountains. Santa Ana office location: 5 Hutton Centre Drive, Suite 900, Santa Ana, California 92707, Phone: 714-550-7420. Palm Desert office location: 73733 Fred Waring Drive, Suite 211, Palm Desert, California 92260, Phone: 714-550-7420

The Sacramento District office serves Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, Sierra, Nevada, Yolo, Sacramento, Pacer, El Dorado, Amador, San Joaquin, and Calaveras counties. Office location: 6501 Sylvan Avenue, Citrus Heights, California 95610, Phone: 916-735-1700

The San Diego District office serves San Diego and Imperial counties. Office location: 550 West C Street, Suite 550, San Diego, California 92101, Phone: 619-557-7250

The San Francisco District office serves Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Office location: 455 Market Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, California 94105, Phone: 415-744-6820

See all locations and contact information on left.

California Small Business Administration SBA website

Professional BusinessWomen of California provides skill development, networking opportunities, and inspiration to women at all levels to achieve their own ambitions and collectively advance gender equity in professional settings.

PBWC is headquartered in Northern California and conducts community events, monthly webinars, and conferences for women’s professional and personal growth and development through tools, training workshops, resources, mentoring, and motivation. The organization also presents an annual academic scholarship to high-achieving California women who are high school seniors.

2261 Market #1600
San Francisco, California 94114
Phone: 415-857-2923

Professional BusinessWomen of California website

The Central Valley Women’s Entrepreneur Center is a member of the Association of Women’s Business Centers and a Partnership Program with the Small Business Administration administered by California State University, Fresno. They offer a variety of business support services to assist you in starting, growing, managing, or selling your small business.

The WE Center offers opportunities for businesswomen to better market their products or services through business planning, financial management, marketing, and the WE Center Incubator, a 6 week academy where entrepreneurial women have an individual closed office space, lounge area, and access to all of Fresno State Small Business University resources to help launch their business or nonprofit organization.

In addition, the MakeHerSpace training facility enables women to go from idea to concept, allowing them to create and develop their business products while taking advantage of training workshops and complimentary materials.

550 East Shaw Avenue
Suite 230
Fresno, California 93710
Phone: 559-278-0709

Central Valley Women’s Entrepreneur Center website

Kern Women’s Business Center enhances opportunities for potential entrepreneurs and small business owners to become self-sustaining, successful contributors to their communities.

Services fall under three primary categories. The entrepreneurial training course, "Explore, Design and Launch," helps equip you with the necessary knowledge, tools, and resources to start and/or grow your business.

Professional business consulting is provided at no cost. The organization has a team of consultants with extensive expertise in fields including marketing, organizational development, finance, management, and many more.

Business workshops are free and open to the public. These workshops are designed to enhance the understanding of important and current business topics, in addition to providing a networking platform.

10800 Stockdale Highway
Suite 201-224
Bakersfield, California 93311
Phone: 661-567-0410

Kern Women’s Business Center website

California SBDC supports small businesses with one-on-one consulting sessions and technical support to help your business start, grow, and prosper.

The SBDC’s confidential, one-to-one advising services include business plan development assistance, marketing and sales advice, financial management assistance, and more.

Additional support includes:

• Navigating budgeting, forecasting, financial statements, and tax requirements

• Strategic planning

• Access to funding

• Access to capital

• Interactive training sessions, available online and in-person

1887 Monterey Road
2nd Floor
San Jose, California 95112
Phone: 408-385-9800

SBDC California office locator

Additional California SBDC offices can be found in San Diego, Chico, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Irvine, Salinas, Obispo, Merced, Indio, Hayward, El Cajon, Folsom, Irvine, El Centro, Long Beach, San Rafael, Lakeport, Fort Bragg, Ukiah, Crescent City, Eureka, Carlsbad, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Santa Clarita, Camarillo, Hawthorne, Los Angeles, Pasadena, La Verne, Santa Ana, Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton, San Mateo, Aptos, Redding, Truckee, Yreka, Fairfield, Santa Rosa, National City, Berkeley, Riverside, Clovis, and Modesto.

The San Diego and Imperial Women’s Business Center (WBC) works to secure entrepreneurial opportunities for women by providing free and low-cost training, workshops, mentoring, advising, business development, and financing methods to women entrepreneurs throughout the San Diego and Imperial counties.

• Business consulting: Meet with a business advisor to grow your small business.

• Training and workshops: Learn more about launching, operating, and growing your business with new skills and a CEO education.

• Access to capital: Navigate access to capital from the loan process to managing cash flow.

• Networking events: Meet and learn from like-minded women business owners.

880 National City Boulevard
National City, California 91950
Phone: 619-216-6719

San Diego and Imperial Women’s Business Center website

The National Association of Women Business Owners California chapters propel women entrepreneurs by strengthening their wealth creating capacity and promoting economic development within the entrepreneurial community; creating innovative and effective changes in the business culture; building strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations; and transforming public policy and influencing opinion makers.

NAWBO Los Angeles
4500 Park Granada
Suite #202
Calabasas, California 91302
Phone: 213-622-3200

NAWBO Los Angeles

In addition to NAWBO Los Angeles in Calabasas, NAWBO chapters are located throughout California in Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Avila Beach, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, Camarillo, Arcadia, Upland, and San Diego.

Women’s Economic Ventures is a business resource network for anyone looking to start a business, grow a local business, or improve their business skills. WEV provides small business training, advisory services, financial literacy programs, and small business loans in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Classes enhance your business skills and strategies in a group setting led by experienced instructors. Consulting services connect you with expert business advisors for one-on-one coaching and guidance. WEV has also made more than $6.9 million in small business loans and helped nearly 5,300 local businesses start or expand.

Santa Barbara County
21 East Canon Perdido
Suite 301
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Phone: 805-965-6073

Ventura County
4001 Mission Oaks Boulevard
Suite K
Camarillo, California 93012
Phone: 805-965-6073

Women’s Economic Ventures website

Whether you are considering the Temecula area for employment, starting a business, locating a new facility, or looking for information to enhance your existing business, the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce is a great resource.

The Chamber offers professional guidance on and referrals to employment and business agencies, commercial realtors, financial advisors, business compliance, or the appropriate city, county, state, and utility departments. The Chamber also offers assistance with business and employee relocation, and information on market statistics. It is a comprehensive source of information on doing business in the Temecula Valley.

26790 Ynez Court
Suite A
Temecula, California 92591
Phone: 951-676-5090

Temecula Chamber of Commerce website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

• Loans: Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

• Investment capital: Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

• Disaster assistance: Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

• Surety bonds: Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

• Grants: Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

United States Small Business Administration Funding Sources

California Capital Financial Development Corporation’s loan guarantee and microloan program helps secure financing for small businesses unable to access mainstream financing.

Loan products include:

• Microloans of up to $50,000 are available for small businesses in Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba counties.

• Small loans up To $150,000 are available for business in Sacramento, Yolo, Nevada, El Dorado, and Placer counties.

• The State Loan Guarantee Program helps secure financing for small businesses who may otherwise not qualify for a traditional loan. State loan guarantees can guarantee up to 80% of the loan amount, not to exceed $5 million.

1792 Tribute Road
Suite 270
Sacramento, California 95815
Phone: 916-442-1729

California Capital Financial Development Corporation website

The Marshall School of Business at USC has deep ties with dynamic companies and business leaders, not only in southern California, but across the country and around the world, creating unlimited opportunities for its students across a broad range of industries.

USC Marshall integrates its core curriculum with a spectrum of hands-on learning opportunities so that students can take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world, in real time.

3670 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089

USC Marshall School of Business website

The UCLA Anderson School of Management offers both degree and non-degree programs to meet the diverse educational needs and professional goals of students. UCLA Anderson's programs offer academic preparation and access to a thriving business community, as well as support services for scholastic and career advancement.

Programs include MBA, Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA), Ph.D., Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering (MFE), Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA), and Executive Education (EXEC ED).

UCLA Anderson School of Management
110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, California 90095

UCLA Anderson School of Management website

The leadership team at the University of San Francisco School of Management is a catalyst for change in business, government, and nonprofit managerial practice. Many professors have hands-on experience within the industry, working for globally recognized companies.

Programs include undergraduate degrees including Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Management, a number of graduate degrees, and executive education certifications.

2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, California 94117
Phone: 415-422-6771

University of San Francisco School of Management website

Fueled by the spirit of Silicon Valley innovation, the University’s Leavey School of Business provides rigorous study and high impact experiential learning, culminating in solid business acumen.

The School of Business ranks #1 in Silicon Valley for Executive and Part-Time MBA programs. It also receives top-25 rankings for business specialties, including Entrepreneurship at #17, Marketing at #16, Business Analytics at #18, and Finance at #24.

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, California 95053
Phone: 408-554-4000

Santa Clara University Leave School of Business website

The Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University offers a wide continuum of full-time, part-time, and executive MBA programs, as well as doctorate, master's, bachelor's, joint degrees, and professional development certificate courses that are available both online and on campus.

The Center for Women in Leadership provides mentorship programs, industry engagement, and research on gender diversity.

The Center for Applied Research aims to bridge the gap between business theory and business practice, while supporting the Graziadio knowledge and education that has direct application and relevance for working professionals.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence facilitates a culture of evidence-based decisions through a blended learning environment that teaches innovative assessment, addressing various business practices.

24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90263
Phone: 310-506-4100

Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School website

The California Business Journal focuses on small businesses, startups, business owners, entrepreneurs and general business professionals. CalBizJournal tells the story of small businesses and startups in an engaging, insightful, authoritative, entertaining, and compelling manner. The articles are written in a professional, lively style geared to uncover the inside story, the drama, excitement, and challenges in businesses, industries, and business people.

California Business Journal
Huntington Beach, California 92649
Phone: 949-648-3815

California Business Journal website

The Los Angeles Business Journal examines the many ways that the L.A. economy operates, providing in-depth analyses of the community’s dynamic business and economic scene, and keeping readers informed of trends, market conditions, technological advances, and much more so that they can make informed decisions to grow their companies and careers.

Regular departments include Up Front, highlighting stories of importance featuring L.A.'s entrepreneurs and the businesses they're creating; News and Analysis, examining local business'​ actions and decisions; and Investment and Finance, where L.A.’s many public companies are profiled and analyzed.

Special editions such as the LA500 and Book of Lists are resource guides readers use year-round to build connections and pursue opportunities within the Community of Business.

11150 Santa Monica Boulevard
Suite 350
Los Angeles, California 90025
Phone: 323-549-5225

Los Angeles Business Journal website

Southern California Professional Magazine is written exclusively by leading business professionals with a focus on business, financial and legal matters affecting businesses, business owners, and their clientele. Contributors include attorneys, accountants, business consultants and advisors, and business owners.

It is designed to provide individuals, families, businesses and business owners with information and strategies that will guide them through many of today’s challenging business, financial, and legal issues.

Phone: 818-713-1678

Southern California Professional website

The Sacramento Business Journal connects the business community in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo counties.

Areas of editorial focus include the latest business news, commercial real estate, banking, energy, government regulations, manufacturing, marketing and media, retailing, philanthropy and nonprofits, sports business, transportation, technology, healthcare, residential real estate, food, Sacramento innovation, and more.

555 Capitol Mall
Suite 200
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: 916-447-7661

Sacramento Business Journal website

North Bay Business Journal is a business-to-business newspaper serving Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Solano, Mendocino and Lake counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Areas of editorial focus include business events, construction, wine, cannabis, real estate, law, and manufacturing with additional focus on employment, government, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, nonprofits, and technology.

They also put on two dozen industry-related and private events annually.

416 B Street
Santa Rosa, California 95401
Phone: 707-521-5270

North Bay Business Journal website