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Links to Small Business Resources

 

 

Business Resources

TIMELY INFORMATION TO HELP YOU GET ANSWERS

 

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Local Agencies

  • Solano County - www.solanocounty.com
  • Association of Bay Area Governments - www.abag.ca.gov

State of California

Federal Government

PRIVATE COMPANIES

 

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Chambers of Commerce

BUSINESS COMMUNITIES HELPING LOCAL BUSINESSES

 

BUSINESS & COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Local Chambers of Commerce function as a TRADE ASSOCIATION for member businesses and professionals.  Included in their services, to members, are business education, promotion, legislative advocacy, referrals, networking opportunities and community events. In addition, Chambers serve as the primary source for community information.

 

Contact Info
THIS INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE
 

BENICIA Chamber of Commerce
601 1st Street, Suite 100
Benicia, CA  94510
PHONE: (707) 745-2120   www.beniciachamber.com

BLACK Chamber of Commerce of Solano County
836B Southhampton Road, Suite 351
Benicia, CA  94510   www.scbcc.org
PHONE: (707) 421-5721

DIXON Chamber of Commerce
220 N. Jefferson Street
Dixon, CA  95620
PHONE: (707) 678-2650   www.dixonchamber.org

FAIRFIELD-SUISUN Chamber of Commerce
1111 Webster Street
Fairfield, CA  94533
PHONE: (707) 425-4625   www.ffsc-chamber.com

FILIPINO-AMERICAN Chamber of Commerce of Solano County
PHONE: (707) 745-8473   www.solanofilamchamber.com

RIO VISTA Chamber of Commerce
50 N 2nd Street
Rio Vista, CA  94571
PHONE: (707) 374-2700   www.riovista.org

SOLANO HISPANIC Chamber of Commerce
PHONE: (707) 643-5037   www.solanohispanicchamber.com

VACAVILLE Chamber of Commerce
300 Main Street
Vacaville, CA  95688
PHONE: (707) 448-6424   www.vacavillechamber.com

VALLEJO Chamber of Commerce
427 York Street
Vallejo, CA  94590
PHONE: (707) 644-5551   www.vallejochamber.com

 

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Licenses & Permits

SOME BUSINESSES REQUIRE MORE THAN A LOCAL LICENSE

 

LOCAL BUSINESS LICENSE

In order to OPERATE A BUSINESS within any city located in Solano County, whether it is from a store, factory, office or your home, you must have a VALID BUSINESS LICENSE.  The type of license depends on the NATURE OF YOUR BUSINESS and is renewed every six months or annually.  Contact the City Clerk's office if your business is located within city limits and the County Clerk for unincorporated areas.

City of Benicia
PHONE: (707) 746-4225 - www.ci.benicia.ca.us/businesslicense.php

City of Dixon
PHONE: (707) 678-7000 -  www.ci.dixon.ca.us

City of Fairfield
PHONE: (707) 428-7509 - www.ci.fairfield.ca.us/Business_Licence_Taxes.htm

City of Rio Vista
PHONE: (707) 374-6451 - www.rio-vista-ca.com

City of Suisun City
PHONE: (707) 421-7328 - www.suisun.com

City of Vacaville
PHONE: (707) 449-5129 - www.ci.vacaville.ca.us/content/general/doing_business.php

City of Vallejo
PHONE: (707) 648-4310 - www.ci.vallejo.ca.us

For unincorporated areas:
Solano County Tax Collectors Office
PHONE: (707) 784-7485  -  www.solanocounty.com

 

STATE BUSINESS LICENSE

Some occupations such as ACCOUNTANTS, COSMETICIANS, CONSTRUCTION or SPECIALTY CONTRACTORS, ELDERLY CARE facilities, OPTOMETRISTS, REAL ESTATE AGENTS, or PASSENGER TRANSPORATION companies, etc. may require state licensing through a State of California governmental agency.  Find out what licensing board governs your profession by calling the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs at (800) 952-5210 or visiting www.dca.ca.gov.

 

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Fictitious Business Name

RESEARCH YOUR PROPOSED NAME USING THE INTERNET

 

File a FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME only if the business name you have chosen is different from your own LEGAL NAME.  For example, if your legal name is John Jones and you have chosen a name that includes your last name ("John Jones House Repair" or "Jones House Repair"), then you do not need to file.

In general, if a business name does not have the LAST NAME of all OWNERS, differs from the incorporation documents or implies greater ownership, a fictitious name is involved.  Adding words such as "and company," "son/daughter," or "associates" implies IMPLIES MORE THAN ONE OWNER and is treated like an assumed name. (You should first look up your proposed business name--in as many places as possible--to be sure that NO OTHER BUSINESS is using that name. Use of a business name legally owned by another company may be an infringement of the other business owner's rights. Somes examples of places to research would be your local phone directory, chamber of commerce, county clerk, the Internet, State of California Secretary of State Trademark Division and/or the federal Patent and Trade Mark Office.)

Your fictitious business name statement must be PUBLISHED IN A NEWSPAPER of general circulation in the county where the principal place of business is located.  The statement must be published once a week for four successive weeks and an affidavit of publication filed with the County Clerk within 30 days of publication.  The forms are available from the COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE.

County Clerk - Solano County
675 Texas Street, Suite 1900
Fairfield, CA  94533
(707) 784-7510
www.solanocounty.com/SubSection/SubSection.asp?NavID=546

 

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Market Research

CONSIDER DATA FROM A VARIETY OF RESOURCES

 

MARKET RESEARCH & PLANNING

MARKETING plays a crucial role in the SUCCESS of any business.  To develop an effective marketing plan, it may be helpful to research and gather various facts on your target customers, competition and industry.

  • Consult US Census Data
    Federal Census Bureau statistics are extremely useful for viewing regional demographic information.  In addition, State of California and your local Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development Department has details on population trends, payroll statistics, etc.  Use this information in determining the size of your market.

    www.census.gov and www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov
  • Connect With Other Business Owners
    The internet contains numberous industry-specific newsgroups, chat rooms, and forums comprised of business owners who share their experiences and are ready to answer your questions.  Discussion groups often center on specific business topics such as start-up costs, pricing strategies, sales figures, and marketing methods.  Use the above search engines to conduct a key word search for your industry, service and/or product.

    www.google.com      / www.about.com  / www.dogpile.com
  • Contact Trade & Professional Organizations
    Trade and Professional Associations exist for every type of business.  Trade groups conduct research on trends, customer profiles, marketing methods, pricing strategies and the economy.  They also publish member directories useful for tracking down your competition.  Trade publications often run articles on recent research reports and publish their own proprietary market data.  Many are now featuring e-zines (online magazines) that contain informational articles for your use.

    Business & Professional Associations - www.local.com
    Business Topics - www.businesstown.com
  • Read Newspaper, Magazines, Trade Publications
    Periodicals are an excellent source for industry statistics and competitor information.  Business publications such as the Wall Street Journal can give you information on business trends and economic issues that may impact your business.  Local newspapers and business journals can provide you with information on your local scene.
    www.findarticles.com

 

 

4 P's of Marketing

USEFUL PRINCIPLES IN DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN

 

WE APOLOGIZE. THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

 

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Non-Profit Resources

USEFUL RESOURCES IF YOU'RE STARTING A NON-PROFIT

 

RESOURCE AGENCIES FOR NON-PROFITS

Non-Profit Resource Center Sacramento Public Library
828 I Street
Sacramento, CA  95814
PHONE: (916) 264-2772 - www.nonprofitresourcectr.org     

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
731 Market Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA  94103
PHONE: (415) 541-9000 - www.compasspoint.org

The Foundation Center - Resource for Searching Grants
312 Sutter Street, Suite 606
San Francisco, CA  94108-4323
PHONE: (415) 397-0902 - www.foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco

 

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Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights

UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TERMS

 

PATENT, TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT DEFINITIONS

  • A PATENT is a PROPERTY RIGHT granted to the inventor of an invention.
  • A TRADEMARK is a WORD, NAME, SYMBOL or DEVICE, or any combination thereof, adopted and used by a person to identify goods made or sold by him/her to distinguish them from goods made or sold by others.  A SERVICEMARK is the SAME AS A TRADEMARK except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.
  • A COPYRIGHT is a form of PROTECTION provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished.  The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing.  Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

 

Helpful & Informative Resources
ONLY A CLICK OR PHONE CALL AWAY

The Bruce Sawyer Center
The BRUCE SAWYER CENTER provides no-cost consulting and information regarding intellectual property to inventors, artists, engineers, new product developers and others who wish to safeguard creative products.

Sawyer Center @ SBDC at Santa Rosa Junior College
606 Healdsburg Avenue Santa Rosa, CA  95401
PHONE: (707) 524-1773 - http://www.santarosa.edu/sbdc/html/sawyer.html

 

The Brooks Walker Patent and Trademark Center
The BROOKS WALKER PATENT and TRADEMARK CENTER operates as a self-service program.  Resources for conducting a patent or trademark search include:  Patents from 1790 to the present, computer searching of patents and trademarks, indexes to historical patents and trademarks, official Gazette of the Patent and Trademark Office from 1872 to present, annual report of the Commissioner of Patents from 1790 to 1872 and all current PTO forms, publications and regulations.

Patent and Trademark Center
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA  94102
PHONE: (415) 557-4500 - http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/librarylocations/main/patent/patent.htm

 

The State of California Secretary of State's Office
The SECRETARY of STATE'S OFFICE maintains registration and updates of CALIFORNIA TRADEMARKS and SERVICE MARKS.  The Trademark Unit also registers other filings such as container brands, laundry marks and the names of farms, ranches, estates or villas.

Secretary of State
Trademarks/Service Marks
1500 11th Street, Suite 345
Sacramento, CA  95814
PHONE: (916) 653-4984 - http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ts/ts.htm

 

The US Patent & Trademark Office
The U.S. PATENT and TRADEMARK OFFICE is an excellent resource for official patent and trademark information.

General Information Services Division
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Crystal Plaza 3, Room 2C02
Washington, DC  20231
PHONE: (800) 786-9199 - http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm

 

Library of Congress Copyright Office
COPYRIGHTS are registered by the COPYRIGHT OFFICE of the LIBRARY of CONGRESS.

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington DC  20559
PHONE: (202) 707-3000 - www.copyright.gov

 

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Selling to Government Agencies

COMPETE & WIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

 

LOCAL, STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

SELLING GOODS and SERVICES to local, state and federal government agencies can be interesting, lucrative and challenging.  However, to get started in government contracting, you do have to learn the basics.  In addition to the workshop training and one-on-one consulting provided by the Solano College SBDC, there are a variety of on-line resources.  The following are procurement resources for local, state and federal assistance:

The Federal Technology Center  -  http://www.theftc.org
US Small Business Administration  -  http://www.sba.gov

WE APOLOGIZE. THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Solano Community College District
Click "XXX" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://www.solanocounty.com

Travis Air Force Base
Click "General Services" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://public.travis.amc.af.mil/units/contractinginformation/index.asp

County of Solano
Click "General Services" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://www.solanocounty.com

The State of California
Click "General Services" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://www.solanocounty.com

The Federal Government
Click "General Services" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://www.solanocounty.com

PRIVATE COMPANIES: PRIME CONTRACTORS
Click "General Services" then "Vendor Information"
PHONE: (707) XXX-XXXX - http://www.solanocounty.com

 

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