Georgia Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Blue Ridge, Georgia
Thinking about starting a business in Blue Ridge, Georgia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Blue Ridge.
Blue Ridge, Georgia Demographic Information
Blue Ridge has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Blue Ridge demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Blue Ridge.
Businesses
As a new Blue Ridge entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Blue Ridge for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that you are pursuing.
Businesses
Is Franchising a Better Option?
Visit the business district of Blue Ridge and you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. But is franchising the right option for you?
We highly recommend you consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchising and Veterans. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Steak-Out Franchising, Inc. and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Sports Franchises and Carpet Retail Franchises.
Note on Blue Ridge Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Blue Ridge.
Naming the Company
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Blue Ridge, it's critical that you ensure that no other Georgia company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Blue Ridge, Georgia
A critical step is ensuring that you are forming a legal entity that operates independently from you. Doing so will insulate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Georgia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Georgia. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.
There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Where to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Blue Ridge, Georgia, our information on Incorporating in Georgia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Georgia.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
Having a business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.
To learn more about business plans, read Reasons to Write a Business Plan. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Georgia.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
The best entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
With your business being located in Blue Ridge, Georgia, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Georgia universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Blue Ridge entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Never Give Up
As an entrepreneur in Blue Ridge, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Blue Ridge businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Blue Ridge, Georgia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Blue Ridge.
- Resources for Blue Ridge, Georgia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Blue Ridge entrepreneurs.
- Georgia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Georgia.
- Georgia Small Business Development Center - The Georgia SBDC program helps Georgia entrepreneurs with developing business plans, providing financial analysis, identifying sources of capital, and assessing marketing strategies.
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