Start a Business in Buckhannon, West Virginia

Thinking about starting a business in Buckhannon, West Virginia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Buckhannon.

Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?

Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Buckhannon. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
• We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Which Business to Choose?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Free Business Ideas.

If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Medical Diagnostic Services Business guide or our Opening a Skating Equipment & Supplies Sales & Rental Business guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in Buckhannon. If Buckhannon already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Make sure you fully understand Buckhannon demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Buckhannon, West Virginia Demographic Information

Buckhannon has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Buckhannon demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Buckhannon.

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	783
5-9 Employees	315
10-19 Employees	213
20-49 Employees	102
50-99 Employees	36
100-249 Employees	18
250-499 Employees	15
500-999 Employees	3
1000+ Employees	0
All Buckhannon Businesses	1485

As a new Buckhannon entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Buckhannon 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.

Business Type	# of Businesses
Ambulance Services	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Barber Shops	1
Beauty Salons	1
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	3
Bituminous Coal Underground Mining	2
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	3
Car Washes	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	2
Child and Youth Services	2
Child Day Care Services	7
Civic and Social Organizations	8
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	2
Computer and Software Stores	2
Consumer Lending	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	1
Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing	1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	4
Engineering Services	1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring	1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	2
Fine Arts Schools	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Flooring Contractors	2
Florists	2
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	1
Food Service Contractors	3
Framing Contractors	1
Full-Service Restaurants	16
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	3
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	7
General Freight Trucking, Local	4
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	2
Glass and Glazing Contractors	2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	2
Graphic Design Services	1
Hardware Stores	1
Home Centers	2
Homes for the Elderly	1
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	6
Investigation Services	1
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	3
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	4
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	13
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers	1
Logging	6
Mail-Order Houses	1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	3
Masonry Contractors	2
Miscellaneous Intermediation	1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	2
Motorcycle Dealers	1
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	3
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nonclay Refractory Manufacturing	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	4
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	7
Offices of Lawyers	6
Offices of Optometrists	3
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Payroll Services	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	2
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	5
Photography Studios, Portrait	2
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	1
Primary Aluminum Production	1
Radio Stations	1
Residential Remodelers	6
Sawmills	5
Securities Brokerage	2
Siding Contractors	1
Site Preparation Contractors	5
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	5
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Support Activities for Coal Mining	1
Tax Preparation Services	2
Temporary Help Services	1
Testing Laboratories	2
Tire Dealers	2
Used Car Dealers	8
Used Merchandise Stores	3
Veterinary Services	2
Video Tape and Disc Rental	3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	3
Wood Preservation	2

Have You Considered Franchising?

As you drive around Buckhannon, you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. But is franchising the right option for you?

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Franchising My Business. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Bid Street USA and LA Weight Loss Centers. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Tanning Franchises and Healthcare Services Franchises.

Note on Buckhannon Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Buckhannon.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Buckhannon Business?

We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in West Virginia. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Buckhannon.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.

Forming a Company in Buckhannon, West Virginia

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will separate 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 popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in West Virginia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in West Virginia. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. 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 Corporate Formalities. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Buckhannon, West Virginia, our information on Incorporating in West Virginia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in West Virginia.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Buckhannon business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on securing funding, such as 504 Loans.

For Buckhannon entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, we have assembled a List of West Virginia Angel Investors and our List of West Virginia Venture Capital Firms.

Moving Forward

You have a dream -- starting a business in Buckhannon. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Buckhannon businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Buckhannon, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Buckhannon, West Virginia

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Buckhannon.

• Resources for Buckhannon, West Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Buckhannon entrepreneurs.
• West Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in West Virginia.
• Wisconsin Small Business Development Center - Wisconsin Small Business Development Centers offer a variety of educational services to small-businesses. The low-cost courses, seminars, and workshops cover both basic and complex topics, from marketing to management techniques to business plan development.
• Buckhannon, West Virginia Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Buckhannon, West Virginia newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Buckhannon area.
• Buckhannon, West Virginia Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Buckhannon, West Virginia area radio stations.

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