Open a Business in Commerce, Georgia

Contemplating starting a business in Commerce, Georgia? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Commerce.

Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?

An entrepreneurial life is difficult, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you sure you want to go into business for yourself?

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Commerce. 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.

Commerce, Georgia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	3065
5-9 Employees	1980
10-19 Employees	1005
20-49 Employees	735
50-99 Employees	165
100-249 Employees	75
250-499 Employees	45
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Commerce Businesses	7070

As a new Commerce entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Commerce 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
Automobile Driving Schools	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	5
Baked Goods Stores	1
Beauty Salons	2
Book Stores	2
Broadwoven Fabric Mills	1
Cafeterias	1
Car Washes	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	4
Clothing Accessories Stores	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Commercial Screen Printing	1
Community Food Services	1
Computer and Software Stores	1
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Consumer Lending	4
Custom Computer Programming Services	2
Dental Laboratories	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electrical Contractors	9
Electronic Shopping	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Engineering Services	1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	16
Fine Arts Schools	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	2
Food Service Contractors	2
Full-Service Restaurants	19
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	7
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	4
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Gypsum Product Manufacturing	1
Hardware Stores	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	2
Home Centers	1
Home Health Care Services	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	5
Janitorial Services	4
Jewelry Stores	5
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	2
Limited-Service Restaurants	15
Linen Supply	1
Logging	2
Luggage and Leather Goods Stores	3
Machine Shops	2
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	2
Masonry Contractors	1
Men's Clothing Stores	7
Motor Vehicle Towing	2
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores	1
New Car Dealers	5
New Housing Operative Builders	1
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	6
Offices of Lawyers	2
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Private Mail Centers	1
Racetracks	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Residential Remodelers	2
Roofing Contractors	1
Securities Brokerage	1
Shoe Stores	16
Siding Contractors	1
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Software Publishers	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Tax Preparation Services	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Testing Laboratories	1
Tire Dealers	2
Tire Retreading	1
Used Car Dealers	2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving	1
Used Merchandise Stores	2
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	3
Women's Clothing Stores	12

Company Formation in Commerce, Georgia

A critical step is ensuring that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation is a very common way to legally create a business entity. 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. Just because you are starting a business in Georgia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Georgia. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about 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 Commerce, Georgia, our information on Incorporating in Georgia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Georgia.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

Creating a business plan is critical in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Failure to write a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Georgia.

Promoting Your New Company

To grow your Commerce business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. Newspaper Advertising Costs is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Good entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

With your business being located in Commerce, 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 organizations for Commerce entrepreneurs.

Moving Forward

As an entrepreneur in Commerce, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Commerce and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Commerce, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Commerce, Georgia

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

• Resources for Commerce, Georgia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Commerce 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.
• Commerce, Georgia Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Commerce, Georgia newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Commerce area.
• Commerce, Georgia Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Commerce, Georgia area radio stations.

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