Starting a Business in Detroit, Michigan

Are you starting a business in Detroit, Michigan? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Detroit.

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

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

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Detroit. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

Detroit, Michigan Demographic Information

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

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

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

What About Buying an Existing Detroit Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Michigan. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Detroit.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Company Formation in Detroit, Michigan

It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect 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.

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. Just because you are starting a business in Michigan, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Michigan. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 C Corp Versus S Corp. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Detroit, Michigan, our information on Incorporating in Michigan may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Michigan.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

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. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Michigan.

Bring in Revenues

Being able to sell is fundamental to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Detroit or are selling to customers throughout Michigan, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Compensating Sales People offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Now It's Up To You

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

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Detroit, Michigan

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

• Resources for Detroit, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Detroit entrepreneurs.
• Michigan Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Michigan.
• Michigan Small Business Development Center - This organization supports 12 regional offices and over 30 satellite offices, each providing counseling and training to Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan. Services to entrepreneurs are offered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
• Detroit, Michigan Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Detroit, Michigan newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Detroit area.
• Detroit, Michigan Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Detroit, Michigan area radio stations.
• Detroit, Michigan Payroll Services - This list includes Detroit, Michigan payroll services, national payroll services for Detroit, and helpful information on choosing a Detroit payroll service.
• Detroit, Michigan Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Detroit, Michigan, such as business brokers in Detroit and other helpful information on how to buy a Detroit business.