Starting a Business in Fitzgerald, Georgia

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

Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?

Most new companies fail, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Fitzgerald. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
• We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Fitzgerald, Georgia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	647
5-9 Employees	261
10-19 Employees	114
20-49 Employees	81
50-99 Employees	27
100-249 Employees	30
250-499 Employees	15
500-999 Employees	3
1000+ Employees	0
All Fitzgerald Businesses	1178

As a new Fitzgerald entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Fitzgerald 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
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	7
Baked Goods Stores	1
Beauty Salons	2
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	4
Book Stores	1
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Cafeterias	2
Caterers	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	4
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Computer and Software Stores	1
Consumer Lending	3
Convenience Stores	5
Convention and Trade Show Organizers	1
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services	1
Custom Compounding of Purchased Resins	1
Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing	1
Dental Laboratories	2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Educational Support Services	1
Electrical Contractors	3
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Farm Product Warehousing and Storage	2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	2
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	2
Full-Service Restaurants	9
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	3
Furniture Stores	4
General Automotive Repair	4
General Freight Trucking, Local	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hardware Stores	2
Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal	1
Home Health Care Services	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Homes for the Elderly	2
Household Appliance Stores	3
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	11
Internet Service Providers	1
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	4
Kidney Dialysis Centers	1
Landscaping Services	3
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	17
Logging	3
Machine Shops	1
Men's Clothing Stores	1
Motor Home Manufacturing	1
Motorcycle Dealers	1
New Car Dealers	3
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	2
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	1
Offices of Bank Holding Companies	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	3
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	5
Offices of Lawyers	5
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	2
Paper Industry Machinery Manufacturing	1
Parking Lots and Garages	1
Periodical Publishers	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	5
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	2
Residential Property Managers	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Sawmills	1
Securities Brokerage	2
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	1
Sign Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Soft Drink Manufacturing	1
Storage Battery Manufacturing	1
Tax Preparation Services	1
Temporary Help Services	2
Testing Laboratories	1
Tire Dealers	2
Travel Trailer and Camper Manufacturing	3
Used Car Dealers	1
Vending Machine Operators	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	3
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	6
Women's Clothing Stores	1
Yarn Spinning Mills	1

Naming the Company

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Fitzgerald, it's imperative that you check now that no Georgia company has already registered the company name you have selected.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Fitzgerald customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Advertising Campaigns discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Ramping Up Sales

Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Fitzgerald business to do well.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Closing Sales Techniques is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

The best entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Fitzgerald, Georgia, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Georgia universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your entrepreneurial education is to investigate Fitzgerald networking organizations.

Never Give Up

Most new Fitzgerald businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

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

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Fitzgerald and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Fitzgerald, Georgia

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

• Resources for Fitzgerald, Georgia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Fitzgerald 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.
• Fitzgerald, Georgia Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Fitzgerald, Georgia newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Fitzgerald area.

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