Open a Business in Luray, Virginia

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

An entrepreneurial life is demanding, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you positive you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

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

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Luray. 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.

Luray, Virginia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	2316
5-9 Employees	720
10-19 Employees	492
20-49 Employees	276
50-99 Employees	12
100-249 Employees	72
250-499 Employees	12
500-999 Employees	12
1000+ Employees	0
All Luray Businesses	3912

As a new Luray entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Luray 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
Amusement Arcades	1
Architectural Services	1
Art Dealers	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	5
Beauty Salons	5
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	2
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Boat Building	1
Book Stores	1
Building Inspection Services	1
Business Associations	2
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Caterers	1
Cemeteries and Crematories	2
Charter Bus Industry	1
Child Day Care Services	3
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Convenience Stores	4
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	2
Elementary and Secondary Schools	2
Employment Placement Agencies	1
Engineering Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	3
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	1
Food Service Contractors	3
Framing Contractors	3
Full-Service Restaurants	11
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	7
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Homes for the Elderly	3
Household Appliance Stores	2
Hydroelectric Power Generation	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	10
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	9
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	13
Marketing Consulting Services	1
Masonry Contractors	1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Museums	1
New Car Dealers	2
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	4
Offices of Lawyers	10
Offices of Optometrists	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	3
Passenger Car Rental	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	3
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Recreational Goods Rental	1
Residential Remodelers	5
Securities Brokerage	2
Sign Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	7
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	2
Solid Waste Collection	1
Solid Waste Landfill	1
Tax Preparation Services	2
Temporary Shelters	1
Tire Dealers	1
Tobacco Stores	1
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	2
Used Merchandise Stores	2
Veterinary Services	3
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Wood Window and Door Manufacturing	1
Zoos and Botanical Gardens	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Luray Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Virginia. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Luray.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Naming the Business

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Luray, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Virginia business.

Forming a Company in Luray, Virginia

It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

When forming a company, you will select one of many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Virginia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Virginia. In fact, you are allowed to 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 Dissolving a Corporation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Luray, Virginia, our web page covering Incorporating in Virginia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Virginia.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Raising money to fund your new Luray business will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Microlending as a Small Business Funding Source.

For Luray entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Virginia Angel Investors and our List of Virginia Venture Capital Firms.

Bring in Revenues

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Luray business, you need to focus on sales.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Selling Products on eBay is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Now It's Up To You

As an entrepreneur in Luray, 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 Luray and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Luray, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Luray, Virginia

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

• Resources for Luray, Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Luray entrepreneurs.
• Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Virginia.
• Virginia Small Business Development Center - Virginia Small Business Development Centers offer professional business counseling, training and information resources to help grow and strengthen Virginia businesses.
• Luray, Virginia Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Luray, Virginia newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Luray area.

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