Opening a Business in Memphis, Tennessee

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

What Type of Business Should You Start?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Good Business Ideas.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting an Advertising and Promotional Apparel Business guide or our How to Start a Voice Mail Equipment & Systems Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Memphis has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Memphis than others. Make sure you fully understand Memphis demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Memphis, Tennessee Demographic Information

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

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

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

Is Buying an Existing Memphis Business a Good Strategy?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Tennessee. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Memphis.

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

Forming a Company in Memphis, Tennessee

A critical step is ensuring 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.

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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Tennessee, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Tennessee. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Memphis, Tennessee, our information on Incorporating in Tennessee may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Tennessee.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Tennessee.

Marketing Your New Business

To rise above the crowd in Memphis and accelerate your business, you need a excellent marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Customer Loyalty Programs 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.

What's Next?

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

Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Memphis 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 Memphis, Tennessee

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

• Resources for Memphis, Tennessee Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Memphis entrepreneurs.
• Tennessee Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Tennessee.
• Tennessee Small Business Development Center - If you are a small business owner, entrepreneur or you are thinking about starting a new business, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) is ready to help you every step of the way!
• Memphis, Tennessee Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Memphis, Tennessee newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Memphis area.
• Memphis, Tennessee Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Memphis, Tennessee area radio stations.
• Memphis, Tennessee Payroll Services - This list includes Memphis, Tennessee payroll services, national payroll services for Memphis, and helpful information on choosing a Memphis payroll service.
• Memphis, Tennessee Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Memphis, Tennessee, such as business brokers in Memphis and other helpful information on how to buy a Memphis business.