Illinois Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Palos Hills, Illinois
Are you starting a business in Palos Hills, Illinois? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Palos Hills.
Palos Hills, Illinois Demographic Information
Palos Hills has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Palos Hills demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Palos Hills.
Businesses
As a new Palos Hills entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Palos Hills 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.
Businesses
Should You Franchise?
Visit the business district of Palos Hills and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?
Our recommendation is that you evaluate the possibility of your buying a franchise opportunity. We have many articles on franchises, such as Detecting Franchising Scams. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Pizzeria Venti and Stanley Steemer International, Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Bookstore Franchises and Personal Services Franchises.
Note on Palos Hills Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Palos Hills, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
Forming a Company in Palos Hills, Illinois
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.
When forming a company, you will choose from many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating 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. If you are starting a business in Illinois, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Illinois. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
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 Palos Hills, Illinois, our web page covering Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
Having a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.
If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read Business Plan Software. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Illinois.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Obtaining startup financing for your Palos Hills business will be harder than you might expect. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
On the bright side, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled How Equity Dilution Works.
For Palos Hills entrepreneurs who need startup capital, we have assembled a List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Palos Hills, Illinois, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Illinois universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your learning is to investigate networking groups or organizations in which Palos Hills entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
What's Next?
Most new Palos Hills businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Palos Hills and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Palos Hills, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Palos Hills, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Palos Hills.
- Resources for Palos Hills, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Palos Hills entrepreneurs.
- Illinois Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Illinois.
- Illinois Small Business Development Center - Illinois Small Business Development Centers located throughout the state provide assistance to new and existing small businesses.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Illinois
Starting a Business in Palos Heights
Starting a Business in Pana
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Illinois
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs