Arizona Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Phoenix, Arizona
Are you starting a business in Phoenix, Arizona? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Phoenix.
Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?
Most startup ventures fail, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Phoenix. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Have a candid conversation with friends and family. 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.
What Business Are You Starting?
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 Free 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 Opening a Real Estate Tax Search Business guide or our Starting a Women's Accessories Retail Business guide.
Don't forget that starting a business in Phoenix has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Phoenix than others. Study Phoenix demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Phoenix, Arizona Demographic Information
Phoenix has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Phoenix demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Phoenix.
Businesses
As a new Phoenix entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Phoenix 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
Is Franchising a Better Option?
Examine a list of Phoenix businesses and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?
Most business experts recommend that you consider franchising as an option. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including Evaluating Franchise Opportunities. 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.
Representative franchise opportunities include Pro One Janitorial and Multi Menu. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Candy and Chocolate Franchises and IT Training Franchises.
Note on Phoenix Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Phoenix.
Company Formation in Phoenix, Arizona
It's very important 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 traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Arizona, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Arizona. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. 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 Nevada Incorporation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Phoenix, Arizona, our information on Incorporating in Arizona may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Arizona.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
Creating a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan
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 Arizona.
Some Interesting Phoenix Entrepreneurs
We're compiling a number of interviews with Phoenix entrepreneurs. Enjoy!
- Interview with SECURaGLOBE Solutions Founder Rene Beaulieu
- Interview with Omniac Education Founder Mark Truman
- Interview with SEEK-Consultants Founder Stacee Amos
- Interview with Jaclyn Foutz, Founder of Human Tribe Project
Never Give Up
Most new Phoenix 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.
We are here to help Phoenix businesses to be successful. 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 Phoenix, Arizona
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Phoenix.
- Resources for Phoenix, Arizona Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Phoenix entrepreneurs.
- Arizona Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Arizona.
- Arizona Small Business Development Center - Arizona�s Small Business Development Center Network is an innovative partnership between the state�s ten community college districts and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The network is the largest and most accessible source of assistance to Arizona businesses with fewer than 200 employees.
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