Illinois Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Rantoul, Illinois
Are you starting a business in Rantoul, Illinois? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Rantoul.
Rantoul, Illinois Demographic Information
Rantoul has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Rantoul demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Rantoul.
Businesses
As a new Rantoul entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Rantoul 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
Choosing a Company Name
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 should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Rantoul, it's imperative that you check now that you will be the only Illinois company using the business name you have chosen.
Company Formation in Rantoul, Illinois
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate 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. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Illinois. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Registered Agents. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Rantoul, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Find Sample Business Plans Online. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Illinois.
Marketing Your New Venture
To grow your Rantoul business, you need a excellent marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Working with an Advertising Agency discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Successful business owners know that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Rantoul, Illinois, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Illinois universities, colleges and community colleges. We also recommend you look into networking groups or organizations in which Rantoul entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Next Steps
Most new Rantoul 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 Rantoul and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Rantoul, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Rantoul, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Rantoul.
- Resources for Rantoul, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Rantoul 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.
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