Washington Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Spokane, Washington
Are you starting a business in Spokane, Washington? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Spokane.
Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Spokane. 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.
Spokane, Washington Demographic Information
Spokane has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Spokane demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Spokane.
Businesses
As a new Spokane entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Spokane 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
Naming the Company
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: Naming a Business.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in Spokane, it's very important that you make sure your company name has not already been claimed by another Washington business.
Forming a Company in Spokane, Washington
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.
When forming a company, you will decide among many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporation 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 Washington, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Washington. As it turns out, 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 Getting an EIN. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Spokane, Washington, our web page covering Incorporating in Washington may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Washington.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
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. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading The Art of the Executive Summary. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Washington.
How to Sell
Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Spokane or are selling to customers throughout Washington, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
Sales Forecasting offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Never Give Up
You have a dream -- starting a business in Spokane. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Spokane and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Spokane, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Spokane, Washington
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Spokane.
- Resources for Spokane, Washington Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Spokane entrepreneurs.
- Washington Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Washington.
- Washington Small Business Development Center - Washington Small Business Development Centers promote economic vitality by providing advice, training and research to Washington entrepreneurs and existing Washington businesses.
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