Virginia Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Fort Lee, Virginia

Thinking about starting a business in Fort Lee, Virginia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Fort Lee.

Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?

Before quitting your day job, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

  • Grab a meal or cofee with other entrepreneurs in Fort Lee. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
  • Take a look at The Entrepreneurial Personality. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
  • Reach out to a trusted acquaintance. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Fort Lee, Virginia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
72
5-9 Employees
36
10-19 Employees
36
20-49 Employees
24
50-99 Employees
0
100-249 Employees
24
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Fort Lee Businesses
192

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

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Barber Shops
1
Computer Facilities Management Services
1
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
2
Engineering Services
1
Facilities Support Services
1
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Janitorial Services
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
3
Nail Salons
1
Optical Goods Stores
1
Travel Agencies
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1

Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?

Browse the Yellow Pages for Fort Lee and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. Is it perhaps smarter to franchise a business instead of doing it from scratch.

Our recommendation is that you investigate buying a franchise. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including How Franchises Work. 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 Puroclean and FranchiseInc!. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cartridge Recycling Franchises and Handyman Services Franchises.

Note on Fort Lee Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Fort Lee.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Raising money to fund your new Fort Lee business is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Only Idiots Send Venture Capitalists Business Plans.

For Fort Lee entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, browse our List of Virginia Angel Investors and our List of Virginia Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

To rise above the crowd in Fort Lee and build your business, you need a solid marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Facebook Advertising is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Ramping Up Sales

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Fort Lee or are selling to customers throughout Virginia, 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.

Anticipating Prospect Responses is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Moving Forward

You have a dream -- starting a business in Fort Lee. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Fort Lee and throughout the United States . 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 Fort Lee, Virginia

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

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Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

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