Alabama Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Fort Payne, Alabama

Are you starting a business in Fort Payne, Alabama? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Fort Payne.

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading 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 How to Start a Concessionaires Equipment & Supplies Business guide or our Starting a Health Care Consultants Commercial & Industrial Business guide.

Don't forget that your new business will be in Fort Payne. Some businesses will do better in Fort Payne than others. Make sure you fully understand Fort Payne demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Fort Payne, Alabama Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
932
5-9 Employees
351
10-19 Employees
267
20-49 Employees
213
50-99 Employees
69
100-249 Employees
51
250-499 Employees
27
500-999 Employees
6
1000+ Employees
0
All Fort Payne Businesses
1916

As a new Fort Payne entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Fort Payne 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
Amusement Arcades
1
Architectural Services
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
7
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
6
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Book Stores
1
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Broadwoven Fabric Mills
1
Business Associations
2
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Car Washes
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
5
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
2
Computer and Software Stores
2
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Consumer Lending
7
Convenience Stores
2
Credit Unions
3
Dental Laboratories
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
2
Discount Department Stores
1
Document Preparation Services
1
Drafting Services
3
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Electronic Shopping
1
Engineering Services
3
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
3
Fine Arts Schools
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
2
Florists
2
Footwear Merchant Wholesalers
2
Freight Transportation Arrangement
2
Full-Service Restaurants
13
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
3
Furniture Stores
2
General Automotive Repair
3
General Freight Trucking, Local
4
General Rental Centers
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
4
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
2
Hardware Stores
2
Home Centers
3
Home Health Equipment Rental
2
Homes for the Elderly
2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
10
Janitorial Services
1
Jewelry Stores
4
Landscaping Services
5
Limited-Service Restaurants
31
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers
1
Logging
2
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Masonry Contractors
3
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing
1
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Musical Groups and Artists
6
New Car Dealers
3
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
5
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Lawyers
26
Offices of Optometrists
3
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Outerwear Knitting Mills
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
3
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Plastics Bag Manufacturing
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Public Relations Agencies
1
Radio Stations
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Residential Remodelers
1
Sales Financing
1
Savings Institutions
1
Schiffli Machine Embroidery
1
Securities Brokerage
3
Sheer Hosiery Mills
1
Shoe Stores
3
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Solid Waste Collection
2
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Tax Preparation Services
2
Temporary Help Services
1
Used Car Dealers
5
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Veterinary Services
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Weft Knit Fabric Mills
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
3

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Fort Payne Business?

We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Alabama. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Fort Payne.

If you are headed down the path of buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Picking a Business Name

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.

Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Fort Payne, it's very important that you make sure no other Alabama company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Fort Payne, Alabama

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. The principal advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

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 Alabama, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alabama. 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 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 Corporate Formalities. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Fort Payne, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Fort Payne customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.

You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Advertising on Google 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.

Moving Forward

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Fort Payne and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Fort Payne entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Fort Payne, Alabama

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

More Business Startup Guides for Alabama

Starting a Business in Foley
Starting a Business in Fort Rucker

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Alabama
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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