Tennessee Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Hendersonville, Tennessee

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

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

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

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Hendersonville. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
  • We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

Hendersonville, Tennessee Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
4030
5-9 Employees
1464
10-19 Employees
930
20-49 Employees
540
50-99 Employees
126
100-249 Employees
114
250-499 Employees
12
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Hendersonville Businesses
7216

As a new Hendersonville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Hendersonville 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
Architectural Services
1
Art Dealers
1
Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing
2
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
4
Automotive Transmission Repair
2
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
3
Blind and Shade Manufacturing
1
Boat Dealers
4
Book Publishers
1
Book Stores
1
Bowling Centers
1
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Business Associations
1
Cafeterias
1
Car Washes
3
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
4
Caterers
4
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
16
Claims Adjusting
3
Clothing Accessories Stores
1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Collection Agencies
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
2
Commercial Photography
1
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Computer Systems Design Services
5
Construction Machinery Manufacturing
1
Consumer Lending
4
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
1
Convenience Stores
2
Couriers
1
Credit Bureaus
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
6
Dental Laboratories
2
Digital Printing
2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
2
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
3
Discount Department Stores
4
Drafting Services
1
Educational Support Services
1
Electrical Contractors
21
Electronic Shopping
1
Elementary and Secondary Schools
2
Engineering Services
4
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
1
Family Clothing Stores
2
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
2
Fine Arts Schools
4
Finish Carpentry Contractors
3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
6
Floor Covering Stores
5
Flooring Contractors
3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
2
Food Service Contractors
1
Framing Contractors
5
Freight Transportation Arrangement
1
Full-Service Restaurants
34
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Merchant Wholesalers
1
General Automotive Repair
16
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
5
Glass and Glazing Contractors
1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Hardware Stores
2
Historical Sites
1
Home Centers
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
2
Home Health Care Services
1
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Homes for the Elderly
4
Industrial Mold Manufacturing
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
30
Interior Design Services
3
Investment Advice
1
Iron and Steel Mills
1
Janitorial Services
14
Jewelry Stores
4
Landscaping Services
16
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
28
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
1
Machine Shops
6
Mail-Order Houses
1
Marinas
3
Masonry Contractors
3
Media Representatives
1
Mobile Food Services
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
2
Motion Picture and Video Production
3
Motor Vehicle Towing
2
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Musical Groups and Artists
11
Musical Instrument Manufacturing
2
Nail Salons
2
New Car Dealers
2
New Housing Operative Builders
5
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
6
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
11
Offices of Chiropractors
5
Offices of Dentists
24
Offices of Lawyers
18
Offices of Optometrists
2
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
5
Packing and Crating
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
6
Parking Lots and Garages
1
Payroll Services
1
Periodical Publishers
2
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
2
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Plastics Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing
1
Portfolio Management
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
2
Private Mail Centers
2
Professional Employer Organizations
1
Professional Organizations
2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
10
Real Estate Investment Trusts
2
Record Production
1
Remediation Services
3
Residential Property Managers
6
Residential Remodelers
4
Roofing Contractors
4
Sales Financing
1
Securities Brokerage
4
Security Guards and Patrol Services
1
Shoe Stores
3
Siding Contractors
2
Sign Manufacturing
3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
5
Solid Waste Collection
2
Sound Recording Studios
2
Sporting Goods Stores
5
Sports and Recreation Instruction
3
Tax Preparation Services
4
Television Broadcasting
3
Temporary Shelters
1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
1
Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers
1
Tire Dealers
4
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
4
Tobacco Stores
2
Travel Agencies
3
Used Car Dealers
7
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Vending Machine Operators
1
Veterinary Services
6
Video Tape and Disc Rental
5
Window Treatment Stores
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2
Women's Clothing Stores
2

Company Formation in Hendersonville, Tennessee

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will insulate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation 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 Tennessee, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Tennessee. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 LLC Advantages. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Hendersonville, Tennessee, our web page covering Incorporating in Tennessee may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Tennessee.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

Having a business plan is essential in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Software. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Tennessee.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Obtaining startup financing for your Hendersonville business is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.

The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Realistic Debt Financing Options.

For Hendersonville entrepreneurs who need startup capital, browse our List of Tennessee Angel Investors and our List of Tennessee Venture Capital Firms.

How to Sell

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Hendersonville or are selling to customers throughout Tennessee, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Selling Products on eBay offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Now It's Up To You

You have a dream -- starting a business in Hendersonville. 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 Hendersonville and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Hendersonville, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Hendersonville, Tennessee

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

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Tennessee

Starting a Business in Henderson
Starting a Business in Hermitage

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

 

 

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