North Carolina Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Hickory, North Carolina
Are you starting a business in Hickory, North Carolina? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Hickory.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
Most new businesses don't make it, in part because the founder did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Hickory. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
- Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Good Business Ideas.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Furniture Caning Supplies Business guide or our Starting a Music Copyists Business guide.
Remember that you are opening your new business in Hickory. Some businesses will do better in Hickory than others. Don't forget to review Hickory demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Hickory, North Carolina Demographic Information
Hickory has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Hickory demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Hickory.
Businesses
As a new Hickory entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Hickory 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
Forming a Company in Hickory, North Carolina
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.
Incorporating 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. If you are starting a business in North Carolina, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in North Carolina. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Subchapter S Corporations. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Hickory, North Carolina, our information on Incorporating in North Carolina may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in North Carolina.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
Creating a business plan is essential to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan
If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in North Carolina.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Hickory business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as How Much Venture Capital Is There?.
For Hickory entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of North Carolina Angel Investors and our List of North Carolina Venture Capital Firms.
Building Up Your Sales
Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Hickory business to do well.
Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
Closing Sales Techniques is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Moving Forward
Most new Hickory businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Hickory 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 Hickory, North Carolina
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Hickory.
- Resources for Hickory, North Carolina Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Hickory entrepreneurs.
- North Carolina Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in North Carolina.
- North Carolina SBA - With offices in Charlotte, Wilmington, Raleigh and Asheville, the SBA organizes many events and provides useful resources for new entrepreneurs and growing businesses throughout North Carolina.
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