Texas Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Katy, Texas
Are you starting a business in Katy, Texas? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Katy.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.
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 Starting a Computer Storage Devices Manufacturers Business guide or our Opening a Specialty Warehousing & Storage Business guide.
Remember that Katy is the place where you are starting a business. Some businesses will do better in Katy than others. Study Katy demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Katy, Texas Demographic Information
Katy has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Katy demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Katy.
Businesses
As a new Katy entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Katy 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Katy Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Texas. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Katy.
If you are headed down the path of buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Company.
On a final note, given that you are planning on starting a business in Katy, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only Texas company using the business name you have chosen.
Forming a Company in Katy, Texas
It's essential 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 corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
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. If you are starting a business in Texas, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Texas. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Nevada Incorporation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Katy, Texas, our information on Incorporating in Texas may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Texas.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Katy customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Working with an Advertising Agency is a good read to get your marketing thoughts flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
How to Sell
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Katy or are selling to customers throughout Texas, 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. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Why Salespeople Fail offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Katy. 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 Katy and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Katy, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Katy, Texas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Katy.
- Resources for Katy, Texas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Katy entrepreneurs.
- Texas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Texas.
- Houston, Texas Small Business Development Center - Serving 32 counties in Southeast Texas through 14 business consulting and training centers, the Small Business Development Center Network contributes to the growth and prosperity of the Texas Gulf Coast communities.
- North Texas Small Business Development Center - The NTSBDC Network promotes small business success by providing management education.
- Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center - The Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center was established with Texas Tech University in 1986. This regional program serves over ninety thousand square miles including ninety-five counties with a population base of approximately 1.8 million people. This region is serviced by six centers located in Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland/Odessa, Abilene, Stephenville, and Wichita Falls.
- South-West Texas Border�SBDC Network Texas Small Business Development Center - The South-West Texas Border Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides consulting and technical assistance to the small business community.
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