Opening a Business in Lafayette, Louisiana

Contemplating starting a business in Lafayette, Louisiana? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Lafayette.

What Business to Start

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read 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 Group Insurance Business guide or our Starting a Household Goods Moving & Storage Business guide.

Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Lafayette. Some businesses will do better in Lafayette than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Lafayette demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Lafayette, Louisiana Demographic Information

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

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

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

What About Franchising Opportunities?

As you drive around Lafayette, it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. But is franchising the right option for you?

We highly recommend you investigate buying a franchise. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Franchisees Versus Licensees. 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.

Representative franchise opportunities include Hawaii's Java Kai and Culligan International. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Franchises that Serve Liquor and Hair Styling Franchises.

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

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Lafayette Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Louisiana. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Lafayette.

Before buying a business, be sure 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.

Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Lafayette, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Louisiana business.

Forming a Company in Lafayette, Louisiana

A critical step is ensuring that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.

When forming a company, you will select one of many company types, such as 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 Louisiana, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Louisiana. In fact, you are allowed to 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 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 How to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Lafayette, Louisiana, our web page covering Incorporating in Louisiana may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Louisiana.

Raising Money for Your Startup

Raising money to fund your new Lafayette business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Business Cash Advances.

For Lafayette entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, browse our List of Louisiana Angel Investors and our List of Louisiana Venture Capital Firms.

Next Steps

As an entrepreneur in Lafayette, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Lafayette businesses to be successful. 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 Lafayette, Louisiana

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

• Resources for Lafayette, Louisiana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lafayette entrepreneurs.
• Louisiana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Louisiana.
• Louisiana Small Business Development Center - The Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC Network) provides low- or no-cost guidance and training for small business owners and potential owners.
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