Mississippi Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Macon, Mississippi

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

Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?

Most new businesses do not succeed, in part because the business owner did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Macon. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
  • We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Choosing the Right Company to Start

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Good 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 Opening an Insurance Retirement Annuities & Pension Business guide or our Starting an Outboard Motors Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.

Remember that starting a business in Macon has some implications. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Macon. Study Macon demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Macon, Mississippi Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1145
5-9 Employees
465
10-19 Employees
285
20-49 Employees
180
50-99 Employees
75
100-249 Employees
30
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Macon Businesses
2180

As a new Macon entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Macon 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
Ambulance Services
1
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
2
Beauty Salons
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Child Day Care Services
2
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Consumer Lending
1
Convenience Stores
1
Electric Power Distribution
1
Elementary and Secondary Schools
3
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Florists
1
Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing
1
Full-Service Restaurants
1
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Hardware Stores
1
Homes for the Elderly
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
1
Interior Design Services
1
Janitorial Services
2
Jewelry Stores
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
2
Logging
5
Machine Shops
1
Masonry Contractors
1
Meat Markets
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Offices of Bank Holding Companies
1
Offices of Dentists
2
Offices of Lawyers
2
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Roofing Contractors
1
Sawmills
1
Tire Dealers
2
Truck Trailer Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2
Wood Preservation
1

Forming a Company in Macon, Mississippi

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

When forming a company, you will choose from many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

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 Mississippi, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Mississippi. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. 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 Offshore Company Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Macon, Mississippi, our web page covering Incorporating in Mississippi may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Mississippi.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is critical 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. Starting a business without a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read The Art of the Executive Summary. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Mississippi.

Startup Financing Basics

Raising money to fund your new Macon business will be harder than you might expect. 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 finding startup capital, such as Choosing VC Firms.

For Macon entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, we have assembled a List of Mississippi Angel Investors and our List of Mississippi Venture Capital Firms.

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

Good business owners recognize that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Macon, Mississippi, you should investigate some of the many programs available at nearby Mississippi universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Macon entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Never Give Up

Most new Macon businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Macon businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Macon, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Macon, Mississippi

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

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Mississippi

Starting a Business in Lucedale
Starting a Business in Magee

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

 

 

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