Minnesota Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Madison, Minnesota
Thinking about starting a business in Madison, Minnesota? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Madison.
Madison, Minnesota Demographic Information
Madison has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Madison demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Madison.
Businesses
As a new Madison entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Madison 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
Should You Buy an Existing Madison Business?
We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Minnesota. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Madison.
If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Picking a Company 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.
Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Madison, it's very important that you make sure no Minnesota company has already registered the company name you have selected.
Forming a Company in Madison, Minnesota
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield 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.
Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Minnesota, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Minnesota. As it turns out, 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Madison, Minnesota, our web page covering Incorporating in Minnesota may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Minnesota.
Getting the Word Out About Your New Business
To grow your Madison business, you need a solid marketing plan.
We have some great resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Point-of-Sale Displays is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Building Up Your Sales
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Madison or are selling to customers throughout Minnesota, 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. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Cold Call Selling offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Madison. 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 Madison and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Madison, Minnesota
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Madison.
- Resources for Madison, Minnesota Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Madison entrepreneurs.
- Minnesota Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Minnesota.
- Minnesota Small Business Development Center - The Minnesota Small Business Development Centers provide no-cost, professional business consulting to Minnesota small businesses covering a variety of business needs.
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