Michigan Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Oxford, Michigan
Thinking about starting a business in Oxford, Michigan? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Oxford.
Oxford, Michigan Demographic Information
Oxford has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Oxford demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Oxford.
Businesses
As a new Oxford entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Oxford 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 Oxford Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Michigan. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Oxford.
If you are headed down the path of buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Naming the Company
Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.
Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Oxford, it's imperative that you check now that no other Michigan company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Oxford, Michigan
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your 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. 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 Michigan, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Michigan. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as LLC Advantages. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Oxford, Michigan, our information on Incorporating in Michigan may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Michigan.
Startup Financing Basics
Getting your Oxford business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
Take advantage of our many articles on securing funding, such as Realistic Debt Financing Options.
For Oxford entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, you'll want to take a look at our List of Michigan Angel Investors and our List of Michigan Venture Capital Firms.
Promoting Your New Company
To rise above the crowd in Oxford and accelerate your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. How to Write a Marketing Plan discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Ramping Up Sales
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Oxford business to do well.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
The Art of Customer Referrals offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Next Steps
Most new Oxford 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 Oxford businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Oxford entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Oxford, Michigan
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Oxford.
- Resources for Oxford, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Oxford entrepreneurs.
- Michigan Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Michigan.
- Michigan Small Business Development Center - This organization supports 12 regional offices and over 30 satellite offices, each providing counseling and training to Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan. Services to entrepreneurs are offered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
More Startup Articles for Michigan Cities
Starting a Business in Owosso
Starting a Business in Parma
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Michigan
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs