Virginia Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Richmond, Virginia
Contemplating starting a business in Richmond, Virginia? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Richmond.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Richmond. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
Richmond, Virginia Demographic Information
Richmond has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Richmond demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Richmond.
Businesses
As a new Richmond entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Richmond 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
Choosing 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: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Richmond, it's very important that you make sure your company name has not already been claimed by another Virginia business.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
A business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Indeed, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Expert Advice on Business Plans. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Virginia.
Getting the Word Out About Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Richmond and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.
You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. How to Market to Accountants and CPAs is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
The Art of Selling
Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Richmond or are selling to customers throughout Virginia, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Landing Big Customers is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
Good business owners know that they don't know everything.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Richmond, Virginia, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Virginia universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any Richmond networking organizations.
Richmond Entrepreneur Interviews
We're compiling a number of interviews with Richmond entrepreneurs. Enjoy!
Now It's Up To You
You have a dream -- starting a business in Richmond. 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.
We are here to help Richmond businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Richmond 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 Richmond, Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Richmond.
- Resources for Richmond, Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Richmond entrepreneurs.
- Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Virginia.
- Virginia Small Business Development Center - Virginia Small Business Development Centers offer professional business counseling, training and information resources to help grow and strengthen Virginia businesses.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Virginia
Starting a Business in Richlands
Starting a Business in Roanoke
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Virginia
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
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