Alabama Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Robertsdale, Alabama
Are you starting a business in Robertsdale, Alabama? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Robertsdale.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. We recommend that you 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 a Ventilating Systems Cleaning Business guide or our Starting a Large Animal Veterinarians Business guide.
Remember that you are opening your new business in Robertsdale. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Robertsdale. Only by spending some time analyzing Robertsdale demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Robertsdale, Alabama Demographic Information
Robertsdale has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Robertsdale demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Robertsdale.
Businesses
As a new Robertsdale entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Robertsdale 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
Forming a Company in Robertsdale, Alabama
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. The main advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.
The entity you form can be 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 Alabama, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Alabama. In fact, you can 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 Subchapter S Corporations. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Robertsdale, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Alabama.
Raising Capital for Your Venture
Getting your Robertsdale business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Bank Credit Lines.
For Robertsdale entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Alabama Angel Investors and our List of Alabama Venture Capital Firms.
Promoting Your New Company
To grow your Robertsdale business, you need a great marketing plan.
We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Marketing Basics is an article that will generate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Now It's Up To You
As an entrepreneur in Robertsdale, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Robertsdale and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Robertsdale, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Robertsdale, Alabama
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Robertsdale.
- Resources for Robertsdale, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Robertsdale entrepreneurs.
- Alabama Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alabama.
- Alabama Small Business Development Center - Alabama's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) counsels and trains business people in a wide variety of business topics and provides comprehensive information services and access to experts in many fields. Counseling is provided free of charge to all Alabama small business owners.
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