Alabama Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Selma, Alabama
Thinking about starting a business in Selma, Alabama? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Selma.
Selma, Alabama Demographic Information
Selma has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Selma demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Selma.
Businesses
As a new Selma entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Selma 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
Picking a Company Name
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Selma, it's very important that you make sure your company name has not already been claimed by another Alabama business.
Forming a Company in Selma, Alabama
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. The principal advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.
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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Alabama, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Alabama. As it turns out, you can 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 Corporate Formalities. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Selma, Alabama, our web page covering Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Mistakes. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Alabama.
Letting the World Know You Exist
To grow your Selma business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Advertising in Magazines is a good read to get your marketing creativity flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Learning More About Entrepreneurship
The best entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.
With your business being located in Selma, Alabama, you should get information on some of the learning programs at local Alabama educational institutions. You should also check if there are any networking organizations for Selma entrepreneurs.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Selma. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Selma businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Selma, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Selma, Alabama
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Selma.
- Resources for Selma, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Selma 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.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Alabama
Starting a Business in Scottsboro
Starting a Business in Stevenson
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Alabama
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs