Kansas Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Smith Center, Kansas
Thinking about starting a business in Smith Center, Kansas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Smith Center.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Before quitting your day job, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Smith Center. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- 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. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
Smith Center, Kansas Demographic Information
Smith Center has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Smith Center demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Smith Center.
Businesses
As a new Smith Center entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Smith Center 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
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 need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Smith Center, it's very important that you make sure no other Kansas company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Smith Center, Kansas
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating 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 Kansas, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Kansas. 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 Where to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Smith Center, Kansas, our information on Incorporating in Kansas may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Kansas.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
Creating a business plan is essential in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Kansas.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Smith Center, Kansas, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Kansas universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking organizations for Smith Center entrepreneurs.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Smith Center. 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 Smith Center businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Smith Center 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 Smith Center, Kansas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Smith Center.
- Resources for Smith Center, Kansas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Smith Center entrepreneurs.
- Kansas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kansas.
- Kansas Small Business Development Center - The KSBDC Network provides Kansas entrepreneurs and small business owners with knowledge, tools and resources to enhance their success. Contact them and they will help you identify your business needs and guide you toward opportunities and solutions.
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