Michigan Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Southgate, Michigan
Contemplating starting a business in Southgate, Michigan? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Southgate.
What Business to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. We recommend that you read Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Corporate Gift Baskets Business guide or our Starting a Plotting Services Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Southgate. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Southgate. Make sure you fully understand Southgate demographics before you lock in on your business idea.
Southgate, Michigan Demographic Information
Southgate has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Southgate demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Southgate.
Businesses
As a new Southgate entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Southgate 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 Southgate Business?
We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Michigan. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Southgate.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Selecting a Name For Your Venture
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.
Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?
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 Southgate, it's imperative that you check now that your company name has not already been claimed by another Michigan business.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Raising money to fund your new Southgate business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Angel Investors.
For Southgate entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of Michigan Angel Investors and our List of Michigan Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Southgate and build your business, you need a excellent marketing plan.
We have some useful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Internet Advertising discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
The Art of Selling
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Southgate business to do well.
Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Compensating Sales People is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Moving Forward
Most new Southgate businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Southgate businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Southgate, Michigan
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Southgate.
- Resources for Southgate, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Southgate 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.
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