Georgia Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Thomaston, Georgia

Thinking about starting a business in Thomaston, Georgia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Thomaston.

Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?

Running your own business is hard work, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

  • Grab a meal or cofee with other entrepreneurs in Thomaston. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
  • Take a look at The Entrepreneurial Personality. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
  • Reach out to a trusted acquaintance. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Thomaston, Georgia Demographic Information

Thomaston has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Thomaston demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Thomaston.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
4065
5-9 Employees
1410
10-19 Employees
990
20-49 Employees
405
50-99 Employees
150
100-249 Employees
105
250-499 Employees
15
500-999 Employees
15
1000+ Employees
0
All Thomaston Businesses
7155

As a new Thomaston entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Thomaston 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.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Amusement and Theme Parks
1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
4
Beauty Salons
7
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Broadwoven Fabric Mills
1
Business Associations
2
Cafeterias
1
Car Washes
2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
2
Caterers
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
7
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Consumer Lending
4
Convenience Stores
3
Custom Computer Programming Services
1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Educational Support Services
1
Electrical Contractors
6
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Engineering Services
2
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
2
Family Clothing Stores
1
Fine Arts Schools
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
3
Floor Covering Stores
2
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
3
Folding Paperboard Box Manufacturing
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Framing Contractors
1
Full-Service Restaurants
20
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
4
Furniture Stores
2
General Automotive Repair
6
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
2
Home Health Care Services
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Homes for the Elderly
3
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
10
Jewelry Stores
1
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Land Subdivision
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
15
Logging
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
3
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Musical Instrument Manufacturing
1
New Car Dealers
3
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Nursing Care Facilities
3
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
3
Offices of Chiropractors
5
Offices of Dentists
7
Offices of Lawyers
15
Offices of Optometrists
1
Paging
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
6
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
1
Roofing Contractors
1
Sanitary Paper Product Manufacturing
1
Sawmills
2
Securities Brokerage
1
Shoe Stores
3
Site Preparation Contractors
5
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
1
Software Publishers
1
Solid Waste Collection
1
Solid Waste Landfill
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Sports and Recreation Instruction
2
Telecommunications Resellers
1
Temporary Help Services
2
Temporary Shelters
1
Testing Laboratories
1
Tire Cord and Tire Fabric Mills
1
Tire Dealers
4
Travel Agencies
1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
4
Veterinary Services
2
Video Tape and Disc Rental
3
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
2
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
2
Women's Clothing Stores
4
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing
2

Should You Franchise?

Visit the business district of Thomaston and it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. Evidently, there must be some significant advantages to purchasing a franchise.

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Get More Franchisees. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Representative franchise opportunities include Pretzelmaker Inc. and D'Vine Wine. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cell Phone Franchises and Automotive Services Franchises.

Note on Thomaston Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Thomaston.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Thomaston Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Georgia. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Thomaston.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

Naming the Business

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.

Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Thomaston, it's critical that you ensure that you will be the only Georgia company using the business name you have chosen.

Forming a Company in Thomaston, Georgia

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.

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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Georgia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Georgia. In fact, 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 Incorporation Advice. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Thomaston, Georgia, our information on Incorporating in Georgia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Georgia.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Thomaston business is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as 504 Loans.

For Thomaston entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of Georgia Angel Investors and our List of Georgia Venture Capital Firms.

Never Give Up

As an entrepreneur in Thomaston, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Thomaston businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Thomaston, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Thomaston, Georgia

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Thomaston.

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