Alabama Business Startup Guides

Open a Business in Troy, Alabama

Need help starting a business in Troy, Alabama? We've got the information you need to open a business in Troy.

Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

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 Troy. 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.

Troy, Alabama Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
12045
5-9 Employees
5220
10-19 Employees
3330
20-49 Employees
2475
50-99 Employees
585
100-249 Employees
405
250-499 Employees
270
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
45
All Troy Businesses
24375

As a new Troy entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Troy 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
Ambulance Services
2
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
7
Barber Shops
1
Beauty Salons
7
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
1
Book Stores
2
Business Associations
1
Cable and Other Program Distribution
2
Cafeterias
1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
1
Caterers
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
3
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Consumer Lending
6
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
2
Convenience Stores
5
Custom Compounding of Purchased Resins
1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Educational Support Services
2
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
6
Engineering Services
4
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
2
Family Clothing Stores
6
Family Planning Centers
1
Fine Arts Schools
2
Finish Carpentry Contractors
2
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
2
Food Service Contractors
2
Freight Transportation Arrangement
3
Full-Service Restaurants
12
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
4
Furniture Stores
3
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
2
General Rental Centers
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Graphic Design Services
1
Home Centers
1
Home Health Care Services
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Household Appliance Stores
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
14
Interior Design Services
1
Janitorial Services
3
Jewelry Stores
1
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
4
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
5
Limited-Service Restaurants
23
Logging
6
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
2
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Miscellaneous Intermediation
2
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing
1
Motorcycle Dealers
2
New Car Dealers
5
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
2
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
3
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Lawyers
8
Offices of Optometrists
3
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
3
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
6
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
4
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Poultry Processing
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Retail Bakeries
1
Septic Tank and Related Services
1
Shoe Stores
3
Site Preparation Contractors
2
Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing
1
Solid Waste Landfill
1
Sporting Goods Stores
4
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Tax Preparation Services
2
Timber Tract Operations
1
Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers
2
Tire Dealers
6
Used Car Dealers
2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
3
Video Tape and Disc Rental
4
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2

Is Buying an Existing Troy Business a Good Strategy?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Alabama. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Troy.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Company Formation in Troy, Alabama

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation 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. Just because you are starting a business in Alabama, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Alabama. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Offshore Company Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Troy, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.

Ramping Up Sales

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Troy business, you need to focus on sales.

Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Why Salespeople Fail is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

The best entrepreneurs know that they need to continually improve.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Troy, Alabama, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Alabama educational institutions. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Troy entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

What's Next?

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Troy, Alabama

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

  • Resources for Troy, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Troy 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.

More Business Startup Guides for Alabama

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Starting a Business in Tuscaloosa

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