Pennsylvania Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Thinking about starting a business in Allentown, Pennsylvania? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Allentown.
Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?
Before quitting your day job, take inventory of your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Allentown. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
What Business Are You Starting?
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. We recommend that you read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Canoe & Kayak Dealership guide or our Opening a Used Refrigerators & Freezers Commercial Business guide.
Don't forget that you are starting a business in Allentown. If Allentown already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Study Allentown demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Allentown, Pennsylvania Demographic Information
Allentown has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Allentown demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Allentown.
Businesses
As a new Allentown entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Allentown 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
Is Franchising a Better Option?
Visit the business district of Allentown and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. So, it probably makes sense for you to consider franchising too.
We highly recommend you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchise Law. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can find franchise opportunities by browsing our Franchise Opportunities Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Samurai Sam's Teriyaki Grill and Dyno - UK. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Carpet Retail Franchises and Home Inspection Franchises.
Note on Allentown Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Allentown, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
Having a business plan is essential to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.
To learn more about business plans, read Reasons to Write a Business Plan. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Pennsylvania.
Startup Financing Basics
Getting your Allentown business the capital it needs to succeed 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.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Angel Investors.
For Allentown entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Pennsylvania Angel Investors and our List of Pennsylvania Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Company
Whether your goal is to attract Allentown customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.
You can learn all about marketing on our site. Print Advertising Costs is a good read to get your marketing creativity flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Allentown. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Allentown and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Allentown, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Allentown.
- Resources for Allentown, Pennsylvania Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Allentown entrepreneurs.
- Pennsylvania Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center - Pennsylvania SBDCs help aspiring entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses, help small firms expand, and provide the information every business person needs to make critical decisions. There is no charge for their assistance and their free help can make the difference between business success and failure.
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