Alabama Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Athens, Alabama
Need help starting a business in Athens, Alabama? We've got the information you need to open a business in Athens.
Are You Ready for Life as an Owner?
Being an entrepreneur is demanding, much more challenging than working as an employee. Are you certain you are ready to take on this challenge?
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 Athens. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- Take a look at Starting a Company. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
- Talk it over with a close friend or partner. 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.
What Business Are You Starting?
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 Opening a Computer Hardware & Supplies Business guide or our Starting a Cotton & Cotton Goods Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.
Don't forget that you are starting a business in Athens. Some businesses will do better in Athens than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Athens demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Athens, Alabama Demographic Information
Athens has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Athens demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Athens.
Businesses
As a new Athens entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Athens 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
Forming a Company in Athens, Alabama
It's essential that you form your business as a legal structure. 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.
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. If you are starting a business in Alabama, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alabama. As it turns out, 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 are many nuances to forming a company. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Athens, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.
Marketing Your New Business
To rise above the crowd in Athens and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Local Search is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
How to Sell
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Athens business, you need to focus on sales.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
Selling Products on eBay is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.
Never Give Up
As an entrepreneur in Athens, 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 Athens businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Athens 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 Athens, Alabama
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Athens.
- Resources for Athens, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Athens 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.
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