West Virginia Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Beckley, West Virginia
Contemplating starting a business in Beckley, West Virginia? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Beckley.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
An entrepreneurial life is difficult, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you sure 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.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Beckley. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Have a candid conversation with friends and family. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.
Beckley, West Virginia Demographic Information
Beckley has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Beckley demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Beckley.
Businesses
As a new Beckley entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Beckley 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 Beckley Business?
We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in West Virginia. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Beckley.
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.
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 opening a business in Beckley, it's critical that you ensure that no other West Virginia company is using the business name you want to use.
Make Sure You Have a Business Plan
A business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in West Virginia.
Marketing Your New Startup
To rise above the crowd in Beckley and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your business achieving its goals.
You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Advertising Campaigns is an article that will generate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Moving Forward
As an entrepreneur in Beckley, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Beckley and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Beckley, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Beckley, West Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Beckley.
- Resources for Beckley, West Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Beckley entrepreneurs.
- West Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in West Virginia.
- West Virginia Small Business Development Center - The West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC) promotes economic development through a program of practical, interrelated services, providing assistance to existing West Virginia small businesses and the emerging West Virginia entrepreneur.
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