West Virginia Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Bluefield, West Virginia
Thinking about starting a business in Bluefield, West Virginia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Bluefield.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Finding Your Niche in Life.
To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Vending Machines Wholesale & Manufacturer guide or our Starting a Medical Office Buildings Management Business guide.
Remember that your new startup will be located in Bluefield. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Bluefield. Don't forget to review Bluefield demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Bluefield, West Virginia Demographic Information
Bluefield has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Bluefield demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Bluefield.
Businesses
As a new Bluefield entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Bluefield 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
What About Buying an Existing Bluefield Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in West Virginia. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Bluefield.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Buying a Business.
Forming a Company in Bluefield, West Virginia
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 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 West Virginia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in West Virginia. As it turns out, you can 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 Corporate Formalities. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Bluefield, West Virginia, our information on Incorporating in West Virginia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in West Virginia.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Getting your Bluefield business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Attracting Investors.
For Bluefield entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, we have assembled a List of West Virginia Angel Investors and our List of West Virginia Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Company
To grow your Bluefield business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your succeeding.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Advertising in Magazines is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Bring in Revenues
Being able to sell is fundamental to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Bluefield or are selling to customers throughout West Virginia, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Closing Sales Techniques offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Bluefield. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Bluefield and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Bluefield, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Bluefield, West Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Bluefield.
- Resources for Bluefield, West Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Bluefield 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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