Kentucky Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Thinking about starting a business in Bowling Green, Kentucky? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Bowling Green.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Bowling Green. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- You should read Starting a Company. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Talk it over with a close friend or partner. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Good Business Ideas.
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 Valves & Fittings Retail Business guide or our Starting a Laser Surgeons Business guide.
Always keep in mind that you are starting a business in Bowling Green. Some businesses will do better in Bowling Green than others. A critical consideration is whether Bowling Green demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Bowling Green, Kentucky Demographic Information
Bowling Green has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Bowling Green demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Bowling Green.
Businesses
As a new Bowling Green entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Bowling Green 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
Choosing a Business Name
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Bowling Green, it's very important that you make sure your company name has not already been claimed by another Kentucky business.
Company Formation in Bowling Green, Kentucky
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
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. Just because you are starting a business in Kentucky, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Kentucky. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.
There's a lot to know about forming a company. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Bowling Green, Kentucky, our web page covering Incorporating in Kentucky may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Kentucky.
Bring in Revenues
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Bowling Green or are selling to customers throughout Kentucky, 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. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Good Sales Strategies 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.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Bowling Green. 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.
We are here to help Bowling Green businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Bowling Green, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Bowling Green.
- Resources for Bowling Green, Kentucky Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Bowling Green entrepreneurs.
- Kentucky Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kentucky.
- Kentucky Small Business Development Center - The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) has been assisting Kentucky small business community for more than 25 years. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges, and the private sector.
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