South Carolina Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Charleston, South Carolina
Need help starting a business in Charleston, South Carolina? We've got the information you need to open a business in Charleston.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Charleston. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- 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. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Horse Shows Business guide or our How to Start a Snowmobile Trails & Facilities Business guide.
Don't forget that starting a business in Charleston has some implications. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Charleston. A critical consideration is whether Charleston demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Charleston, South Carolina Demographic Information
Charleston has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Charleston demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Charleston.
Businesses
As a new Charleston entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Charleston 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 a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
As you drive around Charleston, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including Franchise Marketing Support. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Your Dollar Store with More and Seekers Coffee House & Cafe. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Rental Franchises and Dating Service Franchises.
Note on Charleston Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Charleston.
Forming a Company in Charleston, South Carolina
It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be 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. If you are starting a business in South Carolina, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in South Carolina. As it turns out, 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 are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as LLC Advantages. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Charleston, South Carolina, our information on Incorporating in South Carolina may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in South Carolina.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Getting your Charleston 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 504 Loans.
For Charleston entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of South Carolina Angel Investors and our List of South Carolina Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Charleston customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Technology Marketing is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Interviews With Charleston Entrepreneurs
We're compiling a number of interviews with Charleston entrepreneurs. Enjoy!
- Interview with Charmed Life Products Founder Leslie Haywood
- Interview with Marcie Jacobs, Founder of StoryClub Games
Now It's Up To You
You have a dream -- starting a business in Charleston. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Charleston and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Charleston 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 Charleston, South Carolina
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Charleston.
- Resources for Charleston, South Carolina Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Charleston entrepreneurs.
- South Carolina Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in South Carolina.
- South Carolina Small Business Development Center - The South Carolina Small Business Development Center provides consulting services to small and medium enterprises through more than 14 locations across the state.
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