Virginia Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Charlottesville, Virginia
Thinking about starting a business in Charlottesville, Virginia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Charlottesville.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
Running your own business is hard work, much more challenging than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Charlottesville. 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.
Which Business to Choose?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Good Business Ideas.
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 an Electric Motors & Generators Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide or our How to Start a Wood Pellets Business guide.
Remember that your new startup will be located in Charlottesville. Some businesses will do better in Charlottesville than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Charlottesville demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Charlottesville, Virginia Demographic Information
Charlottesville has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Charlottesville demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Charlottesville.
Businesses
As a new Charlottesville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Charlottesville 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 Franchising Opportunities?
As you drive around Charlottesville, you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. But is franchising the right option for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Get More Franchisees. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Blind Brokers Network and Charles Wells - UK. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Consulting Franchises and Franchises that Serve Liquor.
Note on Charlottesville Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Charlottesville.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Charlottesville Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Virginia. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Charlottesville.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Building Up Your Sales
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Charlottesville business, you need to focus on sales.
Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Hiring Good Sales People offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Learning More About Entrepreneurship
Successful entrepreneurs know that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Virginia universities, colleges and community colleges. We also suggest you look into networking organizations for Charlottesville entrepreneurs.
Charlottesville Entrepreneur Interviews
We're compiling a number of interviews with Charlottesville entrepreneurs. Enjoy!
Moving Forward
As an entrepreneur in Charlottesville, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Charlottesville and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Charlottesville 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 Charlottesville, Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Charlottesville.
- Resources for Charlottesville, Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Charlottesville entrepreneurs.
- Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Virginia.
- Virginia Small Business Development Center - Virginia Small Business Development Centers offer professional business counseling, training and information resources to help grow and strengthen Virginia businesses.
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