Alabama Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Dothan, Alabama
Thinking about starting a business in Dothan, Alabama? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Dothan.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. We recommend that you read Free Business Ideas.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Measuring & Controlling Devices Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide or our Opening a Special Occasion Photography Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Dothan. Some businesses will do better in Dothan than others. A critical consideration is whether Dothan demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Dothan, Alabama Demographic Information
Dothan has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Dothan demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Dothan.
Businesses
As a new Dothan entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Dothan 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 Dothan, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. 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 Common Franchisee Mistakes. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Mr. Greek Restaurants and New York Burrito-Gourmet Wraps. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Tanning Franchises and Healthcare Services Franchises.
Note on Dothan Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Dothan.
Forming a Company in Dothan, Alabama
It's very important 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.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporation 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 Alabama, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alabama. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Pre-Incorporation Agreements. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Dothan, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.
Marketing Your New Startup
To grow your Dothan business, you need a solid marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Advertising on Google is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Ramping Up Sales
Being able to sell is a key enabler to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Dothan or are selling to customers throughout Alabama, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
Selling on the Phone is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Dothan. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Dothan and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Dothan, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Dothan, Alabama
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Dothan.
- Resources for Dothan, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Dothan entrepreneurs.
- Alabama Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alabama.
- Alabama Small Business Development Center - Alabama's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) counsels and trains business people in a wide variety of business topics and provides comprehensive information services and access to experts in many fields. Counseling is provided free of charge to all Alabama small business owners.
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