Illinois Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Edwardsville, Illinois
Are you starting a business in Edwardsville, Illinois? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Edwardsville.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
Before you get too far along in the process, take inventory of your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Edwardsville. 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.
Edwardsville, Illinois Demographic Information
Edwardsville has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Edwardsville demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Edwardsville.
Businesses
As a new Edwardsville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Edwardsville 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 Edwardsville Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Edwardsville.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Choosing a Company 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.
Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Edwardsville, it's very important that you make sure no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is critical in laying a solid foundation for your business success. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Illinois.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Edwardsville business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. 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 Edwardsville entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, browse our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Edwardsville. 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.
We are here to help Edwardsville businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Edwardsville, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Edwardsville.
- Resources for Edwardsville, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Edwardsville entrepreneurs.
- Illinois Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Illinois.
- Illinois Small Business Development Center - Illinois Small Business Development Centers located throughout the state provide assistance to new and existing small businesses.
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