Georgia Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Franklin, Georgia
Thinking about starting a business in Franklin, Georgia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Franklin.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
Most new businesses do not succeed, in part because the founder did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Franklin. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.
Franklin, Georgia Demographic Information
Franklin has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Franklin demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Franklin.
Businesses
As a new Franklin entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Franklin 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 Company Name
A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Franklin, it's imperative that you check now that no other Georgia company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Franklin, Georgia
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate 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.
Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Georgia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Georgia. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Piercing the Corporate Veil. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Franklin, Georgia, our information on Incorporating in Georgia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Georgia.
Make Sure You Have a Business Plan
A business plan is critical to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Reasons to Write a Business Plan. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Georgia.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Franklin business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.
Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Business Line of Credit.
For Franklin entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Georgia Angel Investors and our List of Georgia Venture Capital Firms.
Moving Forward
Most new Franklin businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Franklin businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Franklin, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Franklin, Georgia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Franklin.
- Resources for Franklin, Georgia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Franklin entrepreneurs.
- Georgia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Georgia.
- Georgia Small Business Development Center - The Georgia SBDC program helps Georgia entrepreneurs with developing business plans, providing financial analysis, identifying sources of capital, and assessing marketing strategies.
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