Maryland Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Frederick, Maryland
Thinking about starting a business in Frederick, Maryland? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Frederick.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Most startup ventures don't make it, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
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:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Frederick. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
What Business to Start
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Finding Your Niche in Life.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Race Car Parts, Equipment, & Supplies Retail Business guide or our Opening a Creative Writers Business guide.
Don't forget that starting a business in Frederick has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Frederick than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Frederick demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Frederick, Maryland Demographic Information
Frederick has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Frederick demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Frederick.
Businesses
As a new Frederick entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Frederick 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
Selecting a Name For Your Business
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.
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 Business.
On a final note, given that you are planning on starting a business in Frederick, it's imperative that you check now that no other Maryland company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Frederick, Maryland
A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect 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. 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 Maryland, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Maryland. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Incorporating Online. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Frederick, Maryland, our information on Incorporating in Maryland may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Maryland.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
A business plan is vital in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Maryland.
Promoting Your New Startup
Whether your goal is to attract Frederick customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. National TV Spot Advertising Rates discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
What's Next?
Most new Frederick businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Frederick and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Frederick, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Frederick, Maryland
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Frederick.
- Resources for Frederick, Maryland Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Frederick entrepreneurs.
- Maryland Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Maryland.
- Maryland Small Business Development Center - The Maryland Small Business Development Center Network has six regional offices and more than 20 locations where Maryland entrepreneurs can receive comprehensive, resources and relevant assistance.
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