Illinois Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Freeport, Illinois
Are you starting a business in Freeport, Illinois? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Freeport.
Freeport, Illinois Demographic Information
Freeport has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Freeport demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Freeport.
Businesses
As a new Freeport entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Freeport 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 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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Freeport, it's imperative that you check now that no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Freeport, Illinois
It's essential that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. 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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Illinois. As it turns out, 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles 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 Freeport, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
The Role of the Business Plan
A business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Illinois.
Startup Financing Basics
Getting your Freeport business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Realistic Debt Financing Options.
For Freeport entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Freeport and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Smart Branding 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 Freeport businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Freeport 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 Freeport, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Freeport.
- Resources for Freeport, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Freeport 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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