Texas Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Galveston, Texas
Thinking about starting a business in Galveston, Texas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Galveston.
Galveston, Texas Demographic Information
Galveston has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Galveston demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Galveston.
Businesses
As a new Galveston entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Galveston 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Galveston Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Texas. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Galveston.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Buying a Business.
Forming a Company in Galveston, Texas
It's essential that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Texas, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Texas. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.
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 Company Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Galveston, Texas, our information on Incorporating in Texas may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Texas.
Raising Capital for Your Venture
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Galveston business requires strong organization skills and perseverance. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled 504 Loans.
For Galveston entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Texas Angel Investors and our List of Texas Venture Capital Firms.
Letting the World Know You Exist
Whether your goal is to attract Galveston customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a great marketing plan.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Point-of-Sale Displays is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Building Up Your Sales
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Galveston business, you need to focus on sales.
Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
The Art of Customer Referrals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Never Give Up
As an entrepreneur in Galveston, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Galveston businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Galveston entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Galveston, Texas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Galveston.
- Resources for Galveston, Texas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Galveston entrepreneurs.
- Texas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Texas.
- Houston, Texas Small Business Development Center - Serving 32 counties in Southeast Texas through 14 business consulting and training centers, the Small Business Development Center Network contributes to the growth and prosperity of the Texas Gulf Coast communities.
- North Texas Small Business Development Center - The NTSBDC Network promotes small business success by providing management education.
- Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center - The Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center was established with Texas Tech University in 1986. This regional program serves over ninety thousand square miles including ninety-five counties with a population base of approximately 1.8 million people. This region is serviced by six centers located in Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland/Odessa, Abilene, Stephenville, and Wichita Falls.
- South-West Texas Border�SBDC Network Texas Small Business Development Center - The South-West Texas Border Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides consulting and technical assistance to the small business community.
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