Virginia Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Gloucester, Virginia
Are you starting a business in Gloucester, Virginia? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Gloucester.
What Business Are You Starting?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.
Don't forget that you are opening your new business in Gloucester. Some businesses will do better in Gloucester than others. A critical consideration is whether Gloucester demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Gloucester, Virginia Demographic Information
Gloucester has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Gloucester demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Gloucester.
Businesses
As a new Gloucester entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Gloucester 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
Is Franchising a Better Option?
As you drive around Gloucester, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. So, it probably makes sense for you to consider franchising too.
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Franchise a Business. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can find franchise opportunities by browsing our Franchise Opportunities Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.
Note on Gloucester Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Gloucester.
Should You Buy an Existing Gloucester Business?
We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Virginia. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Gloucester.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Naming the Company
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.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Gloucester, it's very important that you make sure no other Virginia company is using the business name you want to use.
How to Sell
Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Gloucester or are selling to customers throughout Virginia, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
The Art of Customer Referrals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Gloucester. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Gloucester and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Gloucester 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 Gloucester, Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Gloucester.
- Resources for Gloucester, Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Gloucester entrepreneurs.
- Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Virginia.
- Virginia Small Business Development Center - Virginia Small Business Development Centers offer professional business counseling, training and information resources to help grow and strengthen Virginia businesses.
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