Michigan Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Grand Haven, Michigan
Contemplating starting a business in Grand Haven, Michigan? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Grand Haven.
Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?
Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Grand Haven. 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.
What Business to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. We recommend that you read Good Business Ideas.
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 Opening a Chauffeur Business guide or our Opening a Commodity & Merchandise Warehouses Business guide.
Don't forget that your new startup will be located in Grand Haven. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Grand Haven. Only by spending some time analyzing Grand Haven demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Grand Haven, Michigan Demographic Information
Grand Haven has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Grand Haven demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Grand Haven.
Businesses
As a new Grand Haven entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Grand Haven 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
What About Franchising Opportunities?
As you drive around Grand Haven, it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. But is franchising the right option for you?
We highly recommend you look into purchasing a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as Protecting Your Franchise Territory. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. and CiCi's Pizza. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Dating Service Franchises and Mail and Shipping Services Franchises.
Note on Grand Haven Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Grand Haven.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. 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 Expert Advice on Business Plans. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Michigan.
Raising Funding for Your Venture
Raising money to fund your new Grand Haven business 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.
Take advantage of our many articles on securing funding, such as Bank Credit Lines.
For Grand Haven entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Michigan Angel Investors and our List of Michigan Venture Capital Firms.
Bring in Revenues
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Grand Haven business, you need to focus on sales.
Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
The Art of Customer Referrals offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Moving Forward
As an entrepreneur in Grand Haven, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Grand Haven and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Grand Haven, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Grand Haven, Michigan
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Grand Haven.
- Resources for Grand Haven, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Grand Haven entrepreneurs.
- Michigan Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Michigan.
- Michigan Small Business Development Center - This organization supports 12 regional offices and over 30 satellite offices, each providing counseling and training to Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan. Services to entrepreneurs are offered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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