Texas Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Harlingen, Texas
Thinking about starting a business in Harlingen, Texas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Harlingen.
Harlingen, Texas Demographic Information
Harlingen has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Harlingen demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Harlingen.
Businesses
As a new Harlingen entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Harlingen 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 Harlingen, it becomes clear that purchasing a franchise is a common way to get started as an entrepreneur. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as How to Find Financing for Franchises. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include WannaGetta PIZZA and It's A Grind Coffee. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Child Education and Tutoring Franchises and Payday Loan Franchises.
Note on Harlingen Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Harlingen.
What About Buying an Existing Harlingen Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Texas. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Harlingen.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Naming the Company
Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.
Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.
On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Harlingen, it's imperative that you check now that no other Texas company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Harlingen, Texas
A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.
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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Texas, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Texas. As it turns out, you can incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
There are many nuances to forming a company. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Getting an EIN. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Harlingen, Texas, our information on Incorporating in Texas may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Texas.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Successful entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
Given that you are starting a business in Harlingen, Texas, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Texas educational institutions. It's also wise to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Harlingen entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
What's Next?
Most new Harlingen businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Harlingen and throughout the United States . 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 Harlingen, Texas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Harlingen.
- Resources for Harlingen, Texas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Harlingen 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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