Illinois Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Havana, Illinois
Contemplating starting a business in Havana, Illinois? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Havana.
Havana, Illinois Demographic Information
Havana has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Havana demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Havana.
Businesses
As a new Havana entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Havana 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 Havana, you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Opportunities in International Franchising. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Mr. Transmission and Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Seafood Restaurant Franchises and Employment and Staffing Franchises.
Note on Havana Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Havana.
Choosing a Company Name
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.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
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 opening a business in Havana, it's imperative that you check now that no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Havana, Illinois
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.
Incorporation is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Illinois. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Havana, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Raising Capital for Your Venture
Getting your Havana business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Attracting Investors.
For Havana entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, you'll want to take a look at our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
The best entrepreneurs know that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Havana, Illinois, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Illinois universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any networking organizations for Havana entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
Most new Havana businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Havana and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Havana 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 Havana, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Havana.
- Resources for Havana, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Havana 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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