West Virginia Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Huntington, West Virginia
Contemplating starting a business in Huntington, West Virginia? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Huntington.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Running your own business is demanding, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you positive you are ready to take on this challenge?
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Huntington. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Huntington, West Virginia Demographic Information
Huntington has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Huntington demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Huntington.
Businesses
As a new Huntington entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Huntington 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
Forming a Company in Huntington, West Virginia
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
When forming a company, you will select one of many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
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. If you are starting a business in West Virginia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in West Virginia. As it turns out, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Subchapter S Corporations. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Huntington, West Virginia, our web page covering Incorporating in West Virginia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in West Virginia.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
Writing a business plan is critical in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.
If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Software. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in West Virginia.
Ramping Up Sales
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Huntington business, you need to focus on sales.
Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Anticipating Prospect Responses is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.
With your business being located in Huntington, West Virginia, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby West Virginia universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your learning is to investigate networking organizations for Huntington entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Huntington, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Huntington and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Huntington, West Virginia
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Huntington.
- Resources for Huntington, West Virginia Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Huntington entrepreneurs.
- West Virginia Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in West Virginia.
- West Virginia Small Business Development Center - The West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC) promotes economic development through a program of practical, interrelated services, providing assistance to existing West Virginia small businesses and the emerging West Virginia entrepreneur.
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