Wisconsin Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Janesville, Wisconsin
Thinking about starting a business in Janesville, Wisconsin? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Janesville.
Which Business to Choose?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Good Business Ideas.
If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Bean Elevators Business guide or our How to Start a Coated Fabrics Retail Business guide.
Don't forget that your new startup will be located in Janesville. If Janesville already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. A critical consideration is whether Janesville demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Janesville, Wisconsin Demographic Information
Janesville has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Janesville demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Janesville.
Businesses
As a new Janesville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Janesville 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
Picking a Business Name
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.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Janesville, it's critical that you ensure that no Wisconsin company has already registered the company name you have selected.
Forming a Company in Janesville, Wisconsin
It's very important 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 pick from 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 Wisconsin, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Wisconsin. In fact, 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Corporate Formalities. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Janesville, Wisconsin, our web page covering Incorporating in Wisconsin may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Wisconsin.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
Writing a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Indeed, 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.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Software. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Wisconsin.
Getting the Word Out About Your New Company
Whether your goal is to attract Janesville customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a great marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Working with an Advertising Agency is an article that will generate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Janesville, Wisconsin, you should get information on some of the many programs available at nearby Wisconsin universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your learning is to investigate networking groups or organizations in which Janesville entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in Janesville, 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 Janesville 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 Janesville, Wisconsin
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Janesville.
- Resources for Janesville, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Janesville entrepreneurs.
- Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin Small Business Development Center - Wisconsin Small Business Development Centers offer a variety of educational services to small-businesses. The low-cost courses, seminars, and workshops cover both basic and complex topics, from marketing to management techniques to business plan development.
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