Florida Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Lakeland, Florida
Are you starting a business in Lakeland, Florida? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Lakeland.
Lakeland, Florida Demographic Information
Lakeland has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Lakeland demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Lakeland.
Businesses
As a new Lakeland entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lakeland 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
Should You Buy an Existing Lakeland Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Florida. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Lakeland.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful 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.
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.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.
On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Lakeland, it's critical that you ensure that no other Florida company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Lakeland, Florida
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. 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.
Incorporating 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 Florida, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Florida. 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 Offshore Company Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Lakeland, Florida, our information on Incorporating in Florida may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Florida.
Startup Financing Basics
Getting your Lakeland business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.
Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as How to Raise Money.
For Lakeland entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Florida Angel Investors and our List of Florida Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Lakeland and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. National TV Spot Advertising Rates is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Building Up Your Sales
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Lakeland business, you need to focus on sales.
Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Anticipating Prospect Responses is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Some Interesting Lakeland Entrepreneurs
We're compiling a number of interviews with Lakeland entrepreneurs. Enjoy!
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Lakeland, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
We are here to help Lakeland businesses to be successful. 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 Lakeland, Florida
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Lakeland.
- Resources for Lakeland, Florida Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lakeland entrepreneurs.
- Florida Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Florida.
- Florida Small Business Development Center - The Florida Small Business Development Center Network (FSBDCN) is a statewide economic development partnership between higher education and other stakeholder organizations dedicated to providing entrepreneurs and established businesses with the assistance needed to start, grow and succeed, contributing to the Florida economy.
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