Washington Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Lakewood, Washington
Are you starting a business in Lakewood, Washington? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Lakewood.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Most new businesses fail, in part because the founder did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before you open a business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Lakewood. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- You should read Starting a Company. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Talk it over with a close friend or partner. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Lakewood, Washington Demographic Information
Lakewood has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Lakewood demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Lakewood.
Businesses
As a new Lakewood entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lakewood 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Lakewood Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Washington. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Lakewood.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.
Choosing a Company Name
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Lakewood, it's imperative that you check now that no other Washington company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Lakewood, Washington
It's essential that you are forming a legal entity that operates independently from you. 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. Just because you are starting a business in Washington, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Washington. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Piercing the Corporate Veil. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Lakewood, Washington, our information on Incorporating in Washington may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Washington.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Successful entrepreneurs know that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Lakewood, Washington, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Washington educational institutions. It's also wise to see if there are any networking organizations for Lakewood entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
Most new Lakewood businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Lakewood businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Lakewood, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lakewood, Washington
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Lakewood.
- Resources for Lakewood, Washington Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lakewood entrepreneurs.
- Washington Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Washington.
- Washington Small Business Development Center - Washington Small Business Development Centers promote economic vitality by providing advice, training and research to Washington entrepreneurs and existing Washington businesses.
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