Tennessee Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Lexington, Tennessee
Need help starting a business in Lexington, Tennessee? We've got the information you need to open a business in Lexington.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneurial life is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Lexington. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
Lexington, Tennessee Demographic Information
Lexington has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Lexington demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Lexington.
Businesses
As a new Lexington entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lexington 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 Lexington Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Tennessee. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Lexington.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.
Picking 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.
Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Lexington, it's critical that you ensure that you will be the only Tennessee company using the business name you have chosen.
Forming a Company in Lexington, Tennessee
It's very important 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 Tennessee, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Tennessee. In fact, you are allowed to 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 C Corp Versus S Corp. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Lexington, Tennessee, our information on Incorporating in Tennessee may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Tennessee.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
Writing a business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, 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 Outsourcing. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Tennessee.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in Lexington, 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.
We are here to help Lexington businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Lexington 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 Lexington, Tennessee
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Lexington.
- Resources for Lexington, Tennessee Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lexington entrepreneurs.
- Tennessee Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Tennessee.
- Tennessee Small Business Development Center - If you are a small business owner, entrepreneur or you are thinking about starting a new business, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) is ready to help you every step of the way!
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