Indiana Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Merrillville, Indiana
Thinking about starting a business in Merrillville, Indiana? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Merrillville.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
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:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Merrillville. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- Peruse Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Have a candid conversation with friends and family. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
What Business Are You Starting?
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Finding Your Niche in Life.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Golf Outings Business guide or our Opening a Fire & Water Damage Restoration Equipment & Supplies Business guide.
Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Merrillville. Some businesses will do better in Merrillville than others. Study Merrillville demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Merrillville, Indiana Demographic Information
Merrillville has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Merrillville demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Merrillville.
Businesses
As a new Merrillville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Merrillville 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
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Browse the Yellow Pages for Merrillville and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. So, it probably makes sense for you to consider franchising too.
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to look into purchasing a franchise. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as The Franchising Process. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include American Card Products and Skyline Chili, Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Senior Care Franchises and Child Entertainment Franchises.
Note on Merrillville Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Merrillville, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
Naming the Company
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.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Merrillville, it's very important that you make sure no Indiana company has already registered the company name you have selected.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Obtaining startup financing for your Merrillville business will be harder than you might expect. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
Take advantage of our many articles on raising money, such as 504 Loans.
For Merrillville entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Indiana Angel Investors and our List of Indiana Venture Capital Firms.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Merrillville. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Merrillville 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 Merrillville, Indiana
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Merrillville.
- Resources for Merrillville, Indiana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Merrillville entrepreneurs.
- Indiana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Indiana.
- Indiana Small Business Development Center - The Indiana Small Business Development Center assists Indiana entrepreneurs and small businesses through one on one counseling, education and business resources.
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