Alabama Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Montgomery, Alabama
Contemplating starting a business in Montgomery, Alabama? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Montgomery.
Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?
An entrepreneurial life is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive you want to go into business for yourself?
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Montgomery. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
- You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.
Montgomery, Alabama Demographic Information
Montgomery has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Montgomery demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Montgomery.
Businesses
As a new Montgomery entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Montgomery 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 Buying an Existing Montgomery Business a Good Strategy?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Alabama. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Montgomery.
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.
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.
On a final note, given that you are planning on starting a business in Montgomery, it's critical that you ensure that no other Alabama company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Montgomery, Alabama
A critical step is ensuring 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.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporation is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Alabama, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Alabama. In fact, you can 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as How to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Montgomery, Alabama, our information on Incorporating in Alabama may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alabama.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
Creating a business plan is essential 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
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Alabama.
Moving Forward
As an entrepreneur in Montgomery, 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.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Montgomery and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Montgomery, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Montgomery, Alabama
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Montgomery.
- Resources for Montgomery, Alabama Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Montgomery entrepreneurs.
- Alabama Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alabama.
- Alabama Small Business Development Center - Alabama's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) counsels and trains business people in a wide variety of business topics and provides comprehensive information services and access to experts in many fields. Counseling is provided free of charge to all Alabama small business owners.
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