Illinois Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Naperville, Illinois
Contemplating starting a business in Naperville, Illinois? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Naperville.
Naperville, Illinois Demographic Information
Naperville has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Naperville demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Naperville.
Businesses
As a new Naperville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Naperville 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 Naperville Business?
We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Naperville.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
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.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Naperville, it's very important that you make sure no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Naperville, Illinois
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will separate 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.
Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Illinois, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Illinois. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Pre-Incorporation Agreements. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Naperville, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Naperville business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.
For Naperville entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Promoting Your New Company
To grow your Naperville business, you need a solid marketing plan.
You can learn all about marketing on our site. Advertising on Google is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Naperville. 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.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Naperville and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Naperville 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 Naperville, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Naperville.
- Resources for Naperville, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Naperville entrepreneurs.
- Illinois Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Illinois.
- Illinois Small Business Development Center - Illinois Small Business Development Centers located throughout the state provide assistance to new and existing small businesses.
More Business Startup Guides for Illinois
Starting a Business in Murphysboro
Starting a Business in Nashville
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Illinois
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs