Rhode Island Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Providence, Rhode Island
Are you starting a business in Providence, Rhode Island? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Providence.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Grab a meal or cofee with other entrepreneurs in Providence. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- Take a look at The Entrepreneurial Personality. It's a short article but it's a good reality check for those are about to jump into the world of entrepreneurship.
- Reach out to a trusted acquaintance. 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. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Real Estate Rental & Leasing Business guide or our Opening a Wood & Laminates Flooring Business guide.
Always keep in mind that you are starting a business in Providence. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Providence. Only by spending some time analyzing Providence demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Providence, Rhode Island Demographic Information
Providence has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Providence demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Providence.
Businesses
As a new Providence entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Providence 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
Naming the Company
A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.
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.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Providence, it's very important that you make sure no other Rhode Island company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Providence, Rhode Island
It's very important 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.
Incorporating 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 Rhode Island, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Rhode Island. As it turns out, 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 are many nuances to forming a company. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Providence, Rhode Island, our information on Incorporating in Rhode Island may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Rhode Island.
Bring in Revenues
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Providence or are selling to customers throughout Rhode Island, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Sales Forecasting offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
Learning More About Entrepreneurship
The best business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Rhode Island universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Providence entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Providence. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
We are here to help Providence 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 Providence, Rhode Island
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Providence.
- Resources for Providence, Rhode Island Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Providence entrepreneurs.
- Rhode Island Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Rhode Island.
- Rhode Island Small Business Development Center - The Rhode Island Small Business Development Center provides entrepreneurs with best fit resources to create and transform their businesses.
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