Wisconsin Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Racine, Wisconsin
Thinking about starting a business in Racine, Wisconsin? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Racine.
Racine, Wisconsin Demographic Information
Racine has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Racine demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Racine.
Businesses
As a new Racine entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Racine 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 Racine Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Wisconsin. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Racine.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Picking a Business 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.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Racine, it's imperative that you check now that no other Wisconsin company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Racine, Wisconsin
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will insulate 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 Wisconsin, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Wisconsin. In fact, you are allowed to 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Where to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Racine, Wisconsin, our information on Incorporating in Wisconsin may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Wisconsin.
Don't Skip the Business Plan
Creating a business plan is essential in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Indeed, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan
If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Wisconsin.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Successful business owners recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
With your business being located in Racine, Wisconsin, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Wisconsin universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Racine entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
What's Next?
Most new Racine businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Racine and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Racine 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 Racine, Wisconsin
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Racine.
- Resources for Racine, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Racine entrepreneurs.
- Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin Small Business Development Center - Wisconsin Small Business Development Centers offer a variety of educational services to small-businesses. The low-cost courses, seminars, and workshops cover both basic and complex topics, from marketing to management techniques to business plan development.
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