Virginia Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Richlands, Virginia

Thinking about starting a business in Richlands, Virginia? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Richlands.

Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Richlands. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
  • We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

Richlands, Virginia Demographic Information

Richlands has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Richlands demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Richlands.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
750
5-9 Employees
402
10-19 Employees
138
20-49 Employees
150
50-99 Employees
18
100-249 Employees
12
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
6
1000+ Employees
0
All Richlands Businesses
1476

As a new Richlands entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Richlands 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.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Boat Dealers
1
Business Associations
2
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
2
Child Day Care Services
1
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Construction Machinery Manufacturing
1
Consumer Lending
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
1
Electrical Contractors
1
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
2
Florists
2
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Full-Service Restaurants
5
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
2
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
2
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Stores
1
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Home Health Care Services
5
Human Rights Organizations
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
11
Janitorial Services
1
Jewelry Stores
1
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
7
Logging
1
Masonry Contractors
1
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing
1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Nail Salons
1
New Car Dealers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
3
Offices of Chiropractors
1
Offices of Dentists
6
Offices of Lawyers
7
Offices of Optometrists
3
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
One-Hour Photofinishing
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
5
Professional Employer Organizations
1
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
2
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Residential Property Managers
2
Residential Remodelers
2
Security Guards and Patrol Services
1
Shoe Stores
1
Sign Manufacturing
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers
1
Tire Dealers
2
Travel Agencies
2
Used Car Dealers
2
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Richlands Business?

We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Virginia. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Richlands.

If you are headed down the path of buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

Naming the Business

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Richlands, it's very important that you make sure no other Virginia company is using the business name you want to use.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

A business plan is essential to the health of your new business. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Virginia.

Raising Capital for Your Company

Getting your Richlands business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on securing funding, such as Business Line of Credit.

For Richlands entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, browse our List of Virginia Angel Investors and our List of Virginia Venture Capital Firms.

What's Next?

You have a dream -- starting a business in Richlands. 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.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Richlands and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Richlands, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Richlands, Virginia

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Richlands.

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