Illinois Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Rock Island, Illinois
Thinking about starting a business in Rock Island, Illinois? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Rock Island.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Running your own business is difficult, much more arduous than working as an employee. Are you certain you want to start a business?
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Rock Island. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. We recommend that you read Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Fishing Equipment & Supplies Dealers Business guide or our Starting a Petroleum Products Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.
Don't forget that you are starting a business in Rock Island. Some businesses will do better in Rock Island than others. A critical consideration is whether Rock Island demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Rock Island, Illinois Demographic Information
Rock Island has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Rock Island demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Rock Island.
Businesses
As a new Rock Island entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Rock Island 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
Choosing a Business Name
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
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.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Rock Island, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Illinois business.
Company Formation in Rock Island, Illinois
It's essential 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.
When forming a company, you will choose from many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporation 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. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Illinois. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Subchapter S Corporations. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Rock Island, Illinois, our web page covering Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Raising money to fund your new Rock Island business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.
For Rock Island entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, browse our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
Good entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Rock Island, Illinois, you should investigate some of the many programs available at nearby Illinois universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking organizations for Rock Island entrepreneurs.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in Rock Island, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Rock Island and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Rock Island, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Rock Island, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Rock Island.
- Resources for Rock Island, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Rock Island 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.
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