Illinois Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Salem, Illinois
Are you starting a business in Salem, Illinois? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Salem.
Salem, Illinois Demographic Information
Salem has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Salem demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Salem.
Businesses
As a new Salem entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Salem 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
What About Buying an Existing Salem Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Salem.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Choosing a Company 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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Salem, it's very important that you make sure no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Salem, Illinois
It's essential that you form your business as a legal structure. 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 popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Illinois. As it turns out, 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 Why Incorporate in Delaware. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Salem, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Getting your Salem business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. 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 Salem entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
To grow your Salem business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Radio Ads is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
The best entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
With your business being located in Salem, Illinois, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Illinois universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also wise to see if there are any networking organizations for Salem entrepreneurs.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Salem. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Salem businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Salem, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Salem, Illinois
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Salem.
- Resources for Salem, Illinois Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Salem 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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