Florida Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

Are you starting a business in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Santa Rosa Beach.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Running your own business is demanding, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Santa Rosa Beach. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
  • 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. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Which Business to Choose?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading 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 Starting a Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

Remember that starting a business in Santa Rosa Beach has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Santa Rosa Beach than others. A critical consideration is whether Santa Rosa Beach demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1313
5-9 Employees
282
10-19 Employees
114
20-49 Employees
99
50-99 Employees
24
100-249 Employees
15
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Santa Rosa Beach Businesses
1847

As a new Santa Rosa Beach entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Santa Rosa Beach 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
Ambulance Services
1
Architectural Services
12
Art Dealers
4
Automobile Driving Schools
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
2
Beauty Salons
3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Book Stores
1
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
1
Caterers
5
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
1
Clothing Accessories Stores
1
Commercial Photography
1
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Computer and Software Stores
2
Convention and Visitors Bureaus
1
Curtain and Drapery Mills
1
Dental Laboratories
1
Drafting Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
4
Engineering Services
3
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
6
Fish and Seafood Markets
1
Floor Covering Stores
2
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Framing Contractors
6
Furniture Stores
3
General Automotive Repair
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
7
Glass and Glazing Contractors
1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Manufacturing
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
1
Household Appliance Stores
2
Industrial Design Services
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
1
Interior Design Services
9
Janitorial Services
4
Jewelry Stores
3
Land Subdivision
6
Landscape Architectural Services
2
Landscaping Services
15
Limited-Service Restaurants
12
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Meat Markets
1
Men's Clothing Stores
2
Miscellaneous Intermediation
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
2
Musical Groups and Artists
1
Nail Salons
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
4
Office Administrative Services
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
1
Offices of Chiropractors
1
Offices of Dentists
5
Offices of Lawyers
9
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
3
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
5
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Recreational Goods Rental
7
Residential Property Managers
10
Residential Remodelers
9
Roofing Contractors
1
Sewage Treatment Facilities
1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
4
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
3
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
3
Used Merchandise Stores
2
Veterinary Services
3
Video Tape and Disc Rental
2
Web Search Portals
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
4
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
8

Is Franchising a Better Option?

As you drive around Santa Rosa Beach, it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. But is franchising the right option for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchising My Business. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

Note on Santa Rosa Beach Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Santa Rosa Beach.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Business

To rise above the crowd in Santa Rosa Beach and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your successs.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Comparing Advertising to PR is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

The Art of Selling

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Santa Rosa Beach business, you need to focus on sales.

The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Writing Great Proposals is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

Next Steps

As an entrepreneur in Santa Rosa Beach, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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 Santa Rosa Beach and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Santa Rosa Beach, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

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

  • Resources for Santa Rosa Beach, Florida Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Santa Rosa Beach entrepreneurs.
  • Florida Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Florida.
  • Florida Small Business Development Center - The Florida Small Business Development Center Network (FSBDCN) is a statewide economic development partnership between higher education and other stakeholder organizations dedicated to providing entrepreneurs and established businesses with the assistance needed to start, grow and succeed, contributing to the Florida economy.

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