North Carolina Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Southern Pines, North Carolina
Contemplating starting a business in Southern Pines, North Carolina? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Southern Pines.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure 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 Southern Pines. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Southern Pines, North Carolina Demographic Information
Southern Pines has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Southern Pines demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Southern Pines.
Businesses
As a new Southern Pines entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Southern Pines 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 Franchising?
Visit the business district of Southern Pines and you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Five Franchise Opportunities To Watch. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Woodfield Suites and CIM Commercial Industrial Mold USA, Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Business Services Franchises and Child Education and Tutoring Franchises.
Note on Southern Pines Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Southern Pines.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Southern Pines Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in North Carolina. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Southern Pines.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.
Forming a Company in Southern Pines, North Carolina
A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
Incorporating 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 North Carolina, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in North Carolina. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 ESOP Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Southern Pines, North Carolina, our information on Incorporating in North Carolina may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in North Carolina.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
Having a business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in North Carolina.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
Successful business owners recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Southern Pines, North Carolina, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby North Carolina universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any Southern Pines networking organizations.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Southern Pines, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Southern Pines and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Southern Pines 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 Southern Pines, North Carolina
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Southern Pines.
- Resources for Southern Pines, North Carolina Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Southern Pines entrepreneurs.
- North Carolina Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in North Carolina.
- North Carolina SBA - With offices in Charlotte, Wilmington, Raleigh and Asheville, the SBA organizes many events and provides useful resources for new entrepreneurs and growing businesses throughout North Carolina.
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