Michigan Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Southfield, Michigan
Thinking about starting a business in Southfield, Michigan? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Southfield.
What Business Are You Starting?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Good Business Ideas.
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 an Arbitration & Mediation Service guide or our Opening a Square Dance Callers & Information Business guide.
Don't forget that you are starting a business in Southfield. Some businesses will do better in Southfield than others. A critical consideration is whether Southfield demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Southfield, Michigan Demographic Information
Southfield has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Southfield demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Southfield.
Businesses
As a new Southfield entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Southfield 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
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Browse the Yellow Pages for Southfield and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
Most business experts recommend that you consider franchising as an option. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including Franchising My Business. 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.
Sample franchise opportunities include Pro One Janitorial and Miracle Method Surface Restoration. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Textile Repair Franchises.
Note on Southfield Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Southfield.
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Southfield Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Michigan. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Southfield.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Southfield business requires strong organization skills and perseverance. 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 504 Loans.
For Southfield entrepreneurs who need startup capital, you'll want to take a look at our List of Michigan Angel Investors and our List of Michigan Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Company
Whether your goal is to attract Southfield customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Advertising Campaigns 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.
Selling Tips
Being able to sell is fundamental to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Southfield or are selling to customers throughout Michigan, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Sales Forecasting offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Southfield. 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.
We are here to help Southfield businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Southfield 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 Southfield, Michigan
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Southfield.
- Resources for Southfield, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Southfield entrepreneurs.
- Michigan Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Michigan.
- Michigan Small Business Development Center - This organization supports 12 regional offices and over 30 satellite offices, each providing counseling and training to Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan. Services to entrepreneurs are offered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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