Maryland Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Towson, Maryland
Thinking about starting a business in Towson, Maryland? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Towson.
Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?
Most startup companies do not succeed, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Towson. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
Towson, Maryland Demographic Information
Towson has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Towson demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Towson.
Businesses
As a new Towson entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Towson 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 Buying an Existing Towson Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Maryland. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Towson.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Forming a Company in Towson, Maryland
A critical step is ensuring 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 pick from many company types, such as 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 Maryland, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Maryland. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as C Corp Versus S Corp. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Towson, Maryland, our web page covering Incorporating in Maryland may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Maryland.
Marketing Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Towson and grow your business, you need a excellent marketing plan.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Comparing Advertising to PR discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Good entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Towson, Maryland, you should investigate some of the many programs available at nearby Maryland universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Towson entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Now It's Up To You
Most new Towson businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Towson and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Towson 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 Towson, Maryland
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Towson.
- Resources for Towson, Maryland Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Towson entrepreneurs.
- Maryland Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Maryland.
- Maryland Small Business Development Center - The Maryland Small Business Development Center Network has six regional offices and more than 20 locations where Maryland entrepreneurs can receive comprehensive, resources and relevant assistance.
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