Michigan Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Wakefield, Michigan

Contemplating starting a business in Wakefield, Michigan? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Wakefield.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Running your own business is hard work, much more arduous than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Wakefield. 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.

Choosing the Right Company to Start

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 How to Start a Distribution Services Business guide or our How to Start a Traffic Control Equipment & Supplies Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Wakefield has some implications. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Wakefield. Only by spending some time analyzing Wakefield demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Wakefield, Michigan Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
720
5-9 Employees
198
10-19 Employees
126
20-49 Employees
36
50-99 Employees
0
100-249 Employees
18
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Wakefield Businesses
1098

As a new Wakefield entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Wakefield 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
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
1
Child Day Care Services
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Community Food Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Full-Service Restaurants
2
General Automotive Repair
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
Hardware Stores
1
Home Centers
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
1
Home Health Care Services
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
1
Logging
6
Offices of Dentists
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Retail Bakeries
1
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Support Activities for Forestry
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Wakefield 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 Wakefield.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Forming a Company in Wakefield, Michigan

It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.

When forming a company, you will choose from many company types, such as 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. If you are starting a business in Michigan, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Michigan. 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 Why Incorporate in Delaware. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Wakefield, Michigan, our web page covering Incorporating in Michigan may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Michigan.

Bring in Revenues

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

Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Landing Big Customers offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

The best business owners recognize that they don't know everything.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Wakefield, Michigan, you should get information on some of the many programs available at nearby Michigan universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Wakefield entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Next Steps

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Wakefield and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Wakefield, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Wakefield, Michigan

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

  • Resources for Wakefield, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Wakefield 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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