West Virginia Business Startup Guides

Open a Business in West Union, West Virginia

Need help starting a business in West Union, West Virginia? We've got the information you need to open a business in West Union.

What Type of Business Should You Start?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.

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 Opening a Duplicating Machines & Supplies Business guide or our Starting a Roofing Service & Consultants Commercial & Industrial Business guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in West Union. If West Union already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Study West Union demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

West Union, West Virginia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
525
5-9 Employees
165
10-19 Employees
30
20-49 Employees
90
50-99 Employees
0
100-249 Employees
15
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All West Union Businesses
825

As a new West Union entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in West Union 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
Car Washes
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Community Food Services
1
Electrical Contractors
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Framing Contractors
1
Hardware Stores
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
1
Landscaping Services
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
1
Masonry Contractors
1
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Residential Remodelers
1
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1

Company Formation in West Union, West Virginia

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in West Virginia, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in West Virginia. As it turns out, you can incorporate wherever you want. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as LLC Advantages. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in West Union, West Virginia, our information on Incorporating in West Virginia may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in West Virginia.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is essential in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in West Virginia.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your West Union business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.

For West Union entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, we have assembled a List of West Virginia Angel Investors and our List of West Virginia Venture Capital Firms.

Bring in Revenues

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

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

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

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Successful entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

As an entrepreneur who lives in West Union, West Virginia, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby West Virginia universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also wise to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which West Union entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Moving Forward

As an entrepreneur in West Union, 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.

We are here to help West Union businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in West Union, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in West Union, West Virginia

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

More Business Startup Guides for West Virginia

Starting a Business in Wellsburg
Starting a Business in Weston

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