One of the most common questions we get is: “How do I start a business in [name of state]?”
Many of our users want to know what is the process for establishing their business in their state, what permits and licenses do they need to get, where can they get these licenses, how much will it cost to register the business, and where can they get help, and all the other nitty-gritty of establishing a business. The whole process of starting a business, especially the legal and regulatory requirements, can be very confusing and daunting for a new entrepreneur.
To address this need, we created a special section called State by State Guide to Starting a Business that provides a guide where entrepreneurs can find the information they need to start a business in their state. For each state, we provide pertinent links to state government website and small business development centers on:
- How to start a business = all states provide a guide on how to start a business in their state; the trick is in finding where these guides are located. Some are published in the state website (e.g. Alabama.gov), while others are in their Secretary of State website. Still other states have one-stop shop websites for businesses such as North Carolina’s NCCommerce.com run by the Department of Commerce.
- Business Registration, Permits and Licenses = while some states are better than others, the information on how to go about registering a business name, where to get permits, what businesses needs to get a license are on the Web. What we did was to make it easy for the users to find.
- Taxes = ahhh, taxes, of course. We provide the link to the business tax page of the state’s Department of Revenue
- Mentorship/Assistance = many home business owners do not know where to get help or advice when they are starting and running their businesses. We provide links to the Small Business Administration office in each state as well as the various SCORE offices by county.
- General Resources = we typically included links to the Secretary of State website as well as the chamber of commerce website for the states and other information that could be helpful to the entrepreneur
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