Florida is a famous vacation destination for excellent reasons – whether it’s the never-ending sunshine, the pristine beaches, or the thriving commercial centers, there are countless reasons to visit the Sunshine State.
It’s only natural, then, that thousands of entrepreneurs pine for the day that they can start their own business in Florida. If only it were that easy!
Despite the challenges associated with starting a Florida business, any entrepreneur can establish themselves if they know what they’re doing.
Here are the essential things you need to know.
Registering your business
The first and most important step to starting a business in Florida is registering your company. There’s a myriad of company types you can choose from. These include:
- a sole proprietorship if you want to go your own way,
- a partnership if you’re interested in working with someone else,
- or a limited liability company if you want to ensure your personal assets wont be jeopardized by a potential business failure or lawsuit.
Determining how you intend to create your business and what you’ll need to do in order to register it with the State of Florida is the essential first step – try to skip this one, and your business will never be legally recognized.
Similarly, occupational licensing is an additional hurdle you must overcome whenever you want to start a business in the United States. Critics of market regulation have decried occupational licensing as an unnecessary burden placed upon business owners, but until the laws change, you’ll want to head to the State of Florida’s DBPR Online Services webpage to see if you may need special licensing in order to establish your business.
Certain niche industries – like paramedics, personal trainers, and veterinarians, to name a random few – will be inaccessible to you until you complete this step.
Determining how you want to register your business can be an intimidating prospect. Most entrepreneurs who launch a business in the state of Florida choose to do so by starting an LLC, as this ensures they can pursue their commercial dreams without endangering the personal fortunes and financial security.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of an LLC, and one that will definitely appeal to many would-be-entrepreneurs, is that it usually entails limited paperwork and very affordable fees.
Getting competitive
Now that you understand the basic legal requirements to starting a business, you need to get serious when it comes to getting competitive. Whatever you end up doing when it comes to marketing, remember not to infringe upon user privacy.
Far too many businesses are welcoming the digital age because it permits them to generate data on their customers which can be used to bolster their sales figures.
Local government officials in the state of Florida have also issued helpful marketing advice that many budding entrepreneurs will find incredibly useful for when it comes to getting the word out about their businesses.
A list of 10 simple ways to promote your Floridian business includes getting your company listed on official tourism websites. This may seem like a trivial thing to some, but for some companies getting a listing on popular tourism websites can radically bolster the amount of revenue you can expect to make.
It goes without saying that you’ll also want to devote plenty of time towards recruiting a stellar workforce. New businesses must obviously pinch pennies to the greatest extent possible, but try to understand that shelling out for talented workers early on can get your company started off on the right foot.
Soon, you’ll discover that a myriad of exciting business opportunities in Florida are waiting to be seized by those with the entrepreneurial spirit to try!
