Starting Your Business

Starting a business can be risky. Understanding the risks and minimizing them through careful planning can improve your chances for success. Let’s take it one step at a time. Market research is the first item to address when planning a business. Having a clear idea of the market, customer base, and trends will allow you to start at an advantage. Arapahoe/ Douglas WORKS! offers custom workforce and business trend reports at no cost. For more information, you can go online at adworks.org.

Business Start Up Assistance(PDF, 27KB)

Things to Consider Before You Start Your Business(PDF, 66KB)

Consider the following to get a complete picture of your market:

• Demand
• Economic Indicators
• Market Saturation
• Market Size
• Location
• Pricing 

After you have a full understanding of your market, you will want to create a business plan. This will be the foundation of your business and will include your products, strategies, and goals. By taking the time to go through your business concept step by step, you will be better prepared for any barriers that might come up in the future.

Every business plan will look different, but we have provided an outline to help you develop your strategy.

Business Plan Template(DOCX, 56KB)

Concepts to include:

• What is my company and how will it be successful?
• What problem does my company solve?
• Who is my target market?
• Who are my competitors? What do they do successfully?
• What is my business advantage over other firms?
• What services do I offer?
• How will my company be structured?

Common business structures include sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and Corporation. Each structure contains its own pros and cons to in relation to taxes and liabilities; these requirements can vary by state. As the business structure will affect many financial and operational aspects of your business, it is advised that you discuss these details with an attorney, accountant, or business counselor. 

SBA - Choose a business structure

First, you need to choose a business name and register it as either a trademark, DBA, or domain name. This is required in the state of Colorado and can be very beneficial in preventing others from operating under the same entity name. SBA provides more info*

Business FAQs (state.co.us)

Littleton sales tax rate: 3.75%

*need to add in state tax id and federal tax id- do you get a number when you 

The City of Little requires all businesses within the city limits to apply for a Business & Sales/Use Tax License. This can be found here: https://www.littletongov.org/building-development/etrakit-portal

Business owners will also have to apply for a Building Permit and Development Review System if there is intent to partake in contraction of a new facility or make changes to an existing structure.

*add liquor license and permits? Or maybe have a “more permits here” button

If your business activities are regulated by a federal agency, then you will be required to get a federal license or permit. You can find more info at SBA

In addition to acquiring permits, you will need to apply for a state tax ID and/ or federal tax ID also known as an employer identification number (EIN). This will be crucial when you are planning to hire employees or if you have a partnership. You have to have a federal tax ID in order to fill out applications for licenses, permits, business bank account, etc. 

Picking a location is a very important aspect of creating your business. The location of your business will determine everything from taxes and regulation to the demographics of your consumers.

So how do you pick the perfect place for your new business? You’ll need to do some research. Start thinking about region-specific business expenses, local zoning ordinances, state and local taxes, state and local incentives, and federal incentives.

If you have questions about site availability or if your location is in the city limits, you can check at AddressWizard or contact the Economic Development Department at economicdev@littletongov.org.

To start any business, you will need to find the funds to back it up. Your first step in this process is to find out how much funding you will need to get up and running. After this, you can consider the different sources it can come from.  There are essentially three options to choose from: self-funding, investors, loans.

There are a few different types of lenders out there that can be helpful when looking for some extra cash: banks, non-profit lenders, investors, crowdfunding.

Loans (sba.gov)