Starting a Business
Starting your own business can be the most wonderful, challenging, amazing, frustrating, rewarding experience you’ve ever undertaken.
We want to help you along your journey by sharing resources and information you can add to your toolkit.
If you already know the basic information for your business (name, type of legal structure, type of business), you customize your entrepreneurial journey by visiting Epicenter’s SmartStartMem wizard that will give you a checklist to get started.
If you are starting from square one, you can follow along using these steps:
There’s no right or wrong way to write a business plan. What’s important is that your plan meets your needs. This written guide from the SBA will help you map out how to start and run your business successfully.
There are plenty of free training and counseling services to help you start and grow your business. The Memphis Public Library and the Memphis Office of Contract Compliance also have a trove of resources and hold free seminars, many virtual.
Decide which form of ownership is best for you: sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), corporation, S corporation, nonprofit or cooperative.
Learn how to select a customer-friendly location and comply with zoning rules.
SBA’s Loans & Grants Search Tool
Community Quick Links from the Business Enterprise Resource Office
Find government-backed loans, grants and other funding mechanisms to help get started.
Register your business name with the State of Tennessee, but first, check that no one else has trademarked that name.
Check the United States Patent and Trademark Office to ensure the business name you selected isn’t already being used
Tennessee Office of the Secretary of State
Learn which tax identification number you’ll need to obtain from the IRS and your state revenue agency.
Internal Revenue Service – Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Online
Register with your state to obtain a tax identification number, workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. Shelby County (situs code 7900) and Memphis (situs code 7901) have a business tax.
Download and review the Tennessee Business Tax Manual
Learn more about Tennessee Business Tax
Find out about hiring incentives, unemployment insurance tax
Licenses and permits required for your business, plus how to register as a Small, Minority or Woman owned enterprise in Memphis.
Regulatory permits and licenses
Applying for an alcohol license