Want to Start a Business in Alabama?
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
This page is dedicated to the best resources for starting a business in Alabama.
Learn more about how to start a business in Alabama.
Or simply use a professional service and start your business today:
Business Resources in Alabama
Find the best resources to help create your informal business structure (sole proprietorship or partnership), corporation (S corp or C corp), limited liability company (single-member LLC or multi-member LLC), or how to file a DBA in Alabama.
Use the following business resources in Alabama to learn how to choose the best LLC services, file the Certificate of Formation, obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN), and decide whether you should be your own registered agent or if you should hire a third-party registered agent service.
Becoming an Entrepreneur in Alabama
Just Starting Out
Every Alabama business starts out with a great idea. To get inspiration, you can try our business idea generator that can suggest businesses for you based on your interests and lifestyle.
Once you've found the perfect idea, it's time to create a game plan for your business. This step helps lay a solid foundation for the future of your company. You can move on to planning out your business with our business plan generator or simply browse our selection of startup ideas. We also have several helpful guides for planning out your business:
Coming Up With a Name
One of the most important decisions you will make for your business is coming up with a name and then seeing if it is available in Alabama. We have several naming tools and guides to help you get started with finding the perfect name for your Alabama startup, small business, nonprofit or corporation.
Different Types of Business Formation
A business structure refers to how a business is legally organized. The type of business structure you choose to form your business with can affect how your company is regulated, taxed, and more. Because of this, choosing the best structure for your business is an important decision to make. Below are guides on the different business structures you can choose to form your company so you can learn how to form a business that works best for you.
Forming Your Alabama Business
Now that you’ve created a business plan, found a name and chose your Alabama business structure, it's time to form your business. This process might seem complicated, but it doesn't have to be. And if you want to save time and have someone else handle the paperwork, you can use one of our recommended services, like ZenBusiness, which will help to form your company for you or you can form it yourself using our helpful guides and tools.
LLC Checklist
This Alabama Checklist for Starting an LLC covers the necessary steps you need to take when you create your LLC.
Formation Necessities
Here are the required documents and forms you may need to help you get your business up and running in Alabama.
Highly Recommended Services for Your Business
Depending on the type of business structure your choose and how large your business is, you may also want to consider using the following services for your Alabama startup:
Registered Agent
An Alabama registered agent is a person or business that sends and receives legal papers on behalf of your company. These documents include official correspondence like legal summons and state filing notices.
Alabama requires every business to nominate a registered agent when forming a small business. Your registered agent must be an Alabama resident or a corporation authorized to conduct business in that Alabama.
We also recommend hiring a professional registered agent service to provide you with peace of mind and help you stay compliant with the law.
DBA
Filing a “doing business as” (DBA) name, also known as a trade name, is an easy process that is achieved by registering a DBA with the State of Alabama.
Branding
You can probably think of a dozen different companies in Alabama whose brands play an important role in your daily or professional life. Maybe you only buy certain brands or prefer to buy your groceries at one supermarket chain over another. Your dedication to these companies is primarily a result of one thing: their branding. Our branding guides and tools will go over the importance of branding your small business and provide some tips for getting started.
Financing Your Alabama Business
Small business finance is the raising and managing of funds to finance and operate a new small business. This includes banking, small business accounting, building business credit, and raising funds for your business.
When planning your Alabama business, you should determine what types of business funding options your company will need and when. Whether you are starting a low-cost business or starting a high-growth startup, knowing when to get funding and what kind of funding you need is important.
Setting Up a Bank Account
Opening a business checking account is one of the first things you will need to do as a new business. Business banking is a fundamental asset protection requirement for every business and, depending on your needs, may include checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, and merchant accounts.
Every new and small business needs a business bank account to pay their business insurance, take care of payroll, collect money, and enroll with a merchant account to accept credit card payments.
Check out our guide on the Best Banks for Small Business for help finding a banking account for your business.
Getting a Business Credit Card
Small business credit cards are designed for professional use and provide a line of credit to small businesses while helping to maintain personal asset protection. It is crucial for small businesses to have a small business credit card.
Our guides will help you understand the importance of having a small business credit card and provide the steps for finding and applying for the best credit card for your business.
Finding Small Business Loans
Getting a small business loan is done by applying with a business lender, typically your bank or another lending institution, with the right documentation and your business plan.
A business loan can help to resolve cash flow problems, leverage growth opportunities, and even increase the value of a business. Making sure to plan for a loan ahead of time is extremely important, as is knowing the documentation needed by your lender when you do apply.
Small Business Financing for Female Entrepreneurs
Grants, loans, government contracts, investors, scholarships, advisors, tutorials — there are plenty of financial resources for female entrepreneurs and women leaders, and we’ll help you discover the best ones for you and your business.
Maintaining Your Small Business
Congratulations! Fewer than 14% of Americans have realized the dream of business ownership. To keep your Alabama business running, make sure you keep up with required government filings and maintain a clear record of all earnings and expenses.
Make Sure Your Business is Compliant
When you start a small business, you’ll need to determine if your business needs any licenses or permits to stay compliant.
Set Up Accounting and Bookkeeping
Having a business accountant will help you take advantage of tax benefits and potentially save you and your Alabama business a lot of money in taxes each year.
Finding a business accountant as soon as you start your business will ensure that you have the best advice from the very beginning.
Recommended:
Hiring an accountant can save your company thousands of dollars in taxes each year. Get a free tax consultation with 1-800-Accountant.
Set Up a Business Phone
Getting a business phone number is important for many businesses. Having a phone number for your customers to contact you with can go a long way in ensuring that your business is viewed as professional, trustworthy, and legitimate.
There are also different business phone services and answering services that can ensure that you are able to answer more than one call simultaneously and that all of your customers feel heard. Check out our different phone tools and guides to help your Alabama business set up phone services.
Build a Business Website
With growing technology, more and more businesses are going online. We believe all companies need a website regardless of their industry or size to keep up with the times.
So, how do you build a website? Luckily, technology has recently caught up with the massive demand for tools to simplify website creation. It’s never been easier to build your own website without the need for any web designer experience.
Our tools and guides provide an overview of the steps to build a website for your Alabama business as well as suggestions for which tools to use based on your business type and knowledge level.
Business Resources for Women
Starting your own business is no small feat; thankfully, there are many valuable resources dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs start and succeed. From woman-owned business certification to grants for female entrepreneurs, we’ll help you discover the women's business resources that will help you get the most out of your entrepreneurial journey.
Alabama Business Resources
Alabama District Office of the US SBA
The Alabama District office of the SBA provides a comprehensive list of business assistance and guides to help you start a small business. In keeping with the mission of the SBA, the Alabama District office provides valuable materials on how to start and manage a business, information on loans and grants for business financing, the basics of contracting, and local events and assistance to help you get started. Aside from this, the Alabama District Office also grants you access to business templates and tools for free.
Alabama Secretary of State
What’s more important than a wealth of business-related resource than the Alabama Secretary of State? The Alabama Secretary of State’s office/website should be your number one go-to regardless the kind of business you are starting or the nature of your operations. The SOS’s office is the perfect resource to get started since this is where all rules and regulations come from when it comes to the establishment of your business.
Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama
As a government agency that concerns with aspects of the state’s economic state and development, the Alabama Chamber of Commerce is an information hub for resources related to business, business networking opportunities, and other important business-related information that is useful for entrepreneurs.
Alabama Small Business Development Center
Whether you want to start a business, grow it, or find the perfect funding for it, you can rely on the Alabama Small Business Development Center to provide you with the right resources and tools. With seasoned advisors and business counselors, the Alabama SBDC provides an opportunity for startup entrepreneurs to start their business on the right footing even without extensive business background or experience.
Women's Business Center of North Alabama
With the biggest aim to assist the women of Alabama start their business and make it progress to create economic growth within the state, the Women’s Business Center of North Alabama serves as the premier resource of all business-related information. With full access to these resources and a solid mentoring support, the Women’s Business Center can achieve its goals and develop the small business industry in North Alabama.
Score
With the commitment to provide total assistance to small businesses, SCORE features a lineup of assistance programs and resources encompassing all stages of the startup process to get you started. SCORE offers free business counseling with volunteer mentors all across the country, all certified professionals in their field of expertise. SCORE offers business workshops and online training provided for free or at a very cheap fee as well as online access to tools, templates, and guides.
SBDC
SBDC is the country’s most comprehensive business assistance network for small enterprises. It is the primary goal of the SBDC to help new entrepreneurs realize their dreams of owning a business and to help existing businesses stay competitive and relevant in the industry. No-cost one-on-one mentoring and low-cost workshops and training are regularly provided by the SBDC through its local center and affiliates.
Alabama Launchpad
A part of the program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, the Alabama Launchpad has helped a number of businesses grow and thrive in the state. To funding resources, business workshops and conferences, the Alabama Launchpad has lined up a steady stream of business assistance services to help Alabama startups.
Northeast Alabama Entrepreneurial Center
The Northeast Alabama Entrepreneurial Center is a startup incubator that assists startup service companies as well as light manufacturing enterprises with turnkey office space and business coaching. It is the goal of NAEC to provide these resources to boost the progress of home grown companies. NAEC is situated in Calhoun County, Alabama and serves the surrounding areas as well.