Want to Start a Business in Arizona?

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This page is dedicated to the best resources for starting a business in Arizona.

Learn more about how to start a business in Arizona.

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Business Resources in Arizona

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 Arizona.

Use the following business resources in Arizona to learn how to choose the best LLC services, file the Articles of Organization, 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 Arizona

Just Starting Out

Every Arizona 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 Arizona. We have several naming tools and guides to help you get started with finding the perfect name for your Arizona 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 Arizona Business

Now that you’ve created a business plan, found a name and chose your Arizona 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 Arizona Checklist for Starting an LLC covers the necessary steps you need to take when you create your LLC.

Formation Necessities

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 Arizona startup:

Registered Agent

An Arizona 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.

Arizona requires every business to nominate a registered agent when forming a small business. Your registered agent must be an Arizona resident or a corporation authorized to conduct business in that Arizona.

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 Arizona.

Branding

You can probably think of a dozen different companies in Arizona 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 Arizona 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 Arizona 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 Arizona 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 Arizona 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 1-800Accountant.

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 Arizona 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 Arizona 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.

Arizona Business Resources

Arizona District Office of the SBA

The website of the Arizona District Office of the SBA is a wealth of information when starting a business. Every resource you need as a new entrepreneur, the AZ SBA District Office has it. Most importantly, it keeps you updated on all the latest small business events to help you network and take advantage of opportunities.

Arizona Small Business Association

From a vast collection of business resources to speed networking to various business events, the ASBA is a great resource to look into. When you become an ASBA member, you get access to a plethora of services to manage and operate your business. You’ll also get group discounts, advertising, and mentoring.

Arizona Commerce Authority

The Arizona Commerce Authority is truly an authority when it comes to providing small business services. With specialized programs to help small businesses, getting started with the help of the resources in the Arizona Commerce Authority is a great option if you are a first time entrepreneur or veteran.

AZ Department of Revenue

When you’re processing business requirements in Arizona, a key resource that you should access is the AZ Department of Revenue. Anything that has to do with individual and business taxes should be referred to here. Forms and regular tax bulletin updates can also be found here.

Arizona Small Business Development Center Network

With the aim to assist in launching, growing, and sustaining small business, the Arizona SBDC Network offers a variety of small business assistance that you shouldn’t pass up. Open to all small business entrepreneurs, its business assistance programs are provided by business experts and professionals. From training to one-on-one counseling, the AZ SBDC Network helps fast track the startup phase of your business.

Northern Arizona Score

In keeping with the mission of SCORE, the Northern Arizona district office assists small businesses in the Northern Arizona communities get on their feet in their venture. Specializing in free mentoring and workshops and events, startup entrepreneurs will have a working knowledge on entrepreneurship. Templates and tools are also provided.

Women’s Business Center

With the goal of leveling the business field primarily for women, immigrant, and minority entrepreneurs, the AZ Women’s Business Center offers wide-ranging assistance services. From counseling, management training, to professional development services, the AZ Women’s Business Center equips new entrepreneurs with the right knowledge and skills to start a small business.

Local First Arizona

Local First Arizona is an Arizona business directory where you can search everything – from business establishments to local companies, it’s the absolute business finder in Arizona. Aside from this, Local First Arizona also provides entrepreneurs with local news and events in Arizona’s business industry.

inBusiness

inBusiness is an online business magazine that provides entrepreneurs with business resources, the latest news in business, information on business events and business solution centers. The magazine features helpful business topics such as starting a business, communications and networking, finance, sales and marketing and a lot more.

SCORE

SCORE is the go-to when you’re starting a business in Arizona and you’re looking for professional mentoring, counseling, and advice. SCORE is widely known for providing expert business advice with the largest network of business mentors in all fields of expertise. Whether you need professional advice on accounting, financial management, marketing analysis, profit increase, customer satisfaction, etc., you can find mentors for these specific areas in SCORE.

SBA

The Small Business Administration stays true to its mission to get involved in all aspects of small business concerns. Not only does it provide excellent assistance programs for small businesses across the country, but it has a wealth of resources that every small business entrepreneur will find useful as she/he ventures into the world of entrepreneurship. From resources on starting and managing a business to tools and templates vital for startups – there is some excellent information on the SBA.

SBDC

America’s Small Business Development Center provides total support services for small entrepreneurs across the country. With district offices located in numerous states, the SBDC is an important go-to for small business assistance networking. From writing business plans to how to market your business, get the best counseling and expert mentoring through SBDC.

Carter Law Firm

Carter Law Firm provides a variety of business legal services and also business consultancy. Legal advice on how you can form your business and what contracts to utilize for your business are a main point of the legal consultancy in this firm. Carter Law Firm gives individuals the legal foundation and the right tools to be empowered to innovate and pursue their business endeavors.

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