Opening a Business in the Myrtle Beach Area

The Climate is Great. Wish Your Business was Here!

You’re just plain sick and tired of the cold and the snow. The heavy tax burden that so erodes your income has become unbearable. And dealing with governmental red tape is driving you mad. If this sounds like your situation, you are not alone. Many business owners and would-be proprietors are motivated by similar issues to pack up and head to the sunny south, where the business climate is warm and inviting.

Finding the resources that provide guidance and support to entrepreneurs, whether they are opening an Irish pub, a shoe store, or a cleaning service, is easy through the Small Business Resource Center established online by Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. The Small Business Resource Center includes a detailed Going Into Business guide and contacts for some of the region’s top small business promoters: Coastal Carolina’s Small Business Development Center and its BB&T Center for Economic and Community Development, Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development, Corps of Retired Executives). municipal, county and state government websites are included, offering a quick way to retrieve information such as the process for registering a business with the state, collecting applicable taxes, and applying for business licenses.

Once your business is established, be sure to take advantage of the Small Business Buzz (current news and tools that help small businesses take control of their bottom line), networking opportunities and education services for owners, also found at the Small Business Resource Center. Networking and knowledge are powerful tools that can drastically reduce the time frame from startup to success.

The assistance Gina Trimarco, founder of Carolina Improv Co., received from others when starting her endeavor was one reason for her success, the size of the Grand Strand was another.

“Because Myrtle Beach is not a huge metropolitan market, I could be a big fish in a small pond," Gina says."I would have never done this in Chicago, where I moved from, for several reasons. The biggest is that there is too much competition for this art form there; improv studios are everywhere. Here, it is a unique concept, and people are hungry for unique businesses. Also, because of the area’s size, networking is very effective, and there are so many opportunities to do it.”