Whether you’ve lived here your entire life or you’re just getting ready to move to the Cedar Valley area, supportive and growing community coupled with an overall lower cost of living make this a great place to open up shop. Today, Cedar Valley Sentinel offers up tips on getting started and touches on just a few of the reasons that this area is the best place to work and live.
Guest Author: Ivy Crawford
Getting Started
There are many different steps you will have to take to start a business, but just a few of these to get you going include establishing your business structure and creating a logo and other visual marketing material. Your business structure could be an LLC, corporation, nonprofit, sole proprietorship, or joint venture. Make your decision based on your risk tolerance and desired control over your organization. You can then use a tool to create your text logo (look for a free program that gives you options and allows you to adjust and update based on your desired look). Remember, your logo and wordmark should be present on all of your marketing materials.
Cost Of Living
The average home price in the Eagle Mountain, Utah, area is around $539,000, which is a bit higher than the national average. If you’re not quite ready to put down more than half a million dollars on a permanent home, there are plenty of rentals south of Salt Lake City that allow you to establish your roots while you also start your business. A one-bedroom rental may run you about $1500 per month while a four- or five-bedroom could exceed $3,500 per month.
However, despite higher housing costs, groceries, transportation, and even rent in some locations are lower than average. Before you move here, make sure to research your specific city – Best Places is a great website to look for this information.
Your Community
When you live anywhere in Utah, you have a supportive community of individuals, businesses, and leaders. We are a close-knit bunch, and we are always happy when entrepreneurs call our hometown their own. There are many organizations that you might turn to for help getting started, including:
- Eagle Mountain Chamber of Commerce
- Point Of The Mountain Chamber Of Commerce
- Saratoga City Planning And Zoning Commission
- Eventbrite – Business Event Listings
Area Happenings
Quality-of-life plays a major role in how well a business fairs in any given area. Fortunately, you’ll enjoy lots of outdoor spaces, mountains, and community events throughout Cedar Valley. Remember, having a robust calendar of events and plenty of recreational opportunities makes for a better home life and also happier employees. Look for:
- Eagle Mountain City Skate Parks – The City Council recently gave the green light to a second location
- Turtle Hill
- The Ranches Golf Club
Academics
As a future business owner, you should know that the workforce throughout Utah have many educational opportunities. There are benefits of this for you, and when you have an educated workforce, you have a knowledgeable staff that can best serve your customers, which creates growth and loyalty. A few colleges throughout the state that you might recruit from include:
- The University of Utah
- Brigham Young University
- Westminster University
The Weather
One of the main things that draw people to Utah is the weather. Unlike many other parts of the country, humidity is typically fairly low throughout the summer. This contributes to Utah’s reputation as being a “dry heat” state. Although it may reach 90° or more during the summer, it is not a sweltering heat such as you’d find in Florida or Louisiana.
History
Utah is one of the most historic states in the US, boasting many preservation districts throughout. From Southwestern Utah’s town of Beaver with its basalt rock houses to the Piute County Courthouse in Central Utah’s Junction, you and your family will never run out of things to see and do throughout the states.
The Cedar Valley area is welcoming and ready to support your future new entrepreneurs. As you prepare yourself to launch your first small business, remember the tips and advice from above. From simple steps, such as creating a word mark logo to recruiting from some of the state’s universities, the steps you take today will help you be a more successful entrepreneur tomorrow. And you never know, you may just be the next big business to boom in the area.
Ivy Crawford is a graphic designer and artist. After several years with a major marketing firm, she recently started her own graphic design business. She is enjoying getting to work more closely with her clients, building relationships with other creatives, and learning the ins and outs and ups and downs of running her own business. She started Creative Home Biz to share all the business advice she is finding helpful along the way.
This article was written by a Ghost Writer. On occasion, we ask others to write articles for the Cedar Valley Sentinel. In some cases, they do not wish to be identified. If you would like to write for the Cedar Valley Sentinel, as either a ghost writer or as a regular writer, please use the contact-us form and let us know.