A call to (843) 380-2699 or the request form starts it, and funding partners decide on terms. Each place on this page carries its own ZIP figures.
ZIP-labeled figures for towns and communities around Beaufort, SC, plus lease checklists for inns, offices and restaurants.
Port Royal, SC and its ZIP 29935 employers
Port Royal, SC, an incorporated town in Beaufort County, SC, has its own Port Royal, SC page. A shop owner there checking the numbers finds 121 employer establishments listed at ZIP 29935 addresses in 2023, with 48.8% under five employees (ZIP Code Business Patterns). Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services establishments there ran small: 92.3% had fewer than five on staff. Large parts of the town sit in ZIP 29902, so the ZIP count leaves out some of it.
Bluffton, SC and the wider ZIP 29910 area
Bluffton, SC, also a town, has its own Bluffton, SC page with license and business-purchase lists. ZIP 29910 is the larger economy of the two: 1,828 employer establishments in 2023, and 60.2% had fewer than five employees (ZBP). The town covers 46.9% of the ZIP land, which is why the page labels every count as ZIP 29910 and never as Bluffton alone.
Hilton Head Island, SC: ZIP 29928 and ZIP 29926
The Town of Hilton Head Island covers all of ZIP 29928, yet only 50.1% of the island town lies in it; the other 49.9% is ZIP 29926 (Census relationship file). ZIP 29928 alone had 1,089 employer establishments in 2023, 55.8% with fewer than five employees, including 173 in Real Estate and Rental and Leasing and 73 in Construction (ZBP).
On Hilton Head Island, 9.3% of employed residents ran an incorporated business of their own; the self-employment share overall was 15.2% (ACS 2020-2024, margin 1.9 points). Beaufort County, SC had a 6.7% incorporated-business share and the same overall self-employment share. An owner there with a company return can bring it to the first call. The town has no page of its own on this site; the request form and the phone line take Hilton Head Island requests all the same.
Burton, SC, Shell Point, SC and Laurel Bay, SC: unincorporated communities
Burton, Shell Point and Laurel Bay are unincorporated communities (Census Designated Places) in Beaufort County, SC, not towns, so no town license office or town-level business count exists for them. The Census relationship file puts 86.9% of Burton, 95.7% of Shell Point and 100% of Laurel Bay in ZIP 29906.
Burton is the one with a usable self-employment estimate: 14.5% of employed residents (ACS 2020-2024, margin 5.9 points). Owners in all three use the county figures on the Beaufort, SC page as the nearest published frame.
A commercial lease checklist for Beaufort County, SC hotels and inns
An inn or hotel tenant in Beaufort County, SC signs a lease that can outlive several equipment-replacement cycles. A checklist before signing:
- Lease term and renewal options measured against the payback of any movable-equipment loan; fixed room work is excluded
- Who owns furniture, fixtures and bathroom upgrades when the lease ends
- Written consent for alterations, including signage and parking changes
- A landlord waiver covering financed furniture and equipment
- Insurance the tenant must carry, and who insures the building
- Any limit on subleasing rooms or a restaurant space inside the building
Leasing commercial office space in Beaufort County, SC for a physician or real estate office
Physician offices and real estate offices both rent office suites, and both are numerous in the county: Beaufort County, SC had 149 offices of physicians and 360 real estate agent offices with paid staff in 2023 (CBP, NAICS 6211 and 5312). A medical suite needs plumbing and exam-room layout written into the lease; an agent office needs signage and parking for clients. Either one can ask the landlord about a tenant improvement allowance and its treatment of an itemized movable-equipment quote with a term loan; fixed walls, plumbing and room work are excluded.
What a landlord around Beaufort County, SC may ask a restaurant tenant to show
A landlord around Beaufort County, SC may ask a restaurant tenant to show:
- Recent business bank statements plus the two latest tax returns
- A menu and floor plan showing seats and kitchen layout
- The equipment list and how it is paid for, cash or financed
- The security deposit plus the initial month’s rent
- Proof of insurance before the keys change hands
A tenant financing its kitchen can show the landlord the equipment financing quote alongside these.
Ridgeland, SC and Hardeeville, SC: places split between Beaufort County, SC and Jasper County, SC
Ridgeland, SC (a town) and Hardeeville, SC (a city) each straddle two counties: the Census 2020 place-to-county file places both in Beaufort County, SC and Jasper County, SC. County figures on this site describe Beaufort County alone, so neither place gets them; both get ZIP figures only.
ZIP 29936 listed 455 employer establishments in 2023, 52.7% with fewer than five employees, and Construction was its largest sector at 101 (ZBP). Ridgeland covers only 19.2% of that ZIP land; the ZIP also reaches Coosawhatchie and Gillisonville, two unincorporated Jasper County, SC communities.
ZIP 29927 counted 333 employer establishments, 52.3% with fewer than five employees, with Retail Trade in front at 69 (ZBP 2023). Hardeeville covers 25.7% of the ZIP land. In the city itself, 11.9% of employed residents were self-employed (ACS 2020-2024, margin 4.6 points).
By Coralmont Advances · Updated