Missouri Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Thinking about starting a business in Cape Girardeau, Missouri? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Cape Girardeau.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Cape Girardeau. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Finding Your Niche in Life.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Cabinet Hardware Business guide or our How to Start an Optical Goods Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.
Remember that your new business will be in Cape Girardeau. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Cape Girardeau. A critical consideration is whether Cape Girardeau demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Cape Girardeau, Missouri Demographic Information
Cape Girardeau has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Cape Girardeau demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Cape Girardeau.
Businesses
As a new Cape Girardeau entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Cape Girardeau for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that you are pursuing.
Businesses
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
As you drive around Cape Girardeau, you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. But is franchising the right option for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Franchise Marketing Support. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Ovenu Oven Detailing Service and Altoids Gum Vending Machines by Candy King. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Retail Franchises and Frozen Yogurt Franchises.
Note on Cape Girardeau Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Cape Girardeau.
What About Buying an Existing Cape Girardeau Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Missouri. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Cape Girardeau.
If you are going to be buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Selling Tips
Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Cape Girardeau or are selling to customers throughout Missouri, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
The Art of Customer Referrals is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Good business owners recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, you should get information on some of the learning programs at local Missouri educational institutions. You should also check if there are any networking organizations for Cape Girardeau entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Cape Girardeau. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Cape Girardeau and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Cape Girardeau, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Cape Girardeau.
- Resources for Cape Girardeau, Missouri Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Cape Girardeau entrepreneurs.
- Missouri Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Missouri.
- Missouri Small Business Development Center - Missouri Small Business Development Center business specialists are uniquely qualified to help small businesses get started, develop and thrive.
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