Kansas Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Columbus, Kansas
Thinking about starting a business in Columbus, Kansas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Columbus.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Free Business Ideas.
To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Mud Jacking Contractors Business guide or our Opening a Shopping Services Commercial Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Columbus. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Columbus. Study Columbus demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Columbus, Kansas Demographic Information
Columbus has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Columbus demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Columbus.
Businesses
As a new Columbus entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Columbus 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
Have You Considered Franchising?
Examine a list of Columbus businesses and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Selling A Franchise. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include UBuildIt and Line-X Corp.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cell Phone Franchises and Automotive Services Franchises.
Note on Columbus Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Columbus.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Columbus business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Angel Investors.
For Columbus entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, browse our List of Kansas Angel Investors and our List of Kansas Venture Capital Firms.
How to Sell
Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Columbus or are selling to customers throughout Kansas, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.
Closing Sales 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
The best business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Columbus, Kansas, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Kansas universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking organizations for Columbus entrepreneurs.
Now It's Up To You
You have a dream -- starting a business in Columbus. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Columbus and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Columbus, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Columbus, Kansas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Columbus.
- Resources for Columbus, Kansas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Columbus entrepreneurs.
- Kansas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kansas.
- Kansas Small Business Development Center - The KSBDC Network provides Kansas entrepreneurs and small business owners with knowledge, tools and resources to enhance their success. Contact them and they will help you identify your business needs and guide you toward opportunities and solutions.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Kansas
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