Nebraska Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Grand Island, Nebraska

Are you starting a business in Grand Island, Nebraska? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Grand Island.

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

Most new ventures fail, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Grand Island. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
  • Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
  • Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Grand Island, Nebraska Demographic Information

Grand Island has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Grand Island demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Grand Island.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
4918
5-9 Employees
2286
10-19 Employees
1512
20-49 Employees
912
50-99 Employees
336
100-249 Employees
126
250-499 Employees
36
500-999 Employees
12
1000+ Employees
12
All Grand Island Businesses
10150

As a new Grand Island entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Grand Island 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.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering
1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
2
Architectural Services
2
Armored Car Services
1
Art Dealers
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
11
Baked Goods Stores
2
Barber Shops
2
Beauty Salons
23
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
3
Boat Dealers
1
Book Publishers
1
Bowling Centers
2
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Business Associations
5
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Cafeterias
4
Car Washes
8
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
6
Charter Bus Industry
1
Child and Youth Services
2
Child Day Care Services
16
Civic and Social Organizations
16
Claims Adjusting
4
Clothing Accessories Stores
3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
2
Commodity Contracts Brokerage
3
Computer and Software Stores
7
Computer Facilities Management Services
1
Computer Systems Design Services
2
Concrete Pipe Manufacturing
2
Confectionery and Nut Stores
1
Consumer Lending
2
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
1
Convention and Visitors Bureaus
1
Cosmetology and Barber Schools
2
Couriers
7
Credit Bureaus
1
Credit Unions
3
Custom Computer Programming Services
2
Dental Laboratories
4
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Diet and Weight Reducing Centers
6
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
4
Direct Mail Advertising
1
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
2
Discount Department Stores
4
Display Advertising
1
Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing
1
Doll and Stuffed Toy Manufacturing
1
Drafting Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
19
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
11
Electrical Contractors
14
Electronic Shopping
3
Elementary and Secondary Schools
4
Emergency and Other Relief Services
2
Employment Placement Agencies
2
Engineering Services
4
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
8
Family Clothing Stores
6
Family Planning Centers
1
Farm Product Warehousing and Storage
2
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
7
Fine Arts Schools
2
Finish Carpentry Contractors
4
Floor Covering Stores
4
Flooring Contractors
2
Florists
5
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Framing Contractors
5
Freight Transportation Arrangement
2
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
5
Furniture Stores
9
General Automotive Repair
19
General Freight Trucking, Local
9
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
3
General Rental Centers
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
10
Grantmaking Foundations
3
Graphic Design Services
2
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
2
Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal
1
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
4
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
1
Home Health Care Services
4
Home Health Equipment Rental
3
Homes for the Elderly
4
Household Appliance Stores
6
Industrial Building Construction
1
Inland Water Passenger Transportation
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
53
Internet Service Providers
2
Investment Advice
2
Janitorial Services
24
Jewelry Stores
7
Land Subdivision
2
Landscape Architectural Services
1
Leather and Hide Tanning and Finishing
1
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
3
Limited-Service Restaurants
46
Linen Supply
1
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers
1
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
3
Machine Shops
4
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
3
Marketing Consulting Services
2
Masonry Contractors
4
Media Representatives
1
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Metal Window and Door Manufacturing
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motorcycle Dealers
3
Museums
1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Natural Gas Distribution
3
New Car Dealers
11
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
7
Office Administrative Services
3
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers
2
Office Machinery Manufacturing
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
4
Offices of Bank Holding Companies
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
15
Offices of Dentists
24
Offices of Lawyers
24
Offices of Optometrists
5
Offices of Podiatrists
2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
3
Optical Goods Stores
5
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
9
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
2
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
3
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
5
Photography Studios, Portrait
6
Portfolio Management
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Public Relations Agencies
1
Quick Printing
1
Racetracks
1
Radio Networks
2
Radio Stations
2
Real Estate Credit
5
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage
2
Remediation Services
1
Rendering and Meat Byproduct Processing
1
Residential Property Managers
2
Residential Remodelers
16
Sales Financing
2
Savings Institutions
8
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation
1
Securities Brokerage
10
Security Guards and Patrol Services
1
Sewage Treatment Facilities
1
Shoe Stores
11
Sign Manufacturing
9
Site Preparation Contractors
5
Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
10
Solid Waste Collection
4
Sporting Goods Stores
9
Sports and Recreation Instruction
2
Taxi Service
1
Telemarketing Bureaus
1
Telephone Answering Services
1
Temporary Help Services
4
Temporary Shelters
3
Testing Laboratories
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
1
Tire Dealers
10
Tire Retreading
1
Tobacco Stores
2
Travel Agencies
4
Truss Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
19
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Vending Machine Operators
2
Veterinary Services
11
Video Tape and Disc Rental
4
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
2
Voluntary Health Organizations
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
4
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
5
Women's Clothing Stores
9
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing
1

Should You Buy an Existing Grand Island Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Nebraska. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Grand Island.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Naming the Company

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Grand Island, it's imperative that you check now that your company name has not already been claimed by another Nebraska business.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Raising money to fund your new Grand Island business is a difficult chore. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled 504 Loans.

For Grand Island entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, you'll want to take a look at our List of Nebraska Angel Investors and our List of Nebraska Venture Capital Firms.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Business

To grow your Grand Island business, you need a excellent marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Pricing and Positioning discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Selling Tips

Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Grand Island business to do well.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Writing Great Proposals 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.

Moving Forward

Most new Grand Island businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

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 Grand Island and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Grand Island, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Grand Island, Nebraska

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Grand Island.

More Startup Articles for Nebraska Cities

Starting a Business in Gothenburg
Starting a Business in Grant

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Nebraska
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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