Alaska Business Startup Guides

Open a Business in Homer, Alaska

Need help starting a business in Homer, Alaska? We've got the information you need to open a business in Homer.

Homer, Alaska Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
6853
5-9 Employees
1638
10-19 Employees
756
20-49 Employees
294
50-99 Employees
84
100-249 Employees
21
250-499 Employees
21
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Homer Businesses
9667

As a new Homer entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Homer 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
Architectural Services
1
Art Dealers
2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
3
Beauty Salons
3
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Boat Building
3
Boat Dealers
2
Book Stores
2
Business Associations
1
Car Washes
1
Child Day Care Services
2
Civic and Social Organizations
2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
2
Computer and Software Stores
1
Couriers
2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
7
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
3
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
6
Elementary and Secondary Schools
2
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
1
Finfish Fishing
24
Finish Carpentry Contractors
6
Fish and Seafood Markets
1
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers
11
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
2
Flooring Contractors
2
Florists
1
Framing Contractors
2
Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing
2
Full-Service Restaurants
19
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
3
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Grantmaking Foundations
2
Hardware Stores
1
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
2
Home Health Care Services
1
Homes for the Elderly
4
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
4
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
2
Jewelry Stores
1
Land Subdivision
2
Landscaping Services
2
Limited-Service Restaurants
9
Mail-Order Houses
2
Marinas
3
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Meat Markets
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Museums
2
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
3
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
7
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
One-Hour Photofinishing
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
2
Passenger Car Rental
1
Payroll Services
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Radio Stations
2
Real Estate Credit
3
Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Retail Bakeries
1
Rooming and Boarding Houses
1
Sawmills
1
Scheduled Freight Air Transportation
1
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation
1
Securities Brokerage
1
Shellfish Fishing
15
Shoe Stores
1
Siding Contractors
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Soft Drink Manufacturing
1
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Taxi Service
1
Telecommunications Resellers
1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
1
Tour Operators
1
Travel Agencies
2
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wineries
1
Women's Clothing Stores
1

Picking a Company Name

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.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Homer, it's imperative that you check now that no other Alaska company is using the business name you want to use.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Homer 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.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as 504 Loans.

For Homer entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of Alaska Angel Investors and our List of Alaska Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Homer customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a excellent marketing plan.

You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. Direct Mail Costs discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

The Art of Selling

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

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.

Writing Great Proposals offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Homer, Alaska, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Alaska educational institutions. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Homer entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Moving Forward

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

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Homer businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Homer, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Homer, Alaska

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

  • Resources for Homer, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Homer entrepreneurs.
  • Alaska Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alaska.
  • Alaska Small Business Development Center - The Alaska Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by the University of Alaska and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has assisted businesses by providing free, confidential technical business assistance and low-cost business training in Alaska for twenty years.

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Alaska

Starting a Business in Haines
Starting a Business in Juneau

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

 

 

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