Alaska Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Kenai, Alaska
Contemplating starting a business in Kenai, Alaska? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Kenai.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Good Business Ideas.
For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Lacquer Business guide or our Starting a Potato Growers Business guide.
Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Kenai. If Kenai already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Don't forget to review Kenai demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Kenai, Alaska Demographic Information
Kenai has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Kenai demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Kenai.
Businesses
As a new Kenai entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Kenai 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 Buying an Existing Kenai Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Alaska. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Kenai.
If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Forming a Company in Kenai, Alaska
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporation is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Alaska, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alaska. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.
There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Kenai, Alaska, our information on Incorporating in Alaska may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alaska.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Kenai customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your succeeding.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Yellow Pages Advertising Advice discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Ramping Up Sales
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Kenai business to do well.
Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.
Sales Forecasting is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.
Next Steps
Most new Kenai businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
We are here to help Kenai businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Kenai entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Kenai, Alaska
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Kenai.
- Resources for Kenai, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Kenai 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 Juneau
Starting a Business in Ketchikan
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Alaska
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
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