Wyoming Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Laramie, Wyoming

Contemplating starting a business in Laramie, Wyoming? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Laramie.

Laramie, Wyoming Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1781
5-9 Employees
582
10-19 Employees
411
20-49 Employees
225
50-99 Employees
51
100-249 Employees
30
250-499 Employees
9
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Laramie Businesses
3089

As a new Laramie entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Laramie 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
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
2
Architectural Services
2
Art Dealers
2
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
9
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
7
Blood and Organ Banks
1
Book Publishers
1
Book Stores
6
Bowling Centers
2
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Cable and Other Program Distribution
2
Car Washes
6
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
1
Cement Manufacturing
1
Child and Youth Services
6
Child Day Care Services
14
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
2
Clothing Accessories Stores
3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
2
Collection Agencies
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
2
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Confectionery and Nut Stores
2
Consumer Lending
1
Convenience Stores
1
Convention and Visitors Bureaus
1
Cosmetology and Barber Schools
1
Couriers
2
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
3
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
1
Discount Department Stores
1
Document Preparation Services
3
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
7
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
6
Electrical Contractors
13
Electronic Computer Manufacturing
1
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Emergency and Other Relief Services
1
Engineering Services
21
Environmental Consulting Services
9
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
1
Family Planning Centers
2
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
6
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
8
Floor Covering Stores
3
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
6
Food Service Contractors
3
Framing Contractors
4
Full-Service Restaurants
29
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
3
General Automotive Repair
14
General Freight Trucking, Local
4
General Rental Centers
2
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
5
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Grantmaking Foundations
5
Graphic Design Services
1
Hardware Stores
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
2
Homes for the Elderly
3
Household Appliance Stores
2
Hunting and Trapping
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
16
Investigation Services
1
Jewelry Stores
1
Land Subdivision
2
Landscaping Services
13
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
2
Limited-Service Restaurants
25
Linen Supply
1
Logging
2
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Masonry Contractors
4
Meat Markets
1
Meat Processed from Carcasses
1
Media Representatives
1
Medical Laboratories
1
Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
3
Motor Vehicle Towing
3
Museums
2
Nail Salons
1
Natural Gas Distribution
1
New Car Dealers
5
New Housing Operative Builders
5
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
2
Offices of Bank Holding Companies
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
5
Offices of Chiropractors
5
Offices of Lawyers
31
Offices of Optometrists
6
Offices of Podiatrists
2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
2
Optical Goods Stores
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
7
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
5
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
4
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Portfolio Management
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Radio Stations
3
Real Estate Credit
1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage
1
Remediation Services
1
Residential Property Managers
3
Residential Remodelers
11
Roofing Contractors
4
Rooming and Boarding Houses
5
Sales Financing
1
Sawmills
2
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation
1
Secondary Market Financing
1
Securities Brokerage
4
Septic Tank and Related Services
2
Shoe Stores
2
Sign Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
5
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
5
Solid Waste Collection
2
Sporting Goods Stores
11
Tax Preparation Services
2
Television Broadcasting
1
Temporary Shelters
1
Testing Laboratories
4
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
2
Tire Dealers
4
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
2
Travel Agencies
1
Truss Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
5
Vending Machine Operators
1
Veterinary Services
5
Voluntary Health Organizations
2
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
3
Women's Clothing Stores
2

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Laramie Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Wyoming. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Laramie.

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

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 need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Laramie, it's very important that you make sure no other Wyoming company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Laramie, Wyoming

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will shield 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. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Wyoming, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Wyoming. In fact, you can 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 ESOP Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Laramie, Wyoming, our information on Incorporating in Wyoming may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Wyoming.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Wyoming.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

The best entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.

With your business being located in Laramie, Wyoming, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Wyoming universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also beneficial to see if there are any networking organizations for Laramie entrepreneurs.

Next Steps

You have a dream -- starting a business in Laramie. 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.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Laramie, Wyoming

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

  • Resources for Laramie, Wyoming Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Laramie entrepreneurs.
  • Wyoming Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Wyoming.
  • Wyoming Small Business Development Center - The Wyoming Small Business Development Center provides free and confidential consulting services to individual businesses, offers various products online of specific use to various businesses, sponsors affordable educational programs targeted at the small business community, and maintains links with various business resources throughout Wyoming and the nation.

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