Iowa Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Manning, Iowa

Thinking about starting a business in Manning, Iowa? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Manning.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

  • Speak with other entrepreneurs in Manning. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
  • You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
  • Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Manning, Iowa Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
246
5-9 Employees
96
10-19 Employees
84
20-49 Employees
48
50-99 Employees
0
100-249 Employees
6
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Manning Businesses
480

As a new Manning entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Manning 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
Bowling Centers
1
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Community Food Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Electrical Contractors
1
Floor Covering Stores
1
Food Product Machinery Manufacturing
1
Full-Service Restaurants
2
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
General Automotive Repair
2
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Home Centers
1
Home Health Care Services
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
7
Limited-Service Restaurants
1
Masonry Contractors
1
New Car Dealers
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
1
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Lawyers
2
Offices of Optometrists
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Savings Institutions
1
Solid Waste Collection
1
Soybean Processing
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
2
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1

What About Franchising Opportunities?

As you drive around Manning, you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Franchise. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Absolute Best Care and Instant Tax Services Corp.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Sports Restaurant Franchises and Auto Rental Franchises.

Note on Manning Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Manning.

Naming the Company

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.

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 planning on starting a business in Manning, it's critical that you ensure that no other Iowa company is using the business name you want to use.

Marketing Your New Venture

To rise above the crowd in Manning and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Introduction to Advertising is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

How to Sell

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Manning business, you need to focus on sales.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

How to Build and Motivate a Sales Team 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.

Next Steps

As an entrepreneur in Manning, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Manning and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Manning 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 Manning, Iowa

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

  • Resources for Manning, Iowa Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Manning entrepreneurs.
  • Iowa Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Iowa.
  • Iowa Small Business Development Center - The Iowa SBDC conducts research, counsels, and trains business people in management, financing, and operating small businesses. They provide comprehensive information services and access to experts in a variety of fields. This is a great resource for Iowa entrepreneurs!

More Business Startup Guides for Iowa

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