North Dakota Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Minot, North Dakota
Are you starting a business in Minot, North Dakota? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Minot.
Minot, North Dakota Demographic Information
Minot has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Minot demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Minot.
Businesses
As a new Minot entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Minot 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
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.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Minot, it's imperative that you check now that no other North Dakota company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Minot, North Dakota
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in North Dakota, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in North Dakota. As it turns out, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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. To learn the basics of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Subchapter S Corporations. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Minot, North Dakota, our information on Incorporating in North Dakota may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in North Dakota.
The Role of the Business Plan
Writing a business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in North Dakota.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Getting your Minot 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.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Attracting Investors.
For Minot entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of North Dakota Angel Investors and our List of North Dakota Venture Capital Firms.
Learning More About Entrepreneurship
The best entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Minot, North Dakota, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby North Dakota universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Minot networking organizations.
Moving Forward
Most new Minot businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Minot businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Minot 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 Minot, North Dakota
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Minot.
- Resources for Minot, North Dakota Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Minot entrepreneurs.
- North Dakota Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in North Dakota.
- North Dakota Small Business Development Center - The North Dakota Small Business Development Center's mission is to provide high quality business assistance in the form of counseling, training, and research to existing and prospective North Dakota small businesses.
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