Illinois Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Mount Vernon, Illinois

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

What Type of Business Should You Start?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Finding Your Niche in Life.

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 Opening a Structural Steel Fabricators Business guide or our Starting a Word Processing Employment Agencies Business guide.

Always keep in mind that you are opening your new business in Mount Vernon. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Mount Vernon. A critical consideration is whether Mount Vernon demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Mount Vernon, Illinois Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
21488
5-9 Employees
9456
10-19 Employees
6528
20-49 Employees
4224
50-99 Employees
1392
100-249 Employees
720
250-499 Employees
96
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
144
All Mount Vernon Businesses
44048

As a new Mount Vernon entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Mount Vernon 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
Ambulance Services
2
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Architectural Services
1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
9
Automotive Transmission Repair
1
Barber Shops
1
Beauty Salons
9
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Boat Dealers
2
Book Stores
3
Business Associations
5
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Cafeterias
2
Car Washes
3
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child and Youth Services
3
Child Day Care Services
8
Clothing Accessories Stores
2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
2
Commercial Gravure Printing
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Commercial Photography
1
Community Food Services
2
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Concrete Pipe Manufacturing
1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers
1
Construction Machinery Manufacturing
1
Consumer Lending
8
Couriers
2
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services
1
Credit Unions
2
Dental Laboratories
1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
3
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
1
Discount Department Stores
1
Document Preparation Services
1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells
2
Electric Power Distribution
4
Electrical Contractors
5
Emergency and Other Relief Services
2
Engineering Services
3
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
6
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
8
Floor Covering Stores
3
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
6
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Footwear and Leather Goods Repair
1
Full-Service Restaurants
23
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Merchant Wholesalers
1
Furniture Stores
4
General Automotive Repair
12
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
2
General Rental Centers
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
5
Glass and Glazing Contractors
2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
4
Hardware Stores
2
Hat, Cap, and Millinery Manufacturing
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Home Centers
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
2
Homes for the Elderly
2
Household Appliance Stores
5
Ice Manufacturing
1
Industrial Mold Manufacturing
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
26
Internet Service Providers
3
Janitorial Services
4
Jewelry Stores
3
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Landscape Architectural Services
1
Landscaping Services
5
Limited-Service Restaurants
23
Machine Shops
3
Marking Device Manufacturing
1
Masonry Contractors
1
Medical Laboratories
2
Miscellaneous Intermediation
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Museums
1
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nonresidential Property Managers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
6
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Bank Holding Companies
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
5
Offices of Dentists
16
Offices of Lawyers
22
Offices of Optometrists
7
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Optical Goods Stores
1
Packing and Crating
1
Paint and Coating Manufacturing
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
8
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Quick Printing
1
Radio Stations
2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
2
Real Estate Credit
1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Residential Property Managers
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
1
Roofing Contractors
2
Savings Institutions
1
School and Employee Bus Transportation
2
Securities Brokerage
3
Septic Tank and Related Services
3
Shoe Stores
5
Sign Manufacturing
2
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
4
Tax Preparation Services
1
Taxi Service
1
Temporary Help Services
3
Testing Laboratories
2
Tire Dealers
3
Tire Manufacturing (except Retreading)
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
1
Tobacco Stores
3
Travel Agencies
2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Vending Machine Operators
1
Veterinary Services
6
Video Tape and Disc Rental
3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Wineries
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
3
Women's Clothing Stores
5

What About Buying an Existing Mount Vernon Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Mount Vernon.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.

Company Formation in Mount Vernon, Illinois

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation is a very popular way to form a business. 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. Just because you are starting a business in Illinois, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Illinois. As it turns out, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Incorporating Online. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Mount Vernon, Illinois, our information on Incorporating in Illinois may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Illinois.

Promoting Your New Company

To grow your Mount Vernon business, you need a excellent marketing plan.

You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Television Advertising Rates 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.

How to Sell

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

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.

Selling Products on eBay is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Never Give Up

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Mount Vernon businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon, Illinois

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

More Startup Articles for Illinois Cities

Starting a Business in Mount Sterling
Starting a Business in Mount Zion

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

 

 

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