Minnesota Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Pipestone, Minnesota

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Pipestone. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
  • We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

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? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Finding Your Niche in Life.

To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Diabetes Clinic guide or our Opening a Credit Rating Corrections Services Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Pipestone has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Pipestone than others. Study Pipestone demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Pipestone, Minnesota Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
338
5-9 Employees
153
10-19 Employees
57
20-49 Employees
60
50-99 Employees
9
100-249 Employees
12
250-499 Employees
6
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Pipestone Businesses
635

As a new Pipestone entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Pipestone 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
Art Dealers
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
2
Baked Goods Stores
1
Boat Building
1
Boat Dealers
1
Business Associations
1
Car Washes
2
Charter Bus Industry
1
Child Day Care Services
5
Civic and Social Organizations
2
Document Preparation Services
1
Electric Power Distribution
2
Electrical Contractors
5
Electronic Shopping
1
Facilities Support Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
1
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
2
Full-Service Restaurants
3
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
4
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
2
Hardware Stores
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Homes for the Elderly
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
5
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
2
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
5
Masonry Contractors
2
Meat Markets
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Museums
1
Nail Salons
1
New Car Dealers
3
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
2
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
2
Offices of Lawyers
2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Professional Employer Organizations
1
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Residential Remodelers
3
Securities Brokerage
2
Septic Tank and Related Services
2
Solid Waste Collection
1
Tax Preparation Services
2
Tire Dealers
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
1
Travel Agencies
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
2

Choosing a Company Name

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.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.

On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Pipestone, it's very important that you make sure no other Minnesota company is using the business name you want to use.

Startup Financing Basics

Getting your Pipestone business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Realistic Debt Financing Options.

For Pipestone entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, you'll want to take a look at our List of Minnesota Angel Investors and our List of Minnesota Venture Capital Firms.

Letting the World Know You Exist

To rise above the crowd in Pipestone and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

We have some useful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Marketing Research is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Now It's Up To You

You have a dream -- starting a business in Pipestone. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.

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

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

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