Kentucky Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Thinking about starting a business in Prestonsburg, Kentucky? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Prestonsburg.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before you get too far along in the process, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Prestonsburg. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- You should read The Entrepreneurial Personality. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Reach out to a trusted acquaintance. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Prestonsburg, Kentucky Demographic Information
Prestonsburg has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Prestonsburg demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Prestonsburg.
Businesses
As a new Prestonsburg entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Prestonsburg 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
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Prestonsburg Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Kentucky. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Prestonsburg.
If you are going to be buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Naming the Business
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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.
On a final note, given that you are opening a business in Prestonsburg, it's very important that you make sure no other Kentucky company is using the business name you want to use.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Kentucky.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Prestonsburg business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
Take advantage of our many articles on finding startup capital, such as Find Start-Up Capital.
For Prestonsburg entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Kentucky Angel Investors and our List of Kentucky Venture Capital Firms.
Letting the World Know You Exist
Whether your goal is to attract Prestonsburg customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Smart Branding is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Prestonsburg. 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 Prestonsburg and throughout the United States . We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Prestonsburg.
- Resources for Prestonsburg, Kentucky Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Prestonsburg entrepreneurs.
- Kentucky Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kentucky.
- Kentucky Small Business Development Center - The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) has been assisting Kentucky small business community for more than 25 years. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges, and the private sector.
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