Oklahoma Business Startup Guides
Start a Business in Shawnee, Oklahoma
Are you starting a business in Shawnee, Oklahoma? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Shawnee.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Good Business Ideas.
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 Mutual Funds & Brokers Business guide or our How to Start a Retirement Housing Business guide.
Don't forget that you are opening your new business in Shawnee. If Shawnee already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Only by spending some time analyzing Shawnee demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Shawnee, Oklahoma Demographic Information
Shawnee has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Shawnee demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Shawnee.
Businesses
As a new Shawnee entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Shawnee 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.
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.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Shawnee, it's critical that you ensure that no other Oklahoma company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Shawnee, Oklahoma
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. The biggest advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.
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 Oklahoma, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Oklahoma. In fact, you can incorporate wherever you want. 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. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Offshore Company Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Shawnee, Oklahoma, our information on Incorporating in Oklahoma may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Oklahoma.
The Role of the Business Plan
Writing a business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.
To learn more about business plans, read Reasons to Write a Business Plan. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Oklahoma.
Learning More About Entrepreneurship
Good entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.
With your business being located in Shawnee, Oklahoma, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Oklahoma educational institutions. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking organizations for Shawnee entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Shawnee, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Shawnee and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Shawnee 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 Shawnee, Oklahoma
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Shawnee.
- Resources for Shawnee, Oklahoma Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Shawnee entrepreneurs.
- Oklahoma Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oklahoma.
- Oklahoma Small Business Development Center - Whether you are in business or thinking about it, the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center staff can assist you. Their goal is to help Oklahoma entrepreneurs like you be more successful.
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