Pennsylvania Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

Are you starting a business in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Shippensburg.

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

Running your own business is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Shippensburg. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
  • 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. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

What Business to Start

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Garage Organizers Business guide or our Starting a Spraying Equipment Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.

Don't forget that you are opening your new business in Shippensburg. Some businesses will do better in Shippensburg than others. Make sure you fully understand Shippensburg demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
544
5-9 Employees
207
10-19 Employees
165
20-49 Employees
123
50-99 Employees
30
100-249 Employees
24
250-499 Employees
9
500-999 Employees
3
1000+ Employees
0
All Shippensburg Businesses
1105

As a new Shippensburg entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Shippensburg 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
1
Art Dealers
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
4
Beauty Salons
9
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Book Publishers
1
Bowling Centers
2
Business Associations
1
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Car Washes
1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
2
Caterers
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Cheese Manufacturing
1
Civic and Social Organizations
8
Claims Adjusting
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Construction Machinery Manufacturing
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
1
Convenience Stores
1
Couriers
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
2
Custom Roll Forming
1
Discount Department Stores
2
Document Preparation Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
5
Electric Power Distribution
2
Electrical Contractors
3
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Family Clothing Stores
1
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Floor Covering Stores
2
Florists
2
Flour Milling
1
Framing Contractors
4
Full-Service Restaurants
11
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
4
General Automotive Repair
3
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Rental Centers
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Graphic Design Services
1
Hardware Stores
1
Historical Sites
1
Home Centers
1
Homes for the Elderly
2
Household Appliance Stores
2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
6
Investigation Services
1
Iron Foundries
1
Janitorial Services
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
2
Libraries and Archives
1
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers
1
Machine Shops
1
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Masonry Contractors
5
Natural Gas Distribution
1
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
1
Offices of Chiropractors
3
Offices of Dentists
6
Offices of Optometrists
2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Optical Goods Stores
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
3
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Residential Property Managers
1
Residential Remodelers
1
Roofing Contractors
3
Savings Institutions
2
Septic Tank and Related Services
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Solid Waste Collection
2
Solid Waste Landfill
1
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Tax Preparation Services
2
Temporary Help Services
1
Tire Dealers
1
Truss Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
5
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
2
Window Treatment Stores
1

Naming the Company

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Shippensburg, it's critical that you ensure that you will be the only Pennsylvania company using the business name you have chosen.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Shippensburg customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a great marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Yellow Pages Advertising Advice is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

Good entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.

Given that you are starting a business in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Pennsylvania educational institutions. We also recommend you look into networking organizations for Shippensburg entrepreneurs.

Moving Forward

As an entrepreneur in Shippensburg, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Shippensburg 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 Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

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

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