Minnesota Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Alexandria, Minnesota

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

Alexandria, Minnesota Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
19812
5-9 Employees
8100
10-19 Employees
5256
20-49 Employees
2736
50-99 Employees
936
100-249 Employees
648
250-499 Employees
108
500-999 Employees
72
1000+ Employees
0
All Alexandria Businesses
37668

As a new Alexandria entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Alexandria 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
Aluminum Extruded Product Manufacturing
1
Ambulance Services
1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Architectural Services
3
Automobile Driving Schools
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
8
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
15
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
3
Boat Dealers
3
Book Stores
2
Business Associations
4
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Car Washes
2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
1
Caterers
1
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
11
Claims Adjusting
2
Clothing Accessories Stores
1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Collection Agencies
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Commodity Contracts Brokerage
2
Computer and Software Stores
2
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
2
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
1
Couriers
2
Credit Unions
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
2
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
3
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
3
Discount Department Stores
3
Document Preparation Services
1
Drafting Services
1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
3
Educational Support Services
2
Electric Power Distribution
2
Electrical Contractors
16
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Engineering Services
5
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
2
Fertilizer (Mixing Only) Manufacturing
1
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
4
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
4
Flight Training
1
Floor Covering Stores
2
Flooring Contractors
2
Fluid Milk Manufacturing
1
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
3
Framing Contractors
3
Full-Service Restaurants
29
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Stores
5
General Automotive Repair
11
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
14
Glass and Glazing Contractors
1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
4
Graphic Design Services
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Historical Sites
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
2
Home Centers
3
Home Health Care Services
3
Homes for the Elderly
3
Household Appliance Stores
5
Industrial Mold Manufacturing
1
Investigation Services
2
Investment Advice
2
Janitorial Services
6
Jewelry Stores
5
Junior Colleges
1
Land Subdivision
5
Landscaping Services
17
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers
1
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
1
Machine Shops
9
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Marinas
1
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
2
Motor Vehicle Towing
2
Motorcycle Dealers
3
Museums
1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
3
Natural Gas Distribution
1
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
2
Office Administrative Services
3
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
5
Offices of Dentists
13
Offices of Lawyers
15
Offices of Optometrists
4
Offices of Other Holding Companies
2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
3
Optical Goods Stores
2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
6
Periodical Publishers
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
4
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Plate Work Manufacturing
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Quick Printing
2
Racetracks
1
Radio Stations
2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
4
Residential Property Managers
4
Residential Remodelers
4
Retail Bakeries
1
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
1
Roofing Contractors
3
Savings Institutions
1
Securities Brokerage
9
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Shoe Stores
4
Siding Contractors
1
Sign Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
8
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing
1
Sporting Goods Stores
5
Tax Preparation Services
2
Taxi Service
1
Television Broadcasting
2
Temporary Help Services
2
Testing Laboratories
2
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
2
Tire Dealers
5
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
3
Travel Agencies
2
Used Car Dealers
5
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Vending Machine Operators
2
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
4
Voluntary Health Organizations
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
5
Window Treatment Stores
1
Wineries
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Alexandria Business?

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

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Selecting a Name For Your 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.

We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in Alexandria, it's imperative that you check now that your company name has not already been claimed by another Minnesota business.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

Creating a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read Expert Advice on Business Plans. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Minnesota.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Alexandria customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Advertising on Google 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 Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

Good entrepreneurs know that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Alexandria, Minnesota, you should get information on some of the learning programs at local Minnesota educational institutions. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Alexandria entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Next Steps

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

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 Alexandria 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 Alexandria, Minnesota

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

More Business Startup Guides for Minnesota

Starting a Business in Alden
Starting a Business in Annandale

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