Thinking about starting a business in Athens, Texas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Athens.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Before you get too far along in the process, take inventory of your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
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 Athens. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being 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. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Free Business Ideas.
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 Starting a Bakers' Equipment, Supplies, & Service Business guide or our Starting a Lawn Mowers Parts Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Athens. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Athens. A critical consideration is whether Athens demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Athens, Texas Demographic Information
Athens has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Athens demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Athens.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
10692 |
| 5-9 Employees |
4521 |
| 10-19 Employees |
2541 |
| 20-49 Employees |
1683 |
| 50-99 Employees |
627 |
| 100-249 Employees |
231 |
| 250-499 Employees |
132 |
| 500-999 Employees |
33 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Athens Businesses |
20460 |
As a new Athens entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Athens 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 |
| Advertising Agencies |
1 |
| Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering |
1 |
| Appliance Repair and Maintenance |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
7 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Baked Goods Stores |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
2 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
1 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business Associations |
3 |
| Cable and Other Program Distribution |
1 |
| Cafeterias |
1 |
| Car Washes |
2 |
| Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services |
1 |
| Cemeteries and Crematories |
1 |
| Child and Youth Services |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
1 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
2 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
2 |
| Commercial Photography |
1 |
| Commercial Screen Printing |
2 |
| Community Food Services |
1 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
1 |
| Consumer Lending |
3 |
| Convenience Stores |
3 |
| Convention and Visitors Bureaus |
1 |
| Credit Bureaus |
1 |
| Credit Unions |
1 |
| Diagnostic Imaging Centers |
1 |
| Direct Title Insurance Carriers |
1 |
| Drilling Oil and Gas Wells |
1 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
3 |
| Electrical Contractors |
2 |
| Electronic Shopping |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
2 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
1 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
4 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
2 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
4 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
1 |
| Florists |
2 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
1 |
| Food Service Contractors |
4 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
17 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
5 |
| Furniture Stores |
3 |
| General Automotive Repair |
4 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
5 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
2 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Grantmaking Foundations |
2 |
| Graphic Design Services |
1 |
| Hand and Edge Tool Manufacturing |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
2 |
| Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal |
1 |
| Home Centers |
1 |
| Home Health Care Services |
5 |
| Home Health Equipment Rental |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
2 |
| Industrial Building Construction |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
10 |
| Interior Design Services |
1 |
| Investment Advice |
2 |
| Janitorial Services |
1 |
| Jewelry Stores |
1 |
| Kidney Dialysis Centers |
1 |
| Land Subdivision |
2 |
| Landscaping Services |
5 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
20 |
| Machine Shops |
2 |
| Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers |
3 |
| Marinas |
1 |
| Masonry Contractors |
1 |
| Meat Markets |
2 |
| Mineral Wool Manufacturing |
1 |
| Miscellaneous Intermediation |
1 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
2 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
4 |
| New Car Dealers |
6 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
| Nonresidential Property Managers |
1 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
2 |
| Office Administrative Services |
2 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
4 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
2 |
| Offices of Dentists |
9 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
19 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
4 |
| Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
1 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
1 |
| Outdoor Power Equipment Stores |
1 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
2 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
1 |
| Passenger Car Rental |
1 |
| Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
6 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
2 |
| Professional Employer Organizations |
2 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
3 |
| Real Estate Credit |
1 |
| Recreational Vehicle Dealers |
1 |
| Remediation Services |
1 |
| Residential Remodelers |
1 |
| Retail Bakeries |
1 |
| Roofing Contractors |
1 |
| Securities Brokerage |
3 |
| Security Guards and Patrol Services |
1 |
| Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
2 |
| Siding Contractors |
1 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
1 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
3 |
| Solid Waste Collection |
2 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
1 |
| Sports and Recreation Instruction |
1 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
3 |
| Telecommunications Resellers |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
2 |
| Testing Laboratories |
1 |
| Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters |
1 |
| Tile and Terrazzo Contractors |
1 |
| Tire Dealers |
5 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
5 |
| Tobacco Stores |
1 |
| Travel Agencies |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
2 |
| Used Household and Office Goods Moving |
1 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
2 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
1 |
| Veterinary Services |
4 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
3 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
1 |
| Water Supply and Irrigation Systems |
5 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
3 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
5 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
1 |
| Wood Window and Door Manufacturing |
1 |
| Zoos and Botanical Gardens |
1 |
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Athens Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Texas. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Athens.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: How to Buy a Business.
Forming a Company in Athens, Texas
It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
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 Texas, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Texas. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
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 Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Athens, Texas, our web page covering Incorporating in Texas may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Texas.
Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan
A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read The Art of the Executive Summary. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Texas.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Athens. 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.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Athens and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Athens 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 Athens, Texas
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Athens.
- Resources for Athens, Texas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Athens entrepreneurs.
- Texas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Texas.
- Houston, Texas Small Business Development Center - Serving 32 counties in Southeast Texas through 14 business consulting and training centers, the Small Business Development Center Network contributes to the growth and prosperity of the Texas Gulf Coast communities.
- North Texas Small Business Development Center - The NTSBDC Network promotes small business success by providing management education.
- Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center - The Northwest Texas Small Business Development Center was established with Texas Tech University in 1986. This regional program serves over ninety thousand square miles including ninety-five counties with a population base of approximately 1.8 million people. This region is serviced by six centers located in Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland/Odessa, Abilene, Stephenville, and Wichita Falls.
- South-West Texas Border SBDC Network Texas Small Business Development Center - The South-West Texas Border Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides consulting and technical assistance to the small business community.
- Athens, Texas Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Athens, Texas newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Athens area.
More Startup Articles for Texas Cities
Starting a Business in Aspermont
Starting a Business in Atlanta
Browse All
Business Startup Guides for Texas
