Thinking about starting a business in Baker City, Oregon? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Baker City.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Being an entrepreneur is demanding, much more challenging than working as an employee. Are you certain you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Baker City. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.
What Business to Start
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Free Business Ideas.
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 Bicycle Parts & Supplies Dealers Business guide or our Starting an Eminent Domain, Condemnation Attorneys Business guide.
Don't forget that your new startup will be located in Baker City. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Baker City. Only by spending some time analyzing Baker City demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.
Baker City, Oregon Demographic Information
Baker City has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Baker City demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Baker City.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
843 |
| 5-9 Employees |
291 |
| 10-19 Employees |
129 |
| 20-49 Employees |
72 |
| 50-99 Employees |
27 |
| 100-249 Employees |
3 |
| 250-499 Employees |
3 |
| 500-999 Employees |
0 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Baker City Businesses |
1368 |
As a new Baker City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Baker City 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 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
2 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
2 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
1 |
| Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
1 |
| Book Stores |
2 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business Associations |
2 |
| Car Washes |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
1 |
| Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores |
1 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
5 |
| Claims Adjusting |
1 |
| Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners |
1 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
1 |
| Computer and Software Stores |
2 |
| Copper Foundries (except Die-Casting) |
1 |
| Couriers |
1 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
1 |
| Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing |
2 |
| Dental Laboratories |
2 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
5 |
| Drywall and Insulation Contractors |
4 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
1 |
| Electrical Contractors |
6 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
1 |
| Environmental Consulting Services |
1 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
1 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
4 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
1 |
| Flooring Contractors |
1 |
| Florists |
2 |
| Food Service Contractors |
1 |
| Freight Transportation Arrangement |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
12 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
2 |
| Furniture Stores |
3 |
| General Automotive Repair |
4 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
3 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| General Warehousing and Storage |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
3 |
| Gold Ore Mining |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
3 |
| Home Centers |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
5 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
14 |
| Janitorial Services |
3 |
| Jewelry Stores |
2 |
| Land Subdivision |
1 |
| Landscaping Services |
6 |
| Lessors of Other Real Estate Property |
1 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
8 |
| Logging |
6 |
| Machine Shops |
2 |
| Meat Processed from Carcasses |
2 |
| Medical Laboratories |
1 |
| Motion Picture and Video Production |
2 |
| Motor Vehicle Towing |
4 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
1 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
2 |
| New Housing Operative Builders |
2 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
2 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
2 |
| Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
6 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
2 |
| Offices of Dentists |
6 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
7 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
1 |
| Offices of Podiatrists |
1 |
| Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
1 |
| One-Hour Photofinishing |
1 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
1 |
| Outdoor Power Equipment Stores |
1 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
5 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
1 |
| Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
2 |
| Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas |
1 |
| Quick Printing |
1 |
| Radio Stations |
1 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
1 |
| Real Estate Credit |
2 |
| Recreational Vehicle Dealers |
2 |
| Residential Remodelers |
3 |
| Reupholstery and Furniture Repair |
1 |
| Roofing Contractors |
2 |
| Savings Institutions |
3 |
| Securities Brokerage |
2 |
| Siding Contractors |
1 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
7 |
| Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing |
1 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
4 |
| Solid Waste Landfill |
1 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
1 |
| Sports and Recreation Instruction |
1 |
| Support Activities for Forestry |
4 |
| Support Activities for Metal Mining |
1 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
1 |
| Tire Dealers |
3 |
| Tire Retreading |
1 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
1 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
3 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
1 |
| Veterinary Services |
2 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
3 |
| Voluntary Health Organizations |
2 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
1 |
| Water Supply and Irrigation Systems |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
3 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
1 |
| Wood Window and Door Manufacturing |
1 |
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Baker City Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Oregon. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Baker City.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.
Naming the Business
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.
Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in Baker City, it's critical that you ensure that no other Oregon company is using the business name you want to use.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Good business owners recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
Given that you are starting a business in Baker City, Oregon, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Oregon universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also beneficial to see if there are any Baker City networking organizations.
Now It's Up To You
As an entrepreneur in Baker City, 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 Baker City and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Baker City, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Baker City, Oregon
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Baker City.
- Resources for Baker City, Oregon Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Baker City entrepreneurs.
- Oregon Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oregon.
- Oregon Small Business Development Center - Oregon Small Business Development Centers use a client-centered approach to deliver counseling, training, information and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management. There is no fee for their assistance.
- Baker City, Oregon Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Baker City, Oregon newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Baker City area.
- Baker City, Oregon Payroll Services - This list includes Baker City, Oregon payroll services, national payroll services for Baker City, and helpful information on choosing a Baker City payroll service.
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