Start a Business in Billings, Montana

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

Billings, Montana Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Billings entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Billings 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.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Billings Business?

We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Montana. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Billings.

If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

Naming the Company

A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.

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.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Billings, it's very important that you make sure no Montana company has already registered the company name you have selected.

Forming a Company in Billings, Montana

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. 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 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 Montana, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Montana. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 Company Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Billings, Montana, our web page covering Incorporating in Montana may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Montana.

Marketing Your New Venture

To grow your Billings business, you need a solid marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Working with an Advertising Agency is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Billings or are selling to customers throughout Montana, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Effective Sales Presentations offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Now It's Up To You

You have a dream -- starting a business in Billings. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

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 Billings and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Billings, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Billings, Montana

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

• Resources for Billings, Montana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Billings entrepreneurs.
• Montana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Montana.
• Montana Small Business Development Center - The Montana Small Business Development Centers focus on the creation, retention and expansion of Montana small businesses.
• Billings, Montana Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Billings, Montana newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Billings area.
• Billings, Montana Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Billings, Montana area radio stations.
• Billings, Montana Payroll Services - This list includes Billings, Montana payroll services, national payroll services for Billings, and helpful information on choosing a Billings payroll service.
• Billings, Montana Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Billings, Montana, such as business brokers in Billings and other helpful information on how to buy a Billings business.