Starting a Business in Boise, Idaho

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Before quitting your day job, assess 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 Boise. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
• 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. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Which Business to Choose?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? We recommend that you 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 Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in Boise. Some businesses will do better in Boise than others. Make sure you fully understand Boise demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Boise, Idaho Demographic Information

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

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

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

Browse the Yellow Pages for Boise and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?

Most business experts recommend that you investigate buying a franchise. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as The Disadvantages of Franchise Ownership. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Representative franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

Note on Boise Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Boise.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Boise Business?

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

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Buying a Business.

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.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

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

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Boise, it's very important that you make sure no other Idaho company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Boise, Idaho

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.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation 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 Idaho, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Idaho. 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 Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Boise, Idaho, our information on Incorporating in Idaho may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Idaho.

The Role of the Business Plan

Writing a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.

If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Idaho.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Boise business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Only Idiots Send Venture Capitalists Business Plans.

For Boise entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, you'll want to take a look at our List of Idaho Angel Investors and our List of Idaho Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

To grow your Boise business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your successs.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Typical Direct Mail Response Rates is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

How to Sell

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

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Cold Call Selling is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

Given that you are starting a business in Boise, Idaho, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Idaho universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Boise entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Next Steps

You have a dream -- starting a business in Boise. 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.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Boise and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Boise, Idaho

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

• Resources for Boise, Idaho Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Boise entrepreneurs.
• Idaho Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Idaho.
• Idaho Small Business Development Center - The Idaho Small Business Development Center (Idaho SBDC) is a university-based organization offering a wealth of free and low-cost services to help small businesses and entrepreneurs be successful.
• Boise, Idaho Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Boise, Idaho newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Boise area.