Are you starting a business in Brainerd, Minnesota? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Brainerd.
Choosing the Right Company 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 Evaluating Your Idea.
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 Opening a Music Composers' Supplies Business guide or our How to Start a Sewing Contractors Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Brainerd. Some businesses will do better in Brainerd than others. Study Brainerd demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Brainerd, Minnesota Demographic Information
Brainerd has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Brainerd demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Brainerd.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
1532 |
| 5-9 Employees |
543 |
| 10-19 Employees |
408 |
| 20-49 Employees |
225 |
| 50-99 Employees |
90 |
| 100-249 Employees |
24 |
| 250-499 Employees |
9 |
| 500-999 Employees |
3 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Brainerd Businesses |
2834 |
As a new Brainerd entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Brainerd 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 |
4 |
| Ambulance Services |
2 |
| Architectural Services |
2 |
| Automobile Driving Schools |
1 |
| Automotive Exhaust System Repair |
1 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
2 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
8 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Baked Goods Stores |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
11 |
| Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
7 |
| Boat Dealers |
4 |
| Book Stores |
1 |
| Books Printing |
1 |
| Bowling Centers |
2 |
| Business Associations |
4 |
| Canvas and Related Product Mills |
1 |
| Car Washes |
3 |
| Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services |
1 |
| Caterers |
3 |
| Cemeteries and Crematories |
1 |
| Child and Youth Services |
2 |
| Child Day Care Services |
6 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
13 |
| Claims Adjusting |
2 |
| Clothing Accessories Stores |
2 |
| Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners |
1 |
| Collection Agencies |
1 |
| Commercial Bakeries |
1 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
3 |
| Commercial Screen Printing |
1 |
| Commodity Contracts Dealing |
1 |
| Community Food Services |
1 |
| Computer and Software Stores |
1 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
1 |
| Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing |
1 |
| Confectionery and Nut Stores |
1 |
| Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
1 |
| Couriers |
4 |
| Credit Unions |
5 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
2 |
| Dental Laboratories |
1 |
| Diagnostic Imaging Centers |
1 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
13 |
| Drywall and Insulation Contractors |
4 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
2 |
| Electrical Contractors |
14 |
| Electronic Shopping |
1 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
3 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
2 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Family Planning Centers |
4 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
2 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
4 |
| Fish and Seafood Markets |
1 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
1 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
2 |
| Flooring Contractors |
1 |
| Florists |
4 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
2 |
| Formal Wear and Costume Rental |
1 |
| Framing Contractors |
4 |
| Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
19 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
3 |
| Furniture Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Furniture Stores |
1 |
| General Automotive Repair |
7 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
1 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
2 |
| Glass and Glazing Contractors |
2 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
2 |
| Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores |
4 |
| Home Health Care Services |
4 |
| Home Health Equipment Rental |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
3 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
5 |
| Industrial Launderers |
1 |
| Industrial Mold Manufacturing |
2 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
17 |
| Interior Design Services |
1 |
| Investment Advice |
6 |
| Janitorial Services |
13 |
| Jewelry Stores |
3 |
| Land Subdivision |
1 |
| Landscape Architectural Services |
1 |
| Landscaping Services |
10 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
18 |
| Logging |
3 |
| Machine Shops |
3 |
| Mail-Order Houses |
1 |
| Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers |
2 |
| Masonry Contractors |
10 |
| Meat Markets |
1 |
| Medical Laboratories |
1 |
| Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers |
4 |
| Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing |
1 |
| Motor Vehicle Towing |
1 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
1 |
| Museums |
1 |
| Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores |
2 |
| Nail Salons |
1 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
5 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
| Nonresidential Property Managers |
1 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
3 |
| Office Administrative Services |
3 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
4 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
5 |
| Offices of Dentists |
13 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
20 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
2 |
| Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
3 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
1 |
| Outdoor Power Equipment Stores |
2 |
| Packaging and Labeling Services |
1 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
6 |
| Paper (except Newsprint) Mills |
1 |
| Parking Lots and Garages |
1 |
| Payroll Services |
1 |
| Periodical Publishers |
1 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
3 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
4 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
3 |
| Plastics Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing |
1 |
| Polystyrene Foam Product Manufacturing |
1 |
| Portfolio Management |
1 |
| Professional Organizations |
1 |
| Quick Printing |
3 |
| Radio Stations |
2 |
| Real Estate Credit |
6 |
| Recreational Vehicle Dealers |
1 |
| Residential Property Managers |
3 |
| Residential Remodelers |
5 |
| Reupholstery and Furniture Repair |
2 |
| Roofing Contractors |
1 |
| Sales Financing |
1 |
| Savings Institutions |
2 |
| Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation |
1 |
| Securities Brokerage |
5 |
| Security Guards and Patrol Services |
1 |
| Shellfish Fishing |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
3 |
| Siding Contractors |
7 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
12 |
| Skiing Facilities |
1 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
5 |
| Solid Waste Collection |
2 |
| Solid Waste Landfill |
1 |
| Special Needs Transportation |
1 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
3 |
| Sports and Recreation Instruction |
1 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
1 |
| Taxi Service |
1 |
| Telemarketing Bureaus |
1 |
| Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
2 |
| Temporary Shelters |
1 |
| Testing Laboratories |
1 |
| Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Tire Dealers |
3 |
| Tire Retreading |
1 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
4 |
| Tobacco Stores |
1 |
| Travel Agencies |
2 |
| Used Car Dealers |
4 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
3 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
3 |
| Veterinary Services |
3 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
3 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
2 |
| Voluntary Health Organizations |
1 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
5 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
5 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Wood Window and Door Manufacturing |
2 |
| Zoos and Botanical Gardens |
1 |
Should You Buy an Existing Brainerd Business?
If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Minnesota. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Brainerd.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Choosing a Company Name
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.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Brainerd, it's imperative that you check now that no other Minnesota company is using the business name you want to use.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Minnesota.
Letting the World Know You Exist
Whether your goal is to attract Brainerd customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Marketing Research discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge
Good entrepreneurs know that they don't know everything.
Given that you are starting a business in Brainerd, Minnesota, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Minnesota universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also wise to see if there are any Brainerd networking organizations.
Never Give Up
Most new Brainerd businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Brainerd and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Brainerd 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 Brainerd, Minnesota
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Brainerd.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Minnesota
Starting a Business in Blue Earth
Starting a Business in Brooten
Browse All
Business Startup Guides for Minnesota
