Starting a Business in Brookhaven, Mississippi

Are you starting a business in Brookhaven, Mississippi? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Brookhaven.

What Business to Start

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.

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 Credit Card Equipment & Supplies Business guide or our How to Start a Radiotherapy Business guide.

Always keep in mind that you are starting a business in Brookhaven. If Brookhaven already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. A critical consideration is whether Brookhaven demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Brookhaven, Mississippi Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	4072
5-9 Employees	2160
10-19 Employees	1248
20-49 Employees	648
50-99 Employees	228
100-249 Employees	72
250-499 Employees	48
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	12
All Brookhaven Businesses	8488

As a new Brookhaven entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Brookhaven 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
Amusement Arcades	1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	8
Beauty Salons	3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Boat Dealers	1
Book Stores	2
Building Inspection Services	1
Business Associations	3
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Cafeterias	1
Car Washes	4
Caterers	1
Cemeteries and Crematories	1
Child Day Care Services	4
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	3
Civic and Social Organizations	5
Clothing Accessories Stores	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	2
Computer and Software Stores	1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Consumer Lending	7
Directory and Mailing List Publishers	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	7
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Emergency and Other Relief Services	1
Engineering Services	4
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	3
Family Clothing Stores	4
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	1
Fine Arts Schools	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	4
Floor Covering Stores	2
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	5
Footwear Merchant Wholesalers	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Fruit and Vegetable Canning	1
Full-Service Restaurants	14
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	6
Furniture Stores	6
General Automotive Repair	7
General Freight Trucking, Local	5
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	4
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Centers	1
Home Health Care Services	2
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Industrial Gas Manufacturing	2
Industrial Launderers	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	10
Internet Service Providers	1
Investment Advice	3
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	3
Kidney Dialysis Centers	1
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	4
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	27
Local Messengers and Local Delivery	1
Logging	21
Machine Shops	2
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	4
Marinas	1
Meat Markets	1
Medical Laboratories	1
Men's Clothing Stores	1
Metal Tank (Heavy Gauge) Manufacturing	1
Miscellaneous Intermediation	1
Motorcycle Dealers	3
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores	1
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	7
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	4
Office Administrative Services	5
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	7
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	8
Offices of Lawyers	12
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	1
Optical Goods Stores	2
Packing and Crating	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	4
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	7
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	1
Plate Work Manufacturing	1
Portfolio Management	1
Private Mail Centers	1
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	4
Recreational Vehicle Dealers	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	2
Sawmills	4
Securities Brokerage	3
Shoe Stores	3
Sign Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	5
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	3
Support Activities for Forestry	1
Tax Preparation Services	3
Telephone Answering Services	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Timber Tract Operations	2
Tire Dealers	4
Tobacco Stores	1
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	3
Used Merchandise Stores	1
Veterinary Services	4
Video Tape and Disc Rental	3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	2
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wet Corn Milling	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2
Women's Clothing Stores	10
Wood Office Furniture Manufacturing	1
Wood Preservation	1

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.

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.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Brookhaven, it's very important that you make sure no other Mississippi company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Brookhaven, Mississippi

It's essential 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.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Mississippi, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Mississippi. As it turns out, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 Incorporation Advice. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Brookhaven, Mississippi, our information on Incorporating in Mississippi may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Mississippi.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Mississippi.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Company

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

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. PR Versus Advertising is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

The Art of Selling

Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Brookhaven or are selling to customers throughout Mississippi, 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. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

How to Build and Motivate a Sales Team 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.

Next Steps

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

We are here to help Brookhaven businesses to be successful. 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 Brookhaven, Mississippi

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

• Resources for Brookhaven, Mississippi Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Brookhaven entrepreneurs.
• Mississippi Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Mississippi.
• Mississippi Small Business Development Center - The Mississippi Small Business Development Centers (MSBDC) is dedicated to helping build and grow businesses in Mississippi. For new entrepreneurs, this is an excellent resource.
• Brookhaven, Mississippi Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Brookhaven, Mississippi newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Brookhaven area.
• Brookhaven, Mississippi Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Brookhaven, Mississippi area radio stations.
• Brookhaven, Mississippi Payroll Services - This list includes Brookhaven, Mississippi payroll services, national payroll services for Brookhaven, and helpful information on choosing a Brookhaven payroll service.

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