Contemplating starting a business in Burlington, Washington? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Burlington.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Most new companies don't make it, in part because the founder did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Burlington. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
- Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
- 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 Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Good 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 Opening a Land Contracts Bought & Sold Business guide or our Starting a Home Health Care Oxygen Equipment & Supplies Business guide.
Always keep in mind that your new business will be in Burlington. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Burlington. Make sure you fully understand Burlington demographics before you lock in on your business idea.
Burlington, Washington Demographic Information
Burlington has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Burlington demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Burlington.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
16380 |
| 5-9 Employees |
9504 |
| 10-19 Employees |
5454 |
| 20-49 Employees |
3780 |
| 50-99 Employees |
1566 |
| 100-249 Employees |
540 |
| 250-499 Employees |
162 |
| 500-999 Employees |
0 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Burlington Businesses |
37386 |
As a new Burlington entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Burlington 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 |
| Abrasive Product Manufacturing |
1 |
| Advertising Agencies |
1 |
| Amusement Arcades |
1 |
| Architectural Services |
1 |
| Automotive Exhaust System Repair |
1 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
3 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
8 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
2 |
| Beauty Salons |
4 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
1 |
| Boat Building |
3 |
| Boat Dealers |
1 |
| Book Stores |
2 |
| Bottled Water Manufacturing |
1 |
| Broom, Brush, and Mop Manufacturing |
1 |
| Business Associations |
3 |
| Cable and Other Program Distribution |
1 |
| Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores |
1 |
| Canvas and Related Product Mills |
2 |
| Caterers |
2 |
| Child and Youth Services |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
6 |
| Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
2 |
| Clothing Accessories Stores |
4 |
| Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners |
1 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
1 |
| Computer and Software Stores |
2 |
| Confectionery and Nut Stores |
1 |
| Continuing Care Retirement Communities |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
2 |
| Convention and Trade Show Organizers |
1 |
| Couriers |
4 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
2 |
| Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing |
1 |
| Dental Laboratories |
1 |
| Direct Title Insurance Carriers |
1 |
| Discount Department Stores |
3 |
| Drafting Services |
1 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
3 |
| Drywall and Insulation Contractors |
5 |
| Electrical Contractors |
10 |
| Electronic Shopping |
1 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
4 |
| Environmental Consulting Services |
1 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
1 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
11 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
3 |
| Fertilizer (Mixing Only) Manufacturing |
1 |
| Finfish Fishing |
2 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
2 |
| Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
1 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
1 |
| Flooring Contractors |
1 |
| Florists |
1 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
2 |
| Footwear and Leather Goods Repair |
1 |
| Formal Wear and Costume Rental |
1 |
| Framing Contractors |
2 |
| Freight Transportation Arrangement |
1 |
| Fruit and Vegetable Markets |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
17 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
1 |
| Furniture Stores |
3 |
| General Automotive Repair |
6 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
7 |
| Glass and Glazing Contractors |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
1 |
| Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores |
3 |
| Home Health Care Services |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
2 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
1 |
| Industrial Valve Manufacturing |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
10 |
| Janitorial Services |
5 |
| Jewelry Stores |
8 |
| Landscaping Services |
4 |
| Lead Pencil and Art Good Manufacturing |
1 |
| Lessors of Other Real Estate Property |
1 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
19 |
| Logging |
2 |
| Luggage and Leather Goods Stores |
1 |
| Machine Shops |
1 |
| Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers |
2 |
| Marketing Consulting Services |
1 |
| Masonry Contractors |
1 |
| Men's Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Mobile Food Services |
4 |
| Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers |
3 |
| Motor Vehicle Towing |
4 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
4 |
| Nail Salons |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
10 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
1 |
| Office Administrative Services |
1 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
3 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
4 |
| Offices of Dentists |
10 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
5 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
6 |
| Offices of Other Holding Companies |
1 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
3 |
| Paint and Coating Manufacturing |
1 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
3 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
4 |
| Pet and Pet Supplies Stores |
2 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
1 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
1 |
| Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil |
1 |
| Professional Organizations |
1 |
| Real Estate Credit |
1 |
| Recreational Goods Rental |
1 |
| Recreational Vehicle Dealers |
2 |
| Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage |
2 |
| Remediation Services |
2 |
| Residential Property Managers |
2 |
| Residential Remodelers |
4 |
| Retail Bakeries |
1 |
| Reupholstery and Furniture Repair |
1 |
| Roofing Contractors |
2 |
| Savings Institutions |
5 |
| Scheduled Freight Air Transportation |
1 |
| Schiffli Machine Embroidery |
1 |
| Securities Brokerage |
2 |
| Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing |
1 |
| Ship Building and Repairing |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
14 |
| Siding Contractors |
3 |
| Sign Manufacturing |
1 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
13 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
6 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
1 |
| Testing Laboratories |
3 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
1 |
| Tour Operators |
1 |
| Translation and Interpretation Services |
1 |
| Truss Manufacturing |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
3 |
| Used Household and Office Goods Moving |
1 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
3 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
1 |
| Veterinary Services |
2 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
2 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
1 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
2 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
3 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
3 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
10 |
| Wood Window and Door Manufacturing |
1 |
Choosing a Company Name
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 Business.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Burlington, it's imperative that you check now that no other Washington company is using the business name you want to use.
Promoting Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Burlington customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a excellent marketing plan.
We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Avoiding Bad Product Launches discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Bring in Revenues
Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Burlington business to do well.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Selling Stuff on the Web 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
Most new Burlington businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Burlington and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Burlington, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Burlington, Washington
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Burlington.
More Business Startup Guides for Washington
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Business Startup Guides for Washington
