Open a Business in Carthage, Mississippi

Contemplating starting a business in Carthage, Mississippi? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Carthage.

What Type of Business Should You Start?

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 Good Business Ideas.

If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Rock & Stone Dealership guide or our Opening a Civil Evidence Photographers Business guide.

Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Carthage. If Carthage already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Study Carthage demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Carthage, Mississippi Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	4800
5-9 Employees	1340
10-19 Employees	840
20-49 Employees	480
50-99 Employees	210
100-249 Employees	60
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	30
All Carthage Businesses	7760

As a new Carthage entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Carthage 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
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	6
Automotive Transmission Repair	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	4
Caterers	1
Child Day Care Services	3
Clothing Accessories Stores	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Computer and Software Stores	1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Consumer Lending	5
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Credit Bureaus	1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	2
Elementary and Secondary Schools	2
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	2
Family Clothing Stores	5
Farm Management Services	1
Fine Arts Schools	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	1
Food Service Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	3
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Freight Trucking, Local	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Centers	1
Home Health Care Services	2
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	6
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	9
Logging	9
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	2
Masonry Contractors	2
New Car Dealers	3
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	1
Offices of Bank Holding Companies	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	6
Offices of Optometrists	1
Optical Goods Stores	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Poultry Processing	1
Professional Organizations	2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	1
Residential Property Managers	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	5
Special Needs Transportation	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Tax Preparation Services	1
Tire Dealers	3
Used Car Dealers	4
Used Household and Office Goods Moving	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	3
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	2

Is Franchising a Better Option?

As you drive around Carthage, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?

We highly recommend you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Costs of Franchise Ownership. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.

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

Representative franchise opportunities include Professional Carpet Systems and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Auto Rental Franchises and Modeling Franchises.

Note on Carthage Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Carthage, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Naming the Business

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.

Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.

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 Carthage, it's very important that you make sure no other Mississippi company is using the business name you want to use.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without 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 Carthage business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Holiday-Powered Marketing is a good read to get your marketing creativity flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Moving Forward

You have a dream -- starting a business in Carthage. 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 Carthage and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Carthage, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Carthage, Mississippi

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

• Resources for Carthage, Mississippi Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Carthage 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.
• Carthage, Mississippi Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Carthage, Mississippi newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Carthage area.

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Mississippi
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Starting a Business in Charleston

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