Starting a Business in Des Moines, Washington

Contemplating starting a business in Des Moines, Washington? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Des Moines.

Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?

Before quitting your day job, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

• Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Des Moines. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
• Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Choosing the Right Company to Start

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Dune Buggies Business guide or our Opening a Reweaving & Mending Business guide.

Don't forget that your new startup will be located in Des Moines. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Des Moines. Study Des Moines demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Des Moines, Washington Demographic Information

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

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

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

What About Franchising Opportunities?

As you drive around Des Moines, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. So, it probably makes sense for you to consider franchising too.

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchising and Veterans. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

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

Sample franchise opportunities include Bar-B-Cutie and Advanced Cleaning Systems. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Golf Franchises and Real Estate Franchises.

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

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

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

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

Raising Funding for Your Venture

Getting your Des Moines business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Business Incubators.

For Des Moines entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Washington Angel Investors and our List of Washington Venture Capital Firms.

Never Give Up

You have a dream -- starting a business in Des Moines. 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.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Des Moines and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Des Moines, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Des Moines, Washington

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

• Resources for Des Moines, Washington Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Des Moines entrepreneurs.
• Washington Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Washington.
• Washington Small Business Development Center - Washington Small Business Development Centers promote economic vitality by providing advice, training and research to Washington entrepreneurs and existing Washington businesses.
• Des Moines, Washington Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Des Moines, Washington newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Des Moines area.