Opening a Business in Dodgeville, Wisconsin

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

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

Most new companies do not succeed, in part because the business owner did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before you open a business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Dodgeville. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Have a candid conversation with friends and family. 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.

Dodgeville, Wisconsin Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	359
5-9 Employees	147
10-19 Employees	108
20-49 Employees	51
50-99 Employees	15
100-249 Employees	15
250-499 Employees	3
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	3
All Dodgeville Businesses	701

As a new Dodgeville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Dodgeville 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	3
Beauty Salons	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	2
Cheese Manufacturing	1
Child Day Care Services	4
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Community Food Services	1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining	1
Couriers	2
Credit Unions	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electrical Contractors	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Engineering Services	2
Family Clothing Stores	3
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	1
Full-Service Restaurants	8
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
General Automotive Repair	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	2
Hardware Stores	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	9
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	3
Limited-Service Restaurants	7
Machine Shops	1
Mail-Order Houses	1
Marketing Consulting Services	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Museums	1
Nail Salons	1
New Car Dealers	1
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	4
Offices of Lawyers	7
Offices of Optometrists	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	3
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Professional Organizations	2
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	1
Remediation Services	1
Residential Remodelers	2
Retail Bakeries	1
Savings Institutions	1
School and Employee Bus Transportation	1
Securities Brokerage	1
Siding Contractors	1
Sign Manufacturing	1
Tax Preparation Services	1
Telecommunications Resellers	1
Temporary Shelters	1
Testing Laboratories	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Tire Dealers	1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Travel Agencies	2
Used Car Dealers	2
Veterinary Services	3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2

Have You Considered Franchising?

Browse the Yellow Pages for Dodgeville and it becomes clear that purchasing a franchise is a common way to get started as an entrepreneur. But is franchising the right option for you?

Most business experts recommend that you consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchisees Versus Licensees. 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.

Representative franchise opportunities include Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc. and Great Harvest Bread Company. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as ATM Franchises and Home Repair Franchises.

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

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Dodgeville 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.

Recognizing this challenge, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Choosing VC Firms.

For Dodgeville entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Wisconsin Angel Investors and our List of Wisconsin Venture Capital Firms.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Startup

To grow your Dodgeville business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Smart Branding discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Good business owners know that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Wisconsin universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Dodgeville entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Now It's Up To You

Most new Dodgeville businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Dodgeville and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Dodgeville, Wisconsin

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

• Resources for Dodgeville, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Dodgeville entrepreneurs.
• Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Wisconsin.
• West Virginia Small Business Development Center - The West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC) promotes economic development through a program of practical, interrelated services, providing assistance to existing West Virginia small businesses and the emerging West Virginia entrepreneur.
• Dodgeville, Wisconsin Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Dodgeville, Wisconsin newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Dodgeville area.
• Dodgeville, Wisconsin Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Dodgeville, Wisconsin area radio stations.

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