Opening a Business in Douglas, Wyoming

Thinking about starting a business in Douglas, Wyoming? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Douglas.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Most new businesses don't make it, in part because the entrepreneur 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.

To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Douglas. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• 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 to 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.

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 Glass Beads Industrial Business guide or our How to Start a Stuffed Animals Business guide.

Remember that you are starting a business in Douglas. Some businesses will do better in Douglas than others. A critical consideration is whether Douglas demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Douglas, Wyoming Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	4664
5-9 Employees	1528
10-19 Employees	720
20-49 Employees	504
50-99 Employees	120
100-249 Employees	72
250-499 Employees	24
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Douglas Businesses	7632

As a new Douglas entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Douglas 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
Ambulance Services	1
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering	2
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Beauty Salons	2
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	4
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	2
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	3
Civic and Social Organizations	3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	2
Commercial Screen Printing	1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining	1
Convenience Stores	2
Couriers	2
Direct Title Insurance Carriers	1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	4
Emergency and Other Relief Services	1
Engineering Services	3
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Floor Covering Stores	2
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	1
Framing Contractors	1
Full-Service Restaurants	6
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	5
General Freight Trucking, Local	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hardware Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Health Care Services	3
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Homes for the Elderly	2
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	8
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	2
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	7
Logging	1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	1
Masonry Contractors	1
Meat Processed from Carcasses	1
Motion Picture and Video Production	1
Motorcycle Dealers	1
Nail Salons	1
Natural Gas Liquid Extraction	2
New Car Dealers	2
New Housing Operative Builders	2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	4
Offices of Lawyers	4
One-Hour Photofinishing	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	2
Periodical Publishers	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	2
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	2
Private Mail Centers	1
Radio Stations	2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Residential Remodelers	2
Roofing Contractors	1
Securities Brokerage	1
Septic Tank and Related Services	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	5
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Temporary Shelters	1
Testing Laboratories	1
Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ore Mining	2
Used Car Dealers	1
Veterinary Services	2
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2

Should You Franchise?

As you drive around Douglas, you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to investigate buying a franchise. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchising My Business. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

A comprehensive list of franchisors is available via our List of Franchise Opportunities.

Sample franchise opportunities include Red Kangaroo and Restyle. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Wedding Franchises and Food and Drink Franchises.

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

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.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Douglas, it's imperative that you check now that no other Wyoming company is using the business name you want to use.

The Art of Selling

Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Douglas 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.

Compensating Sales People is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Now It's Up To You

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Douglas and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Douglas, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Douglas, Wyoming

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

• Resources for Douglas, Wyoming Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Douglas entrepreneurs.
• Wyoming Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Wyoming.
• Wyoming Small Business Development Center - The Wyoming Small Business Development Center provides free and confidential consulting services to individual businesses, offers various products online of specific use to various businesses, sponsors affordable educational programs targeted at the small business community, and maintains links with various business resources throughout Wyoming and the nation.
• Douglas, Wyoming Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Douglas, Wyoming newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Douglas area.
• Douglas, Wyoming Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Douglas, Wyoming area radio stations.

More Business Startup Guides for Wyoming
Starting a Business in Cody
Starting a Business in Dubois

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Wyoming