Start a Business in Elk City, Oklahoma

Contemplating starting a business in Elk City, Oklahoma? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Elk City.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most new companies don't make it, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before you start your 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 Elk City. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
• We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Elk City, Oklahoma Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	1778
5-9 Employees	684
10-19 Employees	426
20-49 Employees	264
50-99 Employees	78
100-249 Employees	12
250-499 Employees	6
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Elk City Businesses	3248

As a new Elk City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Elk City 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
Amusement Arcades	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	5
Baked Goods Stores	2
Barber Shops	1
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	2
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Cafeterias	1
Car Washes	2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	2
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	11
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	1
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Collection Agencies	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Community Food Services	2
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Consumer Lending	3
Convenience Stores	5
Credit Bureaus	1
Curtain and Drapery Mills	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	2
Dental Laboratories	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Display Advertising	2
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	2
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electric Power Distribution	2
Electrical Contractors	5
Emergency and Other Relief Services	1
Employment Placement Agencies	1
Engineering Services	4
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	5
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	2
Floor Covering Stores	2
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	1
Food Service Contractors	1
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation	1
Full-Service Restaurants	13
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	3
General Freight Trucking, Local	6
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	5
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Stores	1
Home Centers	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Household Appliance Stores	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Interior Design Services	1
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	1
Kidney Dialysis Centers	1
Landscaping Services	4
Limited-Service Restaurants	13
Machine Shops	5
Masonry Contractors	1
Medical Laboratories	1
Men's Clothing Stores	1
Metal Tank (Heavy Gauge) Manufacturing	1
Miscellaneous Intermediation	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Motorcycle Dealers	2
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	5
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nonresidential Property Managers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	2
Office Administrative Services	4
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	5
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	10
Offices of Lawyers	4
Offices of Optometrists	3
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	6
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Residential Property Managers	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Securities Brokerage	2
Security Guards and Patrol Services	1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	1
Siding Contractors	1
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	2
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Tax Preparation Services	1
Telephone Answering Services	1
Tire Dealers	2
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	2
Used Merchandise Stores	2
Veterinary Services	5
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	3
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	5

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.

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.

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Elk City, it's imperative that you check now that you will be the only Oklahoma company using the business name you have chosen.

Forming a Company in Elk City, Oklahoma

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. The biggest advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporation is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Oklahoma, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Oklahoma. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as C Corp Versus S Corp. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Elk City, Oklahoma, our information on Incorporating in Oklahoma may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Oklahoma.

Marketing Your New Venture

To rise above the crowd in Elk City and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Billboard Advertising Best Practices 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.

How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

The best entrepreneurs recognize that they need to continually improve.

Given that you are starting a business in Elk City, Oklahoma, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Oklahoma educational institutions. We also recommend you look into Elk City networking organizations.

Next Steps

Most new Elk City 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 Elk City and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Elk City entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Elk City, Oklahoma

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

• Resources for Elk City, Oklahoma Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Elk City entrepreneurs.
• Oklahoma Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oklahoma.
• Oklahoma Small Business Development Center - Whether you are in business or thinking about it, the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center staff can assist you. Their goal is to help Oklahoma entrepreneurs like you be more successful.
• Elk City, Oklahoma Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Elk City, Oklahoma newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Elk City area.
• Elk City, Oklahoma Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Elk City, Oklahoma area radio stations.
• Elk City, Oklahoma Payroll Services - This list includes Elk City, Oklahoma payroll services, national payroll services for Elk City, and helpful information on choosing a Elk City payroll service.

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