Open a Business in Ely, Minnesota

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

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

Most new businesses fail, in part because the business owner 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.

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Ely. 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.

What Business to Start

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Free 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 How to Start a Funeral Carrier Services Business guide or our How to Start a Hawaiian Wear Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in Ely. If Ely already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Don't forget to review Ely demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Ely, Minnesota Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	1716
5-9 Employees	504
10-19 Employees	189
20-49 Employees	144
50-99 Employees	18
100-249 Employees	9
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Ely Businesses	2580

As a new Ely entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ely 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
Art Dealers	2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Beauty Salons	2
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	2
Boat Dealers	1
Book Publishers	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	1
Car Washes	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Civic and Social Organizations	3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Screen Printing	1
Computer Systems Design Services	2
Construction Machinery Manufacturing	1
Credit Unions	2
Custom Computer Programming Services	2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Direct Mail Advertising	1
Document Preparation Services	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	4
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electrical Contractors	6
Exam Preparation and Tutoring	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	2
Full-Service Restaurants	11
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	3
General Freight Trucking, Local	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	8
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	3
Hardware Stores	2
Heating Oil Dealers	2
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	2
Janitorial Services	1
Landscaping Services	3
Limited-Service Restaurants	5
Logging	6
Mail-Order Houses	1
Masonry Contractors	2
Men's Clothing Stores	2
Museums	2
New Car Dealers	1
Newspaper Publishers	2
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	4
Offices of Lawyers	2
Offices of Optometrists	1
One-Hour Photofinishing	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Periodical Publishers	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Recreational Goods Rental	4
Residential Remodelers	1
Retail Bakeries	1
Savings Institutions	1
Securities Brokerage	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Sporting Goods Stores	10
Tax Preparation Services	3
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Tobacco Stores	1
Travel Agencies	3
Used Merchandise Stores	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2
Women's Clothing Stores	3

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Ely Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Minnesota. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Ely.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

The Role of the Business Plan

Having a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Minnesota.

Startup Financing Basics

Getting your Ely 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 504 Loans.

For Ely entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Minnesota Angel Investors and our List of Minnesota Venture Capital Firms.

Now It's Up To You

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

Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Ely 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 Ely, Minnesota

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

• Resources for Ely, Minnesota Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ely entrepreneurs.
• Minnesota Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Minnesota.
• Minnesota Small Business Development Center - The Minnesota Small Business Development Centers provide no-cost, professional business consulting to Minnesota small businesses covering a variety of business needs.
• Ely, Minnesota Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Ely, Minnesota newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Ely area.
• Ely, Minnesota Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Ely, Minnesota area radio stations.

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