Starting a Business in Fort Richardson, Alaska

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most new ventures don't make it, 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 Fort Richardson. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a 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. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

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 Free Business Ideas.

To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

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

Fort Richardson, Alaska Demographic Information

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

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

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

Have You Considered Franchising?

As you drive around Fort Richardson, you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?

Our recommendation is that you investigate buying a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as Multi-Unit Franchising. 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 Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

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

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Fort Richardson Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Alaska. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Fort Richardson.

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

Selecting a Name For Your Company

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Fort Richardson, it's imperative that you check now that you will be the only Alaska company using the business name you have chosen.

Company Formation in Fort Richardson, Alaska

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporating 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. Just because you are starting a business in Alaska, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alaska. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Getting an EIN. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Fort Richardson, Alaska, our information on Incorporating in Alaska may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alaska.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Indeed, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Find Sample Business Plans Online. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Alaska.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Fort Richardson business is a difficult chore. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.

For Fort Richardson entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Alaska Angel Investors and our List of Alaska Venture Capital Firms.

Letting the World Know You Exist

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

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

The Art of Selling

Mastering the art of selling is essential if you want your new Fort Richardson business to do well.

The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Tips on Customer Referrals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge

Successful entrepreneurs know that they don't know everything.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Fort Richardson, Alaska, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Alaska universities, colleges and community colleges. We also suggest you look into Fort Richardson networking organizations.

Next Steps

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

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Fort Richardson, Alaska

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

• Resources for Fort Richardson, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Fort Richardson entrepreneurs.
• Alaska Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alaska.
• Alaska Small Business Development Center - The Alaska Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by the University of Alaska and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has assisted businesses by providing free, confidential technical business assistance and low-cost business training in Alaska for twenty years.
• Fort Richardson, Alaska Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Fort Richardson, Alaska newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Fort Richardson area.