Thinking about starting a business in Guthrie, Oklahoma? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Guthrie.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
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 Guthrie. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a 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. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Guthrie, Oklahoma Demographic Information
Guthrie has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Guthrie demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Guthrie.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
1446 |
| 5-9 Employees |
450 |
| 10-19 Employees |
330 |
| 20-49 Employees |
204 |
| 50-99 Employees |
78 |
| 100-249 Employees |
30 |
| 250-499 Employees |
6 |
| 500-999 Employees |
0 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Guthrie Businesses |
2544 |
As a new Guthrie entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Guthrie 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 |
| Aircraft Manufacturing |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
2 |
| Beauty Salons |
3 |
| Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
|
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
2 |
| Book Publishers |
1 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business Associations |
2 |
| Car Washes |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
16 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
5 |
| Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
2 |
|
Consumer Lending |
6 |
| Continuing Care Retirement Communities |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
1 |
| Court Reporting and Stenotype Services |
1 |
| Diet and Weight Reducing Centers |
1 |
| Direct Life Insurance Carriers |
1 |
| Discount Department Stores |
1 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
3 |
|
Drive-In Motion Picture Theaters |
1 |
| Drywall and Insulation Contractors |
2 |
| Electrical Contractors |
8 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools |
1 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
1 |
| Environmental Consulting Services |
1 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
1 |
|
Finish Carpentry Contractors |
4 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
4 |
| Florists |
2 |
| Food Service Contractors |
3 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation |
1 |
| Framing Contractors |
3 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
14 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
3 |
|
Fur and Leather Apparel Manufacturing |
1 |
| Furniture Stores |
1 |
| General Automotive Repair |
6 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| General Rental Centers |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
1 |
| Glass and Glazing Contractors |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
3 |
|
Hardware Stores |
1 |
| Historical Sites |
1 |
| Home Health Care Services |
2 |
| Home Health Equipment Rental |
3 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
10 |
| Investment Advice |
1 |
| Janitorial Services |
4 |
|
Jewelry Stores |
1 |
| Land Subdivision |
1 |
| Landscaping Services |
2 |
| Leather and Hide Tanning and Finishing |
1 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
12 |
| Marketing Consulting Services |
2 |
| Masonry Contractors |
1 |
| Meat Processed from Carcasses |
1 |
|
Miscellaneous Intermediation |
1 |
| Museums |
2 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
5 |
| Nonresidential Property Managers |
1 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
6 |
| Office Administrative Services |
1 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
|
Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
2 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
3 |
| Offices of Dentists |
5 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
8 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
2 |
| Offices of Other Holding Companies |
1 |
| Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
7 |
|
Parking Lots and Garages |
1 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
2 |
| Plastics Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing |
1 |
| Precision Turned Product Manufacturing |
1 |
| Public Relations Agencies |
1 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
1 |
| Residential Property Managers |
1 |
|
Residential Remodelers |
8 |
| Securities Brokerage |
2 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
2 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
4 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
2 |
| Tile and Terrazzo Contractors |
1 |
| Tire Dealers |
2 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
1 |
|
Used Car Dealers |
2 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
2 |
| Veterinary Services |
5 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
1 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
2 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
3 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
1 |
|
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing |
1 |
Have You Considered Buying an Existing Guthrie Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Oklahoma. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Guthrie.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.
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.
Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.
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 opening a business in Guthrie, it's very important that you make sure no other Oklahoma company is using the business name you want to use.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Getting your Guthrie business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.
For Guthrie entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Oklahoma Angel Investors and our List of Oklahoma Venture Capital Firms.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
Successful entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Oklahoma universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Guthrie networking organizations.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Guthrie. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Guthrie and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Guthrie 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 Guthrie, Oklahoma
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Guthrie.
- Resources for Guthrie, Oklahoma Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Guthrie 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.
- Guthrie, Oklahoma Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Guthrie, Oklahoma newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Guthrie area.
- Guthrie, Oklahoma Payroll Services - This list includes Guthrie, Oklahoma payroll services, national payroll services for Guthrie, and helpful information on choosing a Guthrie payroll service.
- Guthrie, Oklahoma Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Guthrie, Oklahoma, such as business brokers in Guthrie and other helpful information on how to buy a Guthrie business.
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