Opening a Business in Hardin, Montana

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most new businesses do not succeed, in part because the business owner 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.

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 Hardin. 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.

Hardin, Montana Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	1510
5-9 Employees	465
10-19 Employees	270
20-49 Employees	210
50-99 Employees	45
100-249 Employees	0
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Hardin Businesses	2500

As a new Hardin entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Hardin 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
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Car Washes	1
Caterers	1
Cemeteries and Crematories	1
Child Day Care Services	1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Community Food Services	1
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Confectionery and Nut Stores	1
Convention and Visitors Bureaus	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electric Power Distribution	2
Electrical Contractors	2
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Engineering Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Flooring Contractors	1
Framing Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	4
General Automotive Repair	2
General Freight Trucking, Local	3
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Stores	2
Home Health Care Services	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	6
Internet Service Providers	1
Land Subdivision	1
Landscape Architectural Services	1
Landscaping Services	1
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	3
Limited-Service Restaurants	4
Museums	2
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	2
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Dentists	1
Offices of Lawyers	5
Offices of Optometrists	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	2
Residential Remodelers	1
School and Employee Bus Transportation	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Testing Laboratories	1
Tire Dealers	1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	2

Is Franchising a Better Option?

Visit the business district of Hardin and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Protecting Your Franchise Territory. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Truly Nolen of America and E.P.I.C. Systems. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cleaning and Maintenance Franchises and Personal Services Franchises.

Note on Hardin Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Hardin, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Naming the 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.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Hardin, it's imperative that you check now that your company name has not already been claimed by another Montana business.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

Having a business plan is essential to the health of your new business. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read The Art of the Executive Summary. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Montana.

Startup Financing Basics

Raising money to fund your new Hardin business is not an easy task. 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 Hardin entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Montana Angel Investors and our List of Montana Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

To grow your Hardin business, you need a excellent marketing plan.

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

Next Steps

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

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

We are here to help Hardin businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Hardin, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Hardin, Montana

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

• Resources for Hardin, Montana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Hardin entrepreneurs.
• Montana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Montana.
• Montana Small Business Development Center - The Montana Small Business Development Centers focus on the creation, retention and expansion of Montana small businesses.
• Hardin, Montana Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Hardin, Montana newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Hardin area.
• Hardin, Montana Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Hardin, Montana area radio stations.

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