Open a Business in Hillsdale, Michigan

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

Which Business to Choose?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. We recommend that you read Good Business Ideas.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting an Advertising and Design Agency guide or our How to Start a Literary Agents Business guide.

Remember that Hillsdale is the place where you are starting a business. Some businesses will do better in Hillsdale than others. Don't forget to review Hillsdale demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Hillsdale, Michigan Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	3030
5-9 Employees	1350
10-19 Employees	990
20-49 Employees	420
50-99 Employees	165
100-249 Employees	105
250-499 Employees	45
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	15
All Hillsdale Businesses	6120

As a new Hillsdale entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Hillsdale 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
Adhesive Manufacturing	1
Ambulance Services	1
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering	1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	5
Automotive Transmission Repair	1
Baked Goods Stores	1
Beauty Salons	2
Book Publishers	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	2
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Car Washes	1
Caterers	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Civic and Social Organizations	3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Computer and Software Stores	2
Computer Systems Design Services	2
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Credit Unions	2
Dental Laboratories	1
Direct Title Insurance Carriers	2
Document Preparation Services	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1
Electrical Contractors	3
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Engineering Services	1
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Family Planning Centers	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	3
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	4
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	1
Food Service Contractors	2
Framing Contractors	1
Full-Service Restaurants	9
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	6
General Freight Trucking, Local	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	2
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hardware Stores	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	2
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Household Appliance Stores	2
Industrial Mold Manufacturing	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	8
Interior Design Services	1
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	3
Landscaping Services	5
Limited-Service Restaurants	11
Machine Shops	2
Masonry Contractors	1
Meat Markets	1
Metal Stamping	1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Motorcycle Dealers	1
New Car Dealers	3
Newspaper Publishers	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	4
Offices of Dentists	6
Offices of Lawyers	9
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Other Holding Companies	1
Offices of Podiatrists	3
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Payroll Services	1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	4
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Political Organizations	1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing	2
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Rooming and Boarding Houses	1
Savings Institutions	2
Securities Brokerage	2
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Steel Wire Drawing	2
Support Activities for Forestry	1
Tax Preparation Services	3
Temporary Help Services	4
Temporary Shelters	1
Testing Laboratories	1
Tire Dealers	1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	2
Tour Operators	2
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	1
Used Merchandise Stores	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	2

Is Franchising a Better Option?

As you drive around Hillsdale, it becomes clear that purchasing a franchise is a common way to get started as an entrepreneur. But is franchising the right option for you?

Our advice is to investigate buying a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchising and Veterans. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

A comprehensive list of franchisors is available via our List of Franchise Opportunities.

Representative franchise opportunities include Janbury and MaggieMoo's International, LLC. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Home Furnishings Franchises and Automotive Services Franchises.

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

Picking a Business Name

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: Naming a Company.

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Hillsdale, it's imperative that you check now that no other Michigan company is using the business name you want to use.

Startup Financing Basics

Getting your Hillsdale business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Find Start-Up Capital.

For Hillsdale entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Michigan Angel Investors and our List of Michigan Venture Capital Firms.

Letting the World Know You Exist

Whether your goal is to attract Hillsdale customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a excellent marketing plan.

We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. How to Be an Effective Networker 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.

Bring in Revenues

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

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Compensating Sales People is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

Next Steps

Most new Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Hillsdale, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Hillsdale, Michigan

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

• Resources for Hillsdale, Michigan Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Hillsdale entrepreneurs.
• Michigan Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Michigan.
• Michigan Small Business Development Center - This organization supports 12 regional offices and over 30 satellite offices, each providing counseling and training to Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan. Services to entrepreneurs are offered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
• Hillsdale, Michigan Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Hillsdale, Michigan newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Hillsdale area.
• Hillsdale, Michigan Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Hillsdale, Michigan area radio stations.

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