Opening a Business in Houston, Missouri

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

Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?

Before you get too far along in the process, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

• Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Houston. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
• Peruse Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
• Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Choosing the Right Company to Start

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Good 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 How to Start a Mexican Food Business guide or our How to Start a Wire Forms Manufacturers Business guide.

Always keep in mind that starting a business in Houston has some implications. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Houston. Make sure you fully understand Houston demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Houston, Missouri Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	2712
5-9 Employees	936
10-19 Employees	456
20-49 Employees	216
50-99 Employees	120
100-249 Employees	24
250-499 Employees	24
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Houston Businesses	4488

As a new Houston entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Houston 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
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Beauty Salons	2
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	3
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Community Food Services	2
Custom Computer Programming Services	2
Digital Printing	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electronic Connector Manufacturing	1
Framing Contractors	1
Full-Service Restaurants	12
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hand and Edge Tool Manufacturing	1
Hardware Stores	2
Home Centers	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	7
Janitorial Services	1
Junior Colleges	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	5
Logging	1
Mobile Food Services	1
New Car Dealers	2
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Bank Holding Companies	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	3
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Professional Employer Organizations	1
Quick Printing	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	1
Residential Property Managers	2
Residential Remodelers	2
Savings Institutions	1
Sawmills	1
Securities Brokerage	2
Shoe Stores	3
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Tax Preparation Services	2
Temporary Help Services	1
Tire Dealers	3
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	2
Used Car Dealers	1
Vending Machine Operators	1
Veterinary Services	3
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing	1
Wood Preservation	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Houston Business?

We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Missouri. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Houston.

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Buying a Business.

Forming a Company in Houston, Missouri

It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Missouri, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Missouri. In fact, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

There are many nuances to 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 Houston, Missouri, our information on Incorporating in Missouri may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Missouri.

Promoting Your New Company

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

We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Advertising on the Web is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Good business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.

With your business being located in Houston, Missouri, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Missouri universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Houston networking organizations.

Never Give Up

You have a dream -- starting a business in Houston. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

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 Houston and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Houston 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 Houston, Missouri

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

• Resources for Houston, Missouri Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Houston entrepreneurs.
• Missouri Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Missouri.
• Missouri Small Business Development Center - Missouri Small Business Development Center business specialists are uniquely qualified to help small businesses get started, develop and thrive.
• Houston, Missouri Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Houston, Missouri newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Houston area.
• Houston, Missouri Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Houston, Missouri area radio stations.

More Business Startup Guides for Missouri
Starting a Business in Hopkins
Starting a Business in Independence

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Missouri
Starting a Business Guides for Other States