Opening a Business in Jackson, Kentucky

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

What Business Are You Starting?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at How to Evaluate a Business Idea.

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 Opening a Fast Foods & Carry Out Business guide or our Opening a Time Switches Business guide.

Don't forget that Jackson is the place where you are starting a business. Some businesses will do better in Jackson than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Jackson demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Jackson, Kentucky Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	4944
5-9 Employees	1680
10-19 Employees	1200
20-49 Employees	1008
50-99 Employees	96
100-249 Employees	96
250-499 Employees	48
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Jackson Businesses	9072

As a new Jackson entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Jackson 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
Ambulance Services	2
Automobile Manufacturing	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	4
Beauty Salons	1
Book Stores	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Community Food Services	1
Consumer Lending	2
Convenience Stores	1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Electronic Shopping	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	2
Full-Service Restaurants	4
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	3
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	2
General Freight Trucking, Local	4
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Manufacturing	1
Hardware Stores	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	3
Household Appliance Stores	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	8
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	1
Masonry Contractors	1
Motorcycle Dealers	1
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	1
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	4
Offices of Lawyers	10
Offices of Optometrists	1
Periodical Publishers	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	4
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Support Activities for Coal Mining	1
Tax Preparation Services	1
Tire Dealers	1
Tobacco Stores	2
Used Car Dealers	1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving	1
Used Merchandise Stores	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2

Selecting a Name For Your Venture

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Jackson, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only Kentucky company using the business name you have chosen.

Company Formation in Jackson, Kentucky

A critical step is ensuring that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

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

Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Kentucky, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Kentucky. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 ESOP Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Jackson, Kentucky, our information on Incorporating in Kentucky may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Kentucky.

Startup Financing Basics

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Jackson business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. 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 504 Loans.

For Jackson entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Kentucky Angel Investors and our List of Kentucky Venture Capital Firms.

The Art of Selling

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Jackson or are selling to customers throughout Kentucky, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Anticipating Prospect Responses is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Never Give Up

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

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

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Jackson, Kentucky

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

• Resources for Jackson, Kentucky Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Jackson entrepreneurs.
• Kentucky Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kentucky.
• Kentucky Small Business Development Center - The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) has been assisting Kentucky small business community for more than 25 years. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges, and the private sector.
• Jackson, Kentucky Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Jackson, Kentucky newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Jackson area.
• Jackson, Kentucky Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Jackson, Kentucky area radio stations.

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