Opening a Business in Kenai, Alaska

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

What Type of Business Should You Start?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Good Business Ideas.

For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Lacquer Business guide or our Starting a Potato Growers Business guide.

Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Kenai. If Kenai already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Don't forget to review Kenai demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Kenai, Alaska Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	711
5-9 Employees	273
10-19 Employees	111
20-49 Employees	54
50-99 Employees	24
100-249 Employees	15
250-499 Employees	3
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Kenai Businesses	1191

As a new Kenai entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Kenai 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
Advertising Agencies	1
Air Traffic Control	1
Architectural Services	3
Art Dealers	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Automotive Transmission Repair	2
Beauty Salons	3
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Boat Building	1
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Building Inspection Services	1
Business Associations	2
Car Washes	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Charter Bus Industry	1
Child Day Care Services	5
Civic and Social Organizations	7
Clothing Accessories Stores	1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Convention and Visitors Bureaus	2
Couriers	2
Credit Unions	1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	2
Educational Support Services	2
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	4
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Employment Placement Agencies	1
Engineering Services	4
Environmental Consulting Services	2
Family Planning Centers	1
Finfish Fishing	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	2
Fish and Seafood Markets	1
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers	3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Flight Training	1
Flooring Contractors	2
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation	1
Framing Contractors	3
Freight Transportation Arrangement	2
Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing	4
Full-Service Restaurants	11
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	1
General Freight Trucking, Local	2
General Rental Centers	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Homes for the Elderly	3
Household Appliance Stores	2
Industrial Building Construction	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Investment Advice	3
Janitorial Services	2
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	2
Limited-Service Restaurants	10
Museums	1
Natural Gas Liquid Extraction	1
New Car Dealers	1
New Housing Operative Builders	1
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nitrogenous Fertilizer Manufacturing	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	5
Offices of Lawyers	11
Offices of Optometrists	2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	4
Passenger Car Leasing	1
Passenger Car Rental	6
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Petroleum Refineries	1
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil	1
Plastics Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing	1
Private Mail Centers	2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	2
Remediation Services	1
Residential Property Managers	1
Residential Remodelers	2
Roofing Contractors	1
Sawmills	1
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation	1
Securities Brokerage	1
Sign Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	4
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	3
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Sports Teams and Clubs	1
Support Activities for Forestry	2
Tax Preparation Services	1
Taxi Service	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Temporary Shelters	3
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters	1
Tire Dealers	1
Travel Agencies	4
Used Car Dealers	1
Used Merchandise Stores	3
Vending Machine Operators	1
Veterinary Services	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Kenai Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Alaska. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Kenai.

If you are intent on buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Forming a Company in Kenai, Alaska

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

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

Incorporation 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. If you are starting a business in Alaska, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Alaska. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. 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 Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Kenai, Alaska, our information on Incorporating in Alaska may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Alaska.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Kenai customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your succeeding.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Yellow Pages Advertising Advice 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.

Ramping Up Sales

Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Kenai business to do well.

Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Sales Forecasting is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Next Steps

Most new Kenai 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 Kenai businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Kenai 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 Kenai, Alaska

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

• Resources for Kenai, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Kenai entrepreneurs.
• Alaska Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alaska.
• Alaska Small Business Development Center - The Alaska Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by the University of Alaska and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has assisted businesses by providing free, confidential technical business assistance and low-cost business training in Alaska for twenty years.
• Kenai, Alaska Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Kenai, Alaska newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Kenai area.
• Kenai, Alaska Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Kenai, Alaska area radio stations.

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Alaska
Starting a Business in Juneau
Starting a Business in Ketchikan

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Alaska