Alaska Business Startup Guides

Open a Business in Ketchikan, Alaska

Need help starting a business in Ketchikan, Alaska? We've got the information you need to open a business in Ketchikan.

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? You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Free 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 a Non-Certified Public Accountants Business guide or our Starting a Water Coolers Retail Business guide.

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

Ketchikan, Alaska Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1067
5-9 Employees
348
10-19 Employees
162
20-49 Employees
84
50-99 Employees
30
100-249 Employees
12
250-499 Employees
3
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Ketchikan Businesses
1706

As a new Ketchikan entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ketchikan 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
Architectural Services
2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
1
Beauty Salons
2
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
3
Boat Dealers
1
Book Stores
5
Bowling Centers
1
Charter Bus Industry
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
3
Civic and Social Organizations
5
Coffee and Tea Manufacturing
1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Collection Agencies
1
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Convenience Stores
2
Convention and Visitors Bureaus
1
Couriers
2
Credit Unions
3
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
1
Discount Department Stores
1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electrical Contractors
4
Elementary and Secondary Schools
2
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Engineering Services
2
Family Clothing Stores
3
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers
5
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
3
Floor Covering Stores
3
Florists
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Footwear and Leather Goods Repair
1
Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing
3
Full-Service Restaurants
17
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
2
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Hardware Stores
1
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Home Centers
1
Home Health Care Services
1
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Homes for the Elderly
1
Inland Water Passenger Transportation
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
3
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
7
Jewelry Stores
19
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
4
Limited-Service Restaurants
5
Logging
10
Marinas
4
Marine Cargo Handling
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
2
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
Museums
1
Navigational Services to Shipping
4
New Car Dealers
2
Newspaper Publishers
2
Office Administrative Services
3
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
4
Offices of Chiropractors
4
Offices of Lawyers
9
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Other Holding Companies
3
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
3
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
2
Passenger Car Rental
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Private Mail Centers
1
Radio Stations
2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Remediation Services
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
1
Savings Institutions
2
Sawmills
1
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation
3
School and Employee Bus Transportation
1
Seafood Canning
1
Shellfish Fishing
1
Ship Building and Repairing
1
Sign Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
6
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
3
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Sports and Recreation Instruction
3
Tax Preparation Services
2
Telecommunications Resellers
1
Telemarketing Bureaus
1
Temporary Shelters
1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
1
Timber Tract Operations
1
Tire Dealers
1
Tour Operators
6
Used Car Dealers
1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
2
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Ketchikan Business?

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

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Raising money to fund your new Ketchikan business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Business Credit Evaluation.

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

Promoting Your New Business

To rise above the crowd in Ketchikan and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Competitive Analysis is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

The Art of Selling

Being able to sell is a key enabler to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Ketchikan or are selling to customers throughout Alaska, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Selling Stuff on the Web 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.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Successful entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Ketchikan, Alaska, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Alaska universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any Ketchikan networking organizations.

Next Steps

You have a dream -- starting a business in Ketchikan. 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.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Ketchikan and throughout the United States . We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Ketchikan, Alaska

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

  • Resources for Ketchikan, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ketchikan 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.

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