Opening a Business in Ketchum, Idaho

Contemplating starting a business in Ketchum, Idaho? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Ketchum.

What Business to Start

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

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 Opening a Tax Grievance Service guide or our Starting a Pulleys & Sheaves Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Ketchum has some implications. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Ketchum. Make sure you fully understand Ketchum demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Ketchum, Idaho Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	2706
5-9 Employees	744
10-19 Employees	534
20-49 Employees	354
50-99 Employees	84
100-249 Employees	12
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Ketchum Businesses	4434

As a new Ketchum entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ketchum 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
Architectural Services	18
Art Dealers	9
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Beauty Salons	5
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	2
Book Publishers	1
Book Stores	1
Broadwoven Fabric Mills	1
Business Associations	4
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Canvas and Related Product Mills	1
Car Washes	2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Caterers	1
Child Day Care Services	6
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	1
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Clothing Accessories Stores	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Commercial Photography	3
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Consumer Lending	1
Cookie and Cracker Manufacturing	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	4
Dental Laboratories	1
Directory and Mailing List Publishers	1
Drafting Services	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	7
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	2
Electrical Contractors	5
Electronic Shopping	1
Engineering Services	5
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	6
Fine Arts Schools	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	4
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	6
Flight Training	1
Floor Covering Stores	4
Florists	4
Framing Contractors	2
Full-Service Restaurants	41
Furniture Stores	4
General Automotive Repair	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Graphic Design Services	2
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers	1
Hardware Stores	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	1
Home Health Care Services	1
Household Appliance Stores	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	11
Interior Design Services	8
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting	1
Internet Service Providers	1
Investment Advice	3
Janitorial Services	8
Jewelry Stores	4
Land Subdivision	3
Landscape Architectural Services	3
Landscaping Services	13
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	3
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	12
Locksmiths	1
Marketing Consulting Services	1
Masonry Contractors	4
Men's Clothing Stores	1
Miscellaneous Intermediation	4
Mobile Food Services	1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	8
Motion Picture and Video Production	2
Museums	1
Musical Groups and Artists	1
New Housing Operative Builders	6
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nonresidential Property Managers	6
Office Administrative Services	4
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	9
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	9
Offices of Lawyers	14
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	3
One-Hour Photofinishing	1
Ophthalmic Goods Merchant Wholesalers	2
Optical Goods Stores	2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	14
Payroll Services	1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Portfolio Management	2
Prepress Services	1
Private Mail Centers	2
Real Estate Credit	2
Real Estate Investment Trusts	2
Recreational Goods Rental	1
Reinsurance Carriers	1
Residential Property Managers	5
Residential Remodelers	15
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Savings Institutions	1
Securities Brokerage	5
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	3
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	4
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	9
Sports and Recreation Instruction	2
Temporary Help Services	2
Textile Bag Mills	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	2
Travel Agencies	2
Used Merchandise Stores	4
Veterinary Services	3
Video Tape and Disc Rental	2
Voluntary Health Organizations	2
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	2
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	5
Window Treatment Stores	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	6
Wood Window and Door Manufacturing	2
Zoos and Botanical Gardens	1

Forming a Company in Ketchum, Idaho

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield 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 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 Idaho, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Idaho. 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 Nevada Incorporation. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Ketchum, Idaho, our information on Incorporating in Idaho may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Idaho.

Raising Money for Your Venture

Getting your Ketchum business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Find Start-Up Capital.

For Ketchum entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, you'll want to take a look at our List of Idaho Angel Investors and our List of Idaho Venture Capital Firms.

Promoting Your New Company

To grow your Ketchum business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

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

Ramping Up Sales

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Ketchum or are selling to customers throughout Idaho, 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.

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

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

The best business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.

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

What's Next?

You have a dream -- starting a business in Ketchum. 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 Ketchum and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Ketchum, Idaho

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

• Resources for Ketchum, Idaho Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ketchum entrepreneurs.
• Idaho Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Idaho.
• Idaho Small Business Development Center - The Idaho Small Business Development Center (Idaho SBDC) is a university-based organization offering a wealth of free and low-cost services to help small businesses and entrepreneurs be successful.
• Ketchum, Idaho Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Ketchum, Idaho newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Ketchum area.

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