Georgia Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Lagrange, Georgia

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

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

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

To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Lagrange. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
  • We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Lagrange, Georgia Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
6900
5-9 Employees
2952
10-19 Employees
1992
20-49 Employees
1584
50-99 Employees
564
100-249 Employees
396
250-499 Employees
108
500-999 Employees
36
1000+ Employees
24
All Lagrange Businesses
14556

As a new Lagrange entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lagrange 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
Adhesive Manufacturing
1
Aircraft Manufacturing
1
Ambulance Services
1
Architectural Services
1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
9
Automotive Transmission Repair
1
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
14
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
2
Boat Building
1
Boat Dealers
1
Book Stores
1
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills
1
Broadwoven Fabric Mills
2
Building Inspection Services
1
Business Associations
4
Car Washes
2
Carpet and Rug Mills
4
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
5
Caterers
2
Cemeteries and Crematories
2
Child and Youth Services
2
Child Day Care Services
17
Civic and Social Organizations
3
Claims Adjusting
1
Clothing Accessories Stores
1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Collection Agencies
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
5
Commercial Screen Printing
2
Computer Systems Design Services
3
Computer Training
1
Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing
1
Construction Machinery Manufacturing
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
1
Consumer Lending
9
Convenience Stores
9
Credit Unions
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
4
Dental Laboratories
2
Diet and Weight Reducing Centers
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
4
Discount Department Stores
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
3
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
24
Elementary and Secondary Schools
4
Emergency and Other Relief Services
2
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Engineering Services
3
Environmental Consulting Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
6
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
1
Fine Arts Schools
3
Finish Carpentry Contractors
2
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
5
Floor Covering Stores
5
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
2
Food Product Machinery Manufacturing
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Framing Contractors
1
Freight Transportation Arrangement
2
Fruit and Vegetable Markets
1
Full-Service Restaurants
31
Furniture Stores
8
General Automotive Repair
14
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
3
Glass and Glazing Contractors
3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
2
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
3
Home Centers
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
1
Home Health Equipment Rental
3
Homes for the Elderly
1
Household Appliance Stores
1
Industrial Launderers
3
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
23
Interior Design Services
2
Janitorial Services
5
Jewelry Stores
5
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
9
Libraries and Archives
2
Limited-Service Restaurants
50
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
1
Locksmiths
2
Logging
7
Machine Shops
7
Mail-Order Houses
2
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Marinas
1
Marketing Consulting Services
4
Masonry Contractors
3
Men's Clothing Stores
3
Metal Can Manufacturing
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
Motorcycle Dealers
2
Museums
2
Musical Groups and Artists
1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Nail Salons
1
New Car Dealers
9
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nonwoven Fabric Mills
1
Nursing Care Facilities
2
Office Administrative Services
5
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
4
Offices of Chiropractors
5
Offices of Lawyers
18
Offices of Optometrists
4
Offices of Other Holding Companies
2
Offices of Podiatrists
2
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Optical Goods Stores
4
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
4
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
3
Passenger Car Rental
2
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
3
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
5
Photography Studios, Portrait
3
Portfolio Management
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Professional Employer Organizations
1
Quick Printing
1
Radio Stations
1
Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
3
Real Estate Credit
5
Residential Remodelers
8
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
2
Roofing Contractors
1
Rope, Cordage, and Twine Mills
1
Sales Financing
1
Savings Institutions
1
Securities Brokerage
5
Septic Tank and Related Services
1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Shoe Stores
2
Siding Contractors
2
Site Preparation Contractors
7
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
3
Software Publishers
1
Sporting Goods Stores
7
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Support Activities for Forestry
2
Tax Preparation Services
6
Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing
2
Television Broadcasting
1
Temporary Help Services
8
Testing Laboratories
1
Textile Machinery Manufacturing
2
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
1
Timber Tract Operations
1
Tire Dealers
8
Travel Agencies
1
Used Car Dealers
11
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Vending Machine Operators
2
Veterinary Services
5
Video Tape and Disc Rental
2
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2
Women's Clothing Stores
3
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing
3
Yarn Spinning Mills
1
Zoos and Botanical Gardens
1

Should You Franchise?

As you drive around Lagrange, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to look into purchasing a franchise. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchising Pros and Cons. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Representative franchise opportunities include Paciugo Italian Gelato and Bark Busters. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Employment and Staffing Franchises and Auto Repair Franchises.

Note on Lagrange Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Lagrange.

Choosing a Company Name

A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.

Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.

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

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Lagrange, it's very important that you make sure no other Georgia company is using the business name you want to use.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Getting your Lagrange business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled 504 Loans.

For Lagrange entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Georgia Angel Investors and our List of Georgia 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 Lagrange or are selling to customers throughout Georgia, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

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

Moving Forward

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lagrange, Georgia

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

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Georgia

Starting a Business in La Fayette
Starting a Business in Lakeland

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

 

 

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Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

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Franchise Opportunities

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