Starting a Business in Langley, Washington

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

An entrepreneurial life is demanding, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you are ready to take on this challenge?

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

Speak with other entrepreneurs in Langley. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Langley, Washington Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	930
5-9 Employees	240
10-19 Employees	84
20-49 Employees	54
50-99 Employees	6
100-249 Employees	6
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Langley Businesses	1320

As a new Langley entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Langley 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	6
Art Dealers	5
Baked Goods Stores	1
Beauty Salons	1
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Book Stores	2
Building Inspection Services	1
Business Associations	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Community Food Services	1
Convention and Trade Show Organizers	2
Custom Computer Programming Services	1
Deep Sea Freight Transportation	1
Drafting Services	1
Educational Support Services	2
Electrical Contractors	4
Engineering Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Family Planning Centers	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fish and Seafood Markets	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Full-Service Restaurants	5
General Automotive Repair	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	3
Glass and Glazing Contractors	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	1
Home Centers	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Jewelry Stores	1
Land Subdivision	1
Landscaping Services	8
Limited-Service Restaurants	1
Mail-Order Houses	1
Marketing Consulting Services	3
Motion Picture and Video Production	1
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nonresidential Property Managers	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	4
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	4
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Residential Remodelers	5
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair	1
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Tour Operators	1
Travel Agencies	1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving	1
Used Merchandise Stores	6
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	5

Is Franchising a Better Option?

Visit the business district of Langley and you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?

Our advice is to investigate buying a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Franchise. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

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

Representative franchise opportunities include Oogles n Googles and Mr. Plant. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Carpet Care Franchises and Deli Restaurant Franchises.

Note on Langley Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Langley, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Choosing a Company Name

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

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 Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Langley, it's critical that you ensure that no other Washington company is using the business name you want to use.

How to Sell

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Langley business, you need to focus on sales.

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.

Landing Big Customers 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.

Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge

The best business owners know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

With your business being located in Langley, Washington, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Washington educational institutions. It's also wise to see if there are any networking organizations for Langley entrepreneurs.

Next Steps

As an entrepreneur in Langley, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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

We are here to help Langley businesses to be successful. 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 Langley, Washington

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

Resources for Langley, Washington Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Langley entrepreneurs.
Washington Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Washington.
Washington Small Business Development Center - Washington Small Business Development Centers promote economic vitality by providing advice, training and research to Washington entrepreneurs and existing Washington businesses.
Langley, Washington Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Langley, Washington newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Langley area.

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