Thinking about starting a business in Lebanon, Oregon? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Lebanon.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
Before you get too far along in the process, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Lebanon. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 How to Start a Class Rings & Pins Business guide or our Opening an Internet Products & Services Business guide.
Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Lebanon. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Lebanon. A critical consideration is whether Lebanon demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Lebanon, Oregon Demographic Information
Lebanon has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Lebanon demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Lebanon.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
13412 |
| 5-9 Employees |
3990 |
| 10-19 Employees |
2562 |
| 20-49 Employees |
1386 |
| 50-99 Employees |
378 |
| 100-249 Employees |
294 |
| 250-499 Employees |
42 |
| 500-999 Employees |
0 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Lebanon Businesses |
22064 |
As a new Lebanon entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lebanon 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 |
|
Appliance Repair and Maintenance |
1 |
| Architectural Services |
1 |
| Automotive Exhaust System Repair |
1 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
3 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
5 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
|
Burial Casket Manufacturing |
1 |
| Business Associations |
1 |
| Cemeteries and Crematories |
1 |
| Charter Bus Industry |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
5 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
5 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
1 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
1 |
|
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
1 |
| Consumer Lending |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
7 |
| Credit Unions |
2 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
1 |
| Dental Laboratories |
1 |
| Direct Title Insurance Carriers |
2 |
| Discount Department Stores |
1 |
|
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
3 |
| Educational Support Services |
1 |
| Electrical Contractors |
4 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools |
4 |
| Engineering Services |
2 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
3 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
2 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
5 |
|
Floor Covering Stores |
2 |
| Flooring Contractors |
2 |
| Florists |
1 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
1 |
| Framing Contractors |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
15 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
1 |
| Furniture Stores |
1 |
|
General Automotive Repair |
7 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
5 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
1 |
| General Rental Centers |
2 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
2 |
| Hardware Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
2 |
|
Heating Oil Dealers |
1 |
| Home Health Care Services |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
11 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
2 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
11 |
| Internet Service Providers |
1 |
| Investment Advice |
1 |
| Janitorial Services |
7 |
|
Jewelry Stores |
1 |
| Land Subdivision |
2 |
| Landscaping Services |
4 |
| Leather and Hide Tanning and Finishing |
1 |
| Lessors of Other Real Estate Property |
2 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
17 |
| Logging |
11 |
| Machine Shops |
5 |
|
Mail-Order Houses |
2 |
| Marketing Consulting Services |
2 |
| Masonry Contractors |
2 |
| Media Representatives |
1 |
| Men's Clothing Stores |
1 |
| Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers |
1 |
| Musical Groups and Artists |
1 |
| Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores |
1 |
|
New Car Dealers |
3 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
| Nonresidential Property Managers |
1 |
| Office Administrative Services |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
3 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
3 |
| Offices of Dentists |
10 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
2 |
|
Offices of Optometrists |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
1 |
| Periodical Publishers |
1 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
1 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
2 |
| Plastics Bottle Manufacturing |
1 |
| Plate Work Manufacturing |
1 |
| Portfolio Management |
1 |
|
Private Mail Centers |
2 |
| Public Relations Agencies |
1 |
| Real Estate Credit |
3 |
| Residential Property Managers |
1 |
| Residential Remodelers |
4 |
| Roofing Contractors |
2 |
| Savings Institutions |
1 |
| Sawmills |
4 |
|
Securities Brokerage |
4 |
| Security Guards and Patrol Services |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
1 |
| Siding Contractors |
3 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
7 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
5 |
| Spice and Extract Manufacturing |
1 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
1 |
|
Support Activities for Forestry |
2 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
2 |
| Telemarketing Bureaus |
1 |
| Timber Tract Operations |
2 |
| Tire Dealers |
3 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
1 |
| Tobacco Stores |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
3 |
|
Used Merchandise Stores |
1 |
| Veterinary Services |
3 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
3 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
1 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
1 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
2 |
| Window Treatment Stores |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
1 |
|
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing |
1 |
| Wood Office Furniture Manufacturing |
1 |
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
Visit the business district of Lebanon and you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?
Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Credit and Franchise Purchasing. 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.
Sample franchise opportunities include Laund-UR-Mutt and Rescuecom. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Restaurant Services Franchises and Florist Franchises.
Note on Lebanon Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Lebanon.
Naming the Company
Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.
Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Lebanon, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only Oregon company using the business name you have chosen.
Promoting Your New Company
Whether your goal is to attract Lebanon customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.
You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Exhibiting at Tradeshows is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
What's Next?
You have a dream -- starting a business in Lebanon. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Lebanon and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Lebanon, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lebanon, Oregon
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Lebanon.
- Resources for Lebanon, Oregon Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lebanon entrepreneurs.
- Oregon Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oregon.
- Oregon Small Business Development Center - Oregon Small Business Development Centers use a client-centered approach to deliver counseling, training, information and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management. There is no fee for their assistance.
- Lebanon, Oregon Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Lebanon, Oregon newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Lebanon area.
- Lebanon, Oregon Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Lebanon, Oregon area radio stations.
- Lebanon, Oregon Payroll Services - This list includes Lebanon, Oregon payroll services, national payroll services for Lebanon, and helpful information on choosing a Lebanon payroll service.
- Lebanon, Oregon Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Lebanon, Oregon, such as business brokers in Lebanon and other helpful information on how to buy a Lebanon business.
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