Illinois Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Lena, Illinois

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

Are You Ready for the Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur?

Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Lena. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
  • Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
  • Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Lena, Illinois Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
639
5-9 Employees
198
10-19 Employees
144
20-49 Employees
54
50-99 Employees
27
100-249 Employees
9
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Lena Businesses
1071

As a new Lena entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lena 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
Amusement Arcades
1
Architectural Services
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
1
Bowling Centers
2
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Cheese Manufacturing
2
Child Day Care Services
3
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Electrical Contractors
3
Ethyl Alcohol Manufacturing
1
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
3
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Florists
2
Full-Service Restaurants
8
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
3
Hardware Stores
2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
3
Janitorial Services
1
Jewelry Stores
2
Landscaping Services
2
Limited-Service Restaurants
1
Meat Markets
1
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Newspaper Publishers
2
Offices of Chiropractors
1
Offices of Dentists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
1
Periodical Publishers
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Siding Contractors
1
Tax Preparation Services
1
Testing Laboratories
1
Tire Dealers
1
Used Car Dealers
2
Veterinary Services
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Lena Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Lena.

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

Raising Capital for Your Venture

Getting your Lena business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.

For Lena entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, browse our List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Lena customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Bus Bench Advertising Costs 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.

Selling Tips

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Lena or are selling to customers throughout Illinois, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Effective Sales Presentations 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.

Never Give Up

You have a dream -- starting a business in Lena. 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 Lena and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Lena, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lena, Illinois

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

More Business Startup Guides for Illinois

Starting a Business in Lebanon
Starting a Business in Liberty

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Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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