Are you starting a business in Lewistown, Pennsylvania? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Lewistown.
What Type of Business Should You Start?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read 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 Starting an Electric Signs Business guide or our How to Start a Stainless Steel Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Lewistown. Some businesses will do better in Lewistown than others. Make sure you fully understand Lewistown demographics before you lock in on your business idea.
Lewistown, Pennsylvania Demographic Information
Lewistown has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Lewistown demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Lewistown.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
3144 |
| 5-9 Employees |
1392 |
| 10-19 Employees |
924 |
| 20-49 Employees |
504 |
| 50-99 Employees |
156 |
| 100-249 Employees |
48 |
| 250-499 Employees |
84 |
| 500-999 Employees |
12 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Lewistown Businesses |
6264 |
As a new Lewistown entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lewistown 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 |
| Ambulance Services |
1 |
| Amusement Arcades |
1 |
| Appliance Repair and Maintenance |
1 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
5 |
| Beauty Salons |
10 |
|
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
3 |
| Book Stores |
1 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business and Secretarial Schools |
2 |
| Business Associations |
1 |
| Business to Business Electronic Markets |
1 |
| Cable and Other Program Distribution |
3 |
|
Cafeterias |
3 |
| Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores |
1 |
| Car Washes |
1 |
| Cemeteries and Crematories |
3 |
| Child and Youth Services |
1 |
| Child Day Care Services |
6 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
10 |
| Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners |
1 |
|
Collection Agencies |
1 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
1 |
| Computer and Software Stores |
2 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
1 |
| Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
1 |
| Consumer Lending |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
2 |
|
Credit Unions |
1 |
| Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing |
1 |
| Diagnostic Imaging Centers |
1 |
| Direct Life Insurance Carriers |
1 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
8 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
1 |
| Electrical Contractors |
3 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
|
Engineering Services |
1 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
1 |
| Family Planning Centers |
1 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
2 |
| Fine Arts Schools |
1 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
2 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
4 |
| Flat Glass Manufacturing |
1 |
|
Floor Covering Stores |
3 |
| Flooring Contractors |
2 |
| Florists |
2 |
| Food Service Contractors |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
9 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
2 |
| Furniture Stores |
2 |
| General Automotive Repair |
5 |
|
General Freight Trucking, Local |
6 |
| General Warehousing and Storage |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Grantmaking Foundations |
2 |
| Hardware Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
1 |
| Heating Oil Dealers |
4 |
|
Home Centers |
2 |
| Home Health Care Services |
1 |
| Home Health Equipment Rental |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
1 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
1 |
| Industrial Mold Manufacturing |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
8 |
| Janitorial Services |
4 |
|
Jewelry Stores |
2 |
| Kidney Dialysis Centers |
1 |
| Landscaping Services |
3 |
| Lessors of Other Real Estate Property |
1 |
| Libraries and Archives |
1 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
12 |
| Masonry Contractors |
3 |
| Metal Window and Door Manufacturing |
2 |
|
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers |
1 |
| Motor and Generator Manufacturing |
1 |
| Museums |
1 |
| Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores |
1 |
| Narrow Fabric Mills |
1 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
9 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
|
Nursing Care Facilities |
2 |
| Office Machinery Manufacturing |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
2 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
3 |
| Offices of Dentists |
12 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
12 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
5 |
| Offices of Podiatrists |
2 |
|
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
1 |
| Optical Goods Stores |
1 |
| Outdoor Power Equipment Stores |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
1 |
| Paper (except Newsprint) Mills |
1 |
| Payroll Services |
1 |
| Pet and Pet Supplies Stores |
1 |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services |
1 |
|
Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
6 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
2 |
| Plastics Bag Manufacturing |
1 |
| Portfolio Management |
2 |
| Precision Turned Product Manufacturing |
1 |
| Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing |
1 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
1 |
| Residential Property Managers |
1 |
|
Residential Remodelers |
3 |
| Retail Bakeries |
1 |
| Roofing Contractors |
4 |
| Savings Institutions |
3 |
| Sawmills |
1 |
| School and Employee Bus Transportation |
2 |
| Securities Brokerage |
1 |
| Shoe Stores |
1 |
|
Siding Contractors |
1 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
2 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
1 |
| Solid Waste Landfill |
1 |
| Special Needs Transportation |
1 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
1 |
| Temporary Shelters |
2 |
|
Tire Dealers |
2 |
| Tire Retreading |
1 |
| Tobacco Stores |
1 |
| Travel Agencies |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
1 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
3 |
| Veterinary Services |
2 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
2 |
|
Vocational Rehabilitation Services |
1 |
| Voluntary Health Organizations |
1 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
1 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
1 |
| Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing |
1 |
Choosing a Company Name
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.
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.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Lewistown, it's critical that you ensure that no Pennsylvania company has already registered the company name you have selected.
Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Software. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Pennsylvania.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Obtaining startup financing for your Lewistown business is a difficult chore. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Choosing VC Firms.
For Lewistown entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Pennsylvania Angel Investors and our List of Pennsylvania Venture Capital Firms.
Marketing Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Lewistown customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a great marketing plan.
You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Sponsoring Local Events is an article that will generate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Now It's Up To You
As an entrepreneur in Lewistown, 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.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Lewistown and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Lewistown, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lewistown, Pennsylvania
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Lewistown.
- Resources for Lewistown, Pennsylvania Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lewistown entrepreneurs.
- Pennsylvania Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center - Pennsylvania SBDCs help aspiring entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses, help small firms expand, and provide the information every business person needs to make critical decisions. There is no charge for their assistance and their free help can make the difference between business success and failure.
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Lewistown, Pennsylvania newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Lewistown area.
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Lewistown, Pennsylvania area radio stations.
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania Payroll Services - This list includes Lewistown, Pennsylvania payroll services, national payroll services for Lewistown, and helpful information on choosing a Lewistown payroll service.
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, such as business brokers in Lewistown and other helpful information on how to buy a Lewistown business.
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