Open a Business in Lexington, Tennessee

Are you starting a business in Lexington, Tennessee? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Lexington.

Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneurial life is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

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 Lexington. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
• We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

Lexington, Tennessee Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	10863
5-9 Employees	4641
10-19 Employees	2958
20-49 Employees	1581
50-99 Employees	255
100-249 Employees	459
250-499 Employees	204
500-999 Employees	153
1000+ Employees	0
All Lexington Businesses	21114

As a new Lexington entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lexington 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
Automotive Exhaust System Repair	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	6
Beauty Salons	4
Boat Dealers	1
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	1
Cafeterias	2
Car Washes	1
Child Day Care Services	4
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	1
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Commercial Screen Printing	1
Computer and Software Stores	1
Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing	1
Consumer Lending	4
Convenience Stores	1
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Credit Unions	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electrical Contractors	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Employment Placement Agencies	1
Family Clothing Stores	2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	2
Florists	2
Framing Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	5
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	6
General Freight Trucking, Local	3
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Manufacturing	1
Hardware Stores	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	1
Home Health Care Services	2
Homes for the Elderly	3
Household Appliance Stores	3
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	11
Interior Design Services	1
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	2
Kidney Dialysis Centers	2
Landscaping Services	4
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	13
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers	1
Logging	2
Machine Shops	5
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	1
Marketing Consulting Services	1
Masonry Contractors	3
Meat Markets	1
Metal Heat Treating	1
New Car Dealers	6
New Housing Operative Builders	1
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nonresidential Property Managers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	2
Office Administrative Services	2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	6
Offices of Lawyers	6
Offices of Optometrists	3
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	2
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	5
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Professional Employer Organizations	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Real Estate Credit	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	2
Securities Brokerage	2
Shoe Stores	2
Siding Contractors	3
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Solid Waste Landfill	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Sports and Recreation Instruction	2
Support Activities for Forestry	1
Tax Preparation Services	5
Temporary Help Services	3
Testing Laboratories	1
Tire Dealers	3
Tobacco Stores	4
Travel Trailer and Camper Manufacturing	1
Used Car Dealers	2
Used Merchandise Stores	2
Veterinary Services	3
Video Tape and Disc Rental	3
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	3
Women's Clothing Stores	3

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Lexington Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Tennessee. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Lexington.

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

Picking 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.

Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Company.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Lexington, it's critical that you ensure that you will be the only Tennessee company using the business name you have chosen.

Forming a Company in Lexington, Tennessee

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Tennessee, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Tennessee. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as C Corp Versus S Corp. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Lexington, Tennessee, our information on Incorporating in Tennessee may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Tennessee.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

Writing a business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Failure to write a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.

If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Outsourcing. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Tennessee.

What's Next?

As an entrepreneur in Lexington, 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 Lexington businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Lexington entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lexington, Tennessee

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

• Resources for Lexington, Tennessee Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lexington entrepreneurs.
• Tennessee Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Tennessee.
• Tennessee Small Business Development Center - If you are a small business owner, entrepreneur or you are thinking about starting a new business, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) is ready to help you every step of the way!
• Lexington, Tennessee Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Lexington, Tennessee newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Lexington area.
• Lexington, Tennessee Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Lexington, Tennessee area radio stations.

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