Opening a Business in Lincoln City, Oregon

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

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

Most new companies do not succeed, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Lincoln City. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• 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. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

Lincoln City, Oregon Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	616
5-9 Employees	294
10-19 Employees	201
20-49 Employees	135
50-99 Employees	12
100-249 Employees	3
250-499 Employees	6
500-999 Employees	3
1000+ Employees	0
All Lincoln City Businesses	1270

As a new Lincoln City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Lincoln City 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
Architectural Services	1
Art Dealers	2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	3
Book Stores	1
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	2
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores	2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	3
Casinos (except Casino Hotels)	1
Cemeteries and Crematories	1
Child Day Care Services	1
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	3
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Clothing Accessories Stores	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Credit Unions	1
Direct Title Insurance Carriers	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	4
Educational Support Services	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	1
Employment Placement Agencies	1
Family Clothing Stores	12
Fine Arts Schools	1
Fish and Seafood Markets	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	1
Flooring Contractors	2
Florists	2
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	3
Full-Service Restaurants	30
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	3
General Freight Trucking, Local	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	8
Glass and Glazing Contractors	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hardware Stores	3
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	4
Home Centers	1
Homes for the Elderly	4
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Internet Service Providers	1
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	2
Limited-Service Restaurants	8
Locksmiths	1
Luggage and Leather Goods Stores	1
Masonry Contractors	1
Men's Clothing Stores	3
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Museums	1
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	3
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	4
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	2
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Professional Employer Organizations	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers	1
Residential Property Managers	3
Residential Remodelers	3
Roofing Contractors	3
Savings Institutions	1
Securities Brokerage	2
Septic Tank and Related Services	1
Shoe Stores	5
Site Preparation Contractors	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	5
Solid Waste Collection	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Tax Preparation Services	2
Taxi Service	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Tire Dealers	2
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Tobacco Stores	1
Travel Agencies	1
Used Merchandise Stores	5
Veterinary Services	2
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Voluntary Health Organizations	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2
Women's Clothing Stores	9

Should You Franchise?

As you drive around Lincoln City, it becomes clear that purchasing a franchise is a common way to get started as an entrepreneur. But is franchising the right option for you?

Most business experts recommend that you consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchisees Versus Licensees. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.

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

Sample franchise opportunities include Rollerz and Industry Magazine. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Dating Service Franchises and Mail and Shipping Services Franchises.

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

Naming the Business

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.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Lincoln City, it's imperative that you check now that no Oregon company has already registered the company name you have selected.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is vital 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. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Free Business Plan Templates. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Oregon.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Obtaining startup financing for your Lincoln City business is not an easy task. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Business Credit Evaluation.

For Lincoln City entrepreneurs who need startup capital, check out our List of Oregon Angel Investors and our List of Oregon Venture Capital Firms.

Letting the World Know You Exist

To rise above the crowd in Lincoln City and advance your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Elevator Advertising discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Now It's Up To You

Most new Lincoln City businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Lincoln City businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Lincoln City, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Lincoln City, Oregon

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

• Resources for Lincoln City, Oregon Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Lincoln City 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.
• Lincoln City, Oregon Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Lincoln City, Oregon newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Lincoln City area.
• Lincoln City, Oregon Payroll Services - This list includes Lincoln City, Oregon payroll services, national payroll services for Lincoln City, and helpful information on choosing a Lincoln City payroll service.
• Lincoln City, Oregon Businesses for Sale - This list includes resources for buying a business in Lincoln City, Oregon, such as business brokers in Lincoln City and other helpful information on how to buy a Lincoln City business.

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