Starting a Business in Nashville, Arkansas

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Before announcing to the world that you are going to start your own business, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

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 Nashville. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
• We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Nashville, Arkansas Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	3168
5-9 Employees	1248
10-19 Employees	792
20-49 Employees	384
50-99 Employees	192
100-249 Employees	144
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	48
All Nashville Businesses	5976

As a new Nashville entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Nashville 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
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	3
Boat Dealers	1
Broadwoven Fabric Finishing Mills	1
Business Associations	1
Canvas and Related Product Mills	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Child Day Care Services	4
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Collection Agencies	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Convenience Stores	1
Direct Title Insurance Carriers	1
Electric Power Distribution	2
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	3
Family Clothing Stores	2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	3
Food Service Contractors	2
Full-Service Restaurants	6
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	5
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Gypsum Product Manufacturing	1
Hardware Stores	1
Human Rights Organizations	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Investment Advice	1
Landscaping Services	3
Limited-Service Restaurants	7
Logging	4
Machine Shops	1
Meat Markets	1
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing	1
Natural Gas Distribution	1
New Car Dealers	1
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nursing Care Facilities	3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	6
Offices of Optometrists	3
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Passenger Car Rental	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	4
Poultry Processing	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	2
Sawmills	2
Securities Brokerage	1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Solid Waste Landfill	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Tax Preparation Services	3
Television Broadcasting	1
Tire Dealers	2
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Tobacco Stores	2
Used Car Dealers	1
Veterinary Services	2
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1

What About Buying an Existing Nashville Business?

We've created a handy website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Arkansas. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Nashville.

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

Having a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read The Art of the Executive Summary. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Arkansas.

Startup Financing Basics

Raising money to fund your new Nashville business is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Business Credit Evaluation.

For Nashville entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Arkansas Angel Investors and our List of Arkansas Venture Capital Firms.

Bring in Revenues

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

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Compensating Sales People is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Next Steps

You have a dream -- starting a business in Nashville. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

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

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Nashville and throughout the United States . We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Nashville, Arkansas

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

• Resources for Nashville, Arkansas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Nashville entrepreneurs.
• Arkansas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Arkansas.
• Arkansas Small Business Development Center - The Arkansas Small Business Development Center (ASBDC) is a University-based economic development program which provides assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout Arkansas via a statewide network of seven offices.
• Nashville, Arkansas Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Nashville, Arkansas newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Nashville area.
• Nashville, Arkansas Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Nashville, Arkansas area radio stations.

More Startup Articles for Arkansas Cities
Starting a Business in Murfreesboro
Starting a Business in Newport

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Arkansas