Starting a Business in Oakdale, Louisiana

Contemplating starting a business in Oakdale, Louisiana? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Oakdale.

Is Becoming an Entrepreneur Right for You?

Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you want to start a business?

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

• Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Oakdale. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
• Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Oakdale, Louisiana Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	2700
5-9 Employees	1026
10-19 Employees	378
20-49 Employees	135
50-99 Employees	108
100-249 Employees	54
250-499 Employees	27
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Oakdale Businesses	4428

As a new Oakdale entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Oakdale 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
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	4
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Cafeterias	1
Child Day Care Services	1
Consumer Lending	7
Credit Unions	2
Digital Printing	1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	2
Discount Department Stores	1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	1
Electrical Contractors	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring	2
Family Clothing Stores	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Flooring Contractors	1
Florists	2
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation	1
Full-Service Restaurants	3
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Merchant Wholesalers	1
Furniture Stores	2
General Automotive Repair	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Home Centers	1
Home Health Care Services	1
Home Health Equipment Rental	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	2
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	5
Logging	5
Nail Salons	1
New Car Dealers	5
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	2
Offices of Lawyers	6
Offices of Optometrists	1
Optical Goods Stores	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Sales Financing	1
Sanitary Paper Product Manufacturing	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	1
Solid Waste Collection	1
Spice and Extract Manufacturing	1
Support Activities for Forestry	1
Used Car Dealers	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Oakdale Business?

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

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

Choosing a Company Name

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

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: Branding Advice.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Oakdale, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Louisiana business.

Company Formation in Oakdale, Louisiana

It's essential 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.

When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporation is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Louisiana, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Louisiana. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Company Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Oakdale, Louisiana, our web page covering Incorporating in Louisiana may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Louisiana.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Failure to write a business plan

If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Expert Advice on Business Plans. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Louisiana.

Raising Capital for Your Venture

Raising money to fund your new Oakdale business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as How Equity Dilution Works.

For Oakdale entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, you'll want to take a look at our List of Louisiana Angel Investors and our List of Louisiana Venture Capital Firms.

Moving Forward

As an entrepreneur in Oakdale, 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 Oakdale businesses to be successful. 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 Oakdale, Louisiana

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

• Resources for Oakdale, Louisiana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Oakdale entrepreneurs.
• Louisiana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Louisiana.
• Louisiana Small Business Development Center - The Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC Network) provides low- or no-cost guidance and training for small business owners and potential owners.
• Oakdale, Louisiana Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Oakdale, Louisiana newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Oakdale area.

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