Starting a Business in Opelousas, Louisiana

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

Are You Ready for Life as an Owner?

Most startup companies do not succeed, in part because the founder did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Opelousas. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
• We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.

Opelousas, Louisiana Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	1258
5-9 Employees	546
10-19 Employees	324
20-49 Employees	198
50-99 Employees	48
100-249 Employees	30
250-499 Employees	3
500-999 Employees	9
1000+ Employees	3
All Opelousas Businesses	2419

As a new Opelousas entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Opelousas 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
Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering	1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	2
Architectural Services	4
Automotive Exhaust System Repair	2
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	10
Baked Goods Stores	1
Beauty Salons	4
Business Associations	1
Cafeterias	2
Casinos (except Casino Hotels)	1
Cemeteries and Crematories	1
Child and Youth Services	2
Child Day Care Services	15
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	1
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Claims Adjusting	1
Clothing Accessories Stores	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	2
Commercial Screen Printing	2
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Consumer Lending	14
Convenience Stores	5
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Couriers	1
Credit Bureaus	1
Credit Unions	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	2
Dental Laboratories	1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers	3
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	3
Educational Support Services	1
Electrical Contractors	9
Elementary and Secondary Schools	4
Engineering Services	2
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	2
Family Clothing Stores	4
Fats and Oils Refining and Blending	1
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	2
Floor Covering Stores	4
Flooring Contractors	2
Florists	1
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation	3
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	6
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	6
Furniture Stores	3
General Automotive Repair	8
General Freight Trucking, Local	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	2
General Rental Centers	3
Glass and Glazing Contractors	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers	1
Hardware Stores	2
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Centers	1
Home Health Care Services	6
Homes for the Elderly	1
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	16
Interior Design Services	1
Janitorial Services	4
Jewelry Stores	5
Kidney Dialysis Centers	2
Landscape Architectural Services	1
Landscaping Services	4
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	4
Limited-Service Restaurants	23
Locksmiths	2
Machine Shops	2
Mail-Order Houses	1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	4
Masonry Contractors	5
Meat Markets	1
Meat Processed from Carcasses	2
Media Representatives	1
Medical Laboratories	1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	2
Motorcycle Dealers	1
Musical Instrument Manufacturing	1
New Car Dealers	7
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	4
Office Administrative Services	3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	7
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	12
Offices of Lawyers	46
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	3
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	2
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	15
Photography Studios, Portrait	2
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	3
Poultry Processing	1
Professional Organizations	2
Public Relations Agencies	1
Radio Stations	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	2
Real Estate Credit	2
Recreational Vehicle Dealers	1
Residential Property Managers	2
Residential Remodelers	1
Savings Institutions	2
Securities Brokerage	7
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	4
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Skiing Facilities	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	2
Solid Waste Collection	1
Special Needs Transportation	1
Spice and Extract Manufacturing	1
Sporting Goods Stores	1
Sports Teams and Clubs	1
Tax Preparation Services	3
Telephone Answering Services	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Temporary Shelters	2
Tire Dealers	3
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	4
Used Merchandise Stores	3
Veterinary Services	5
Video Tape and Disc Rental	3
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	4
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2
Women's Clothing Stores	4
Wood Preservation	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Opelousas Business?

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

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

Naming the Company

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 Business.

On a final note, given that you are planning on starting a business in Opelousas, it's imperative that you check now that no other Louisiana company is using the business name you want to use.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Getting your Opelousas business the capital it needs to succeed 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.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Attracting Investors.

For Opelousas entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, you'll want to take a look at our List of Louisiana Angel Investors and our List of Louisiana Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Business

To rise above the crowd in Opelousas and grow your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your business achieving its goals.

You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Introduction to Advertising discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Opelousas, Louisiana, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Louisiana universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking organizations for Opelousas entrepreneurs.

Never Give Up

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

Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Opelousas and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Opelousas, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Opelousas, Louisiana

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

• Resources for Opelousas, Louisiana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Opelousas 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.
• Opelousas, Louisiana Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Opelousas, Louisiana newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Opelousas area.
• Opelousas, Louisiana Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Opelousas, Louisiana area radio stations.

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