Start a Business in Raymond, Mississippi

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

Are You Ready for Life as an Owner?

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

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Raymond. 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.

Raymond, Mississippi Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	2457
5-9 Employees	702
10-19 Employees	108
20-49 Employees	216
50-99 Employees	27
100-249 Employees	54
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Raymond Businesses	3564

As a new Raymond entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Raymond 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
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	1
Beauty Salons	1
Business Associations	1
Child Day Care Services	2
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Computer Systems Design Services	1
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services	1
Credit Unions	2
Electrical Contractors	5
Elementary and Secondary Schools	2
Exterminating and Pest Control Services	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	3
Framing Contractors	3
Full-Service Restaurants	2
Graphic Design Services	1
Hardware Stores	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	2
Landscaping Services	1
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	1
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers	1
Local Messengers and Local Delivery	1
Logging	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Dentists	2
Offices of Lawyers	2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil	1
Professional Organizations	1
Residential Remodelers	1
Sawmills	1
School and Employee Bus Transportation	1
Siding Contractors	1
Site Preparation Contractors	3
Sports and Recreation Instruction	1
Tobacco Stores	1
Translation and Interpretation Services	1
Used Car Dealers	1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1

Forming a Company in Raymond, Mississippi

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

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 Mississippi, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Mississippi. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate wherever you want. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

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 How to Incorporate. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Raymond, Mississippi, our information on Incorporating in Mississippi may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Mississippi.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is essential in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

If writing a business plan is on your to-do list, be sure to read Business Plan Outsourcing. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Mississippi.

Startup Financing Basics

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Raymond business will be harder than you might expect. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Find Start-Up Capital.

For Raymond entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Mississippi Angel Investors and our List of Mississippi Venture Capital Firms.

Bring in Revenues

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Raymond business, you need to focus on sales.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Compensating Sales People offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Never Give Up

As an entrepreneur in Raymond, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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 Raymond and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Raymond, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Raymond, Mississippi

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

• Resources for Raymond, Mississippi Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Raymond entrepreneurs.
• Mississippi Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Mississippi.
• Mississippi Small Business Development Center - The Mississippi Small Business Development Centers (MSBDC) is dedicated to helping build and grow businesses in Mississippi. For new entrepreneurs, this is an excellent resource.
• Raymond, Mississippi Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Raymond, Mississippi newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Raymond area.

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