Opening a Business in Red Lodge, Montana

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

Which Business to Choose?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Free Business Ideas.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start an Armature Sales & Service Business guide or our Opening a Petrolatum Business guide.

Remember that Red Lodge is the place where you are starting a business. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Red Lodge. Only by spending some time analyzing Red Lodge demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Red Lodge, Montana Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	477
5-9 Employees	117
10-19 Employees	69
20-49 Employees	33
50-99 Employees	3
100-249 Employees	6
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Red Lodge Businesses	705

As a new Red Lodge entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Red Lodge 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	2
Art Dealers	1
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	1
Book Publishers	1
Book Stores	1
Breweries	1
Business Associations	1
Caterers	1
Child Day Care Services	1
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Community Food Services	1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining	1
Consumer Lending	1
Creamery Butter Manufacturing	1
Credit Unions	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	4
Drywall and Insulation Contractors	1
Electric Power Distribution	3
Electrical Contractors	2
Engineering Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	4
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Floor Covering Stores	1
Florists	3
Framing Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	11
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	7
Hardware Stores	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	1
Home Centers	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Land Subdivision	2
Landscape Architectural Services	1
Landscaping Services	2
Limited-Service Restaurants	3
Masonry Contractors	1
Motorcycle Dealers	1
Museums	1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores	1
New Car Dealers	2
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	2
Offices of Lawyers	3
Offices of Other Holding Companies	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	3
Periodical Publishers	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Photography Studios, Portrait	1
Private Mail Centers	1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Residential Property Managers	1
Residential Remodelers	2
School and Employee Bus Transportation	2
Securities Brokerage	1
Site Preparation Contractors	4
Skiing Facilities	2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	3
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Sports and Recreation Instruction	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Tire Dealers	1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices	1
Veterinary Services	2
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Red Lodge Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Montana. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Red Lodge.

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Buying a Business.

Naming the Business

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.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

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

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Red Lodge, it's very important that you make sure no other Montana company is using the business name you want to use.

Letting the World Know You Exist

To rise above the crowd in Red Lodge and build your business, you need a solid marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Pricing is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Ramping Up Sales

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

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Compensating Sales People is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

The best business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Red Lodge, Montana, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Montana educational institutions. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Red Lodge networking organizations.

Moving Forward

You have a dream -- starting a business in Red Lodge. 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.

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Red Lodge, Montana

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

• Resources for Red Lodge, Montana Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Red Lodge entrepreneurs.
• Montana Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Montana.
• Montana Small Business Development Center - The Montana Small Business Development Centers focus on the creation, retention and expansion of Montana small businesses.
• Red Lodge, Montana Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Red Lodge, Montana newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Red Lodge area.
• Red Lodge, Montana Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Red Lodge, Montana area radio stations.

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