Kentucky Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Stanford, Kentucky

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

Choosing the Right Company to Start

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 a Psychiatric Hospitals Business guide or our Starting a Video Cameras Sales, Service, & Repair Business guide.

Remember that you are starting a business in Stanford. Some businesses will do better in Stanford than others. Don't forget to review Stanford demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Stanford, Kentucky Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1364
5-9 Employees
504
10-19 Employees
300
20-49 Employees
156
50-99 Employees
72
100-249 Employees
12
250-499 Employees
12
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Stanford Businesses
2420

As a new Stanford entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Stanford 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
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
4
Business Associations
2
Cafeterias
1
Car Washes
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
2
Discount Department Stores
1
Drive-In Motion Picture Theaters
1
Electrical Contractors
5
Electronic Shopping
1
Engineering Services
2
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
1
Framing Contractors
4
Full-Service Restaurants
6
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
General Automotive Repair
2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Glass and Glazing Contractors
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
1
Home Health Care Services
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Janitorial Services
2
Landscaping Services
3
Limited-Service Restaurants
8
Livestock Merchant Wholesalers
1
Machine Shops
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
3
Masonry Contractors
6
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
1
Offices of Chiropractors
1
Offices of Dentists
2
Offices of Lawyers
9
Offices of Optometrists
1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
2
Residential Remodelers
1
Retail Bakeries
1
Securities Brokerage
1
Site Preparation Contractors
3
Solid Waste Collection
1
Tobacco Stores
1
Tour Operators
1
Used Car Dealers
2
Veterinary Services
2

Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?

As you drive around Stanford, you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. But is franchising the right option for you?

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchising Mistakes. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Representative franchise opportunities include Systems Paving Franchising, Inc. and The Grape. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Auto Repair Franchises and Print and Sign Franchises.

Note on Stanford Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Stanford.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Stanford Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Kentucky. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Stanford.

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

Naming the Company

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.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Stanford, it's critical that you ensure that no other Kentucky company is using the business name you want to use.

Marketing Your New Startup

To grow your Stanford business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Making the Most of Trade Shows is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Selling Tips

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

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

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

Now It's Up To You

As an entrepreneur in Stanford, 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.

We are here to help Stanford 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 Stanford, Kentucky

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

  • Resources for Stanford, Kentucky Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Stanford entrepreneurs.
  • Kentucky Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kentucky.
  • Kentucky Small Business Development Center - The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) has been assisting Kentucky small business community for more than 25 years. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges, and the private sector.

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Kentucky

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Starting a Business in Sturgis

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