Starting a Business in The Dalles, Oregon

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

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

Most new businesses don't make it, in part because the business owner did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before you open a business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

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

• Speak with other entrepreneurs in The Dalles. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
• You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
• Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

What Business Are You Starting?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. We recommend that you read Finding Your Niche in Life.

If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

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

The Dalles, Oregon Demographic Information

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

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

As a new The Dalles entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in The Dalles 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.

Should You Franchise?

Browse the Yellow Pages for The Dalles and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Is there a franchise opportunity out there that makes sense for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Questions to Ask Franchisors. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

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

What About Buying an Existing The Dalles Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Oregon. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in The Dalles.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this 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.

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.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Branding Advice.

On a final note, given that you are opening a business in The Dalles, it's imperative that you check now that no other Oregon company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in The Dalles, Oregon

A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will insulate you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

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

Incorporation 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 Oregon, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Oregon. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Registered Agents. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in The Dalles, Oregon, our information on Incorporating in Oregon may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Oregon.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

Writing a business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Oregon.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Getting your The Dalles business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Bank Credit Lines.

For The Dalles entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, browse our List of Oregon Angel Investors and our List of Oregon Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract The Dalles customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

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

How to Sell

Mastering the art of selling is essential if you want your new The Dalles business to do well.

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.

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

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

The best entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

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

Moving Forward

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

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

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

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in The Dalles, Oregon

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

• Resources for The Dalles, Oregon Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist The Dalles entrepreneurs.
• Oregon Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oregon.
• Oregon Small Business Development Center - Oregon Small Business Development Centers use a client-centered approach to deliver counseling, training, information and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management. There is no fee for their assistance.
• The Dalles, Oregon Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for The Dalles, Oregon newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the The Dalles area.