Oklahoma Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Thomas, Oklahoma

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

Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Most startup businesses don't make it, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:

  • Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Thomas. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
  • Peruse Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

What Business Are You Starting?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? We recommend that you read Evaluating Your Idea.

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 Opening a Burglar Alarm Response Services Business guide or our Starting a Hawaiian Goods Business guide.

Remember that starting a business in Thomas has some implications. If Thomas already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Study Thomas demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Thomas, Oklahoma Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
168
5-9 Employees
48
10-19 Employees
42
20-49 Employees
0
50-99 Employees
18
100-249 Employees
0
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Thomas Businesses
276

As a new Thomas entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Thomas 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
Convenience Stores
1
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
1
Full-Service Restaurants
1
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
3
Landscaping Services
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
1
Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing
1
Tax Preparation Services
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1

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.

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: Branding Advice.

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

Forming a Company in Thomas, Oklahoma

It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Doing so will shield 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 Oklahoma, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Oklahoma. As it turns out, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 Offshore Company Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Thomas, Oklahoma, our information on Incorporating in Oklahoma may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Oklahoma.

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

With your business being located in Thomas, Oklahoma, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Oklahoma universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Thomas networking organizations.

What's Next?

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

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 Thomas and throughout the United States . 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 Thomas, Oklahoma

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

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