Starting a Business in Valdez, Alaska

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

What Type of Business Should You Start?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. 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 Generator Parts, Service, & Repair Business guide or our Opening a Landscape Foresters Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Valdez has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Valdez than others. Make sure you fully understand Valdez demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Valdez, Alaska Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	294
5-9 Employees	81
10-19 Employees	54
20-49 Employees	24
50-99 Employees	12
100-249 Employees	6
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Valdez Businesses	471

As a new Valdez entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Valdez 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
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	2
Boat Dealers	1
Book Stores	1
Child Day Care Services	3
Civic and Social Organizations	3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	1
Community Food Services	1
Confectionery and Nut Stores	1
Convention and Visitors Bureaus	1
Couriers	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	2
Electrical Contractors	1
Engineering Services	2
Facilities Support Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	2
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	1
Florists	1
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation	1
Framing Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	2
Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing	3
Full-Service Restaurants	7
General Automotive Repair	2
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	3
Hardware Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Centers	1
Inland Water Passenger Transportation	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	1
Interior Design Services	1
Janitorial Services	1
Landscaping Services	1
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	5
Marine Cargo Handling	1
Medical Laboratories	1
Mobile Food Services	1
Museums	1
Navigational Services to Shipping	3
Newspaper Publishers	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	1
Offices of Lawyers	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	1
Passenger Car Rental	1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	1
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	2
Petroleum Refineries	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil	2
Radio Stations	2
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation	1
School and Employee Bus Transportation	1
Seafood Canning	1
Septic Tank and Related Services	1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	2
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Telecommunications Resellers	1
Temporary Shelters	1
Tour Operators	1
Travel Agencies	1
Veterinary Services	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2

Is Franchising a Better Option?

Browse the Yellow Pages for Valdez and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. But is franchising the right option for you?

We highly recommend you investigate buying a franchise. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchise Law. 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 NAPA Auto Parts and Mile High Karate, LLC. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Blind Repair and Sales Franchises and Family Restaurant Franchises.

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

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

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

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Valdez, it's imperative that you check now that no Alaska company has already registered the company name you have selected.

Startup Financing Basics

Obtaining startup financing for your Valdez business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Getting a Small Business Loan.

For Valdez entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Alaska Angel Investors and our List of Alaska Venture Capital Firms.

Increase Your Entrepreneurial Knowledge

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

As an entrepreneur who lives in Valdez, Alaska, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Alaska universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your learning is to investigate Valdez networking organizations.

Now It's Up To You

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

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

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Valdez and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Valdez, Alaska

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

• Resources for Valdez, Alaska Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Valdez entrepreneurs.
• Alaska Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Alaska.
• Alaska Small Business Development Center - The Alaska Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by the University of Alaska and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has assisted businesses by providing free, confidential technical business assistance and low-cost business training in Alaska for twenty years.
• Valdez, Alaska Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Valdez, Alaska newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Valdez area.
• Valdez, Alaska Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Valdez, Alaska area radio stations.

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