Take a Look at Competitors

Long before you open a hardwood business in your town, it's a smart move to see how you will fit in the competitive landscape. We've provided the link below to help you generate a list of competitors nearby. Just enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of hardwood businesses in your community.

• Search for Hardwood Businesses Near You

Gain a knowledge of how existing firms have positioned themselves in the marketplace, and then design your business in a way that sets you apart from the others.

Getting Advice from Experienced Entrepreneurs

Once you've finished assessing the competion, it's a wise move to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. If you think your local competitors will give you advice, you're being overoptimistic. What's in it for them?

Fortunately, somebody who runs a hardwood business in a different city may be willing to share their entrepreneurial wisdom with you, once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community. In that case, the business owner may be more than happy to discuss the industry with you. In my experience, you may have to call ten business owners in order to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.

The key question new becomes: how to find a hardwood business founder that lives outside of your area?

It's not that hard. Just use the handy link below and enter in a random city/state or zipcode.

• Find Hardwood Business Owners Who Might Advise You

Don't Rule Out Franchising

Your chances of achieving the entrepreneurial goal of surviving in business increase if you go the franchising route and benefit from the prior work of others and their lessons learned.

Prior to making the decision to open a hardwood business, you may want to assess whether buying a franchise could be the right move for you.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.

• How to Choose a Franchise