Start a Religious Organization
Opening a Mosque
Starting a mosque is an excellent opportunity as long as you can attract a loyal and engaged congregation. We offer a friendly, comprehensive guide that can make your mosque financially secure, stable and built to last.
Thinking about opening a mosque? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
Mosque Startup Prospects
The Pew Research Center puts the number of Muslims in the U.S. at 2.5 million, a little less than 1% of the total population. This represents a substantial increase over earlier decades, and has necessitated the creation of mosques and Islamic religious centers to accommodate an overflow of Islamic worshippers.
But although there is a market for new mosques, launching a mosque isn't as simple as starting a small community church. In the post-9/11 era, many Islamic groups have encountered serious resistance to opening new mosques. Even though the public's concerns may be misplaced, the controversy surrounding mosque startups is real and must be addressed.
Islamic religious entrepreneurs are advised to start soliciting public support for their mosque well in advance of the actual launch, even if they plan on leasing space in a low visibility location. With the right strategy, it's possible to use the PR surrounding your startup to your advantage rather than allowing the media to spread misinformation about your intentions.
Leveraging PR When Opening a Mosque
Public relations is the art of using the media to communicate key messages about your organization. Although you have more control over marketing and advertising campaigns, you'll pay for the privilege and your messages will lack third-party credibility. But with a little effort, you can use PR strategies to influence local media and shape the tone of media coverage about your new mosque.
Given the amount of controversy surrounding mosque startups, we recommend exploring the idea of hiring a professional PR firm to help craft an effective PR strategy for your mosque. We also recommend reviewing our PR resources section to learn how to garner positive media attention for your mosque. By leveraging a proactive PR strategy, you can get ahead of negative press and accurately present your mosque to the community.
Don't Rule Out Franchising
The chances of surviving in business are higher if you purchase a franchise rather than going it alone.
Before you consider starting a mosque, you may want to check out whether franchise opportunities in your space might help you avoid common entrepreneurial mistakes.
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.
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