New Hampshire Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Durham, New Hampshire

Contemplating starting a business in Durham, New Hampshire? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Durham.

Durham, New Hampshire Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
2910
5-9 Employees
1026
10-19 Employees
594
20-49 Employees
306
50-99 Employees
126
100-249 Employees
72
250-499 Employees
18
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Durham Businesses
5052

As a new Durham entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Durham 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
Ambulance Services
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
3
Beauty Salons
4
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Boat Building
1
Book Publishers
1
Burial Casket Manufacturing
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
8
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Convenience Stores
2
Credit Unions
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
6
Direct Mail Advertising
1
Educational Support Services
2
Electrical Contractors
3
Electronic Shopping
2
Engineering Services
2
Family Clothing Stores
1
Finfish Fishing
1
Flooring Contractors
2
Florists
1
Food Service Contractors
2
Full-Service Restaurants
13
Furniture Stores
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
1
Hardware Stores
2
Homes for the Elderly
1
Industrial Launderers
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
2
Interior Design Services
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscape Architectural Services
1
Landscaping Services
4
Limited-Service Restaurants
11
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
1
Locksmiths
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motorcycle Dealers
1
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Dentists
2
Offices of Lawyers
5
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Racetracks
1
Residential Property Managers
3
Residential Remodelers
4
Savings Institutions
1
Sawmills
1
Securities Brokerage
1
Shoe Stores
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
2
Software Publishers
2
Sporting Goods Stores
4
Testing Laboratories
2
Tire Dealers
1
Travel Agencies
1
Veterinary Services
6
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
8
Wineries
1

Have You Considered Franchising?

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

Our advice is to evaluate the possibility of your buying a franchise opportunity. On our site, you can read many articles about franchising, such as Staffing a Franchise. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Representative franchise opportunities include The Steak Escape and Larry's Giant Subs. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Bagel Franchises and Convenience Store Franchises.

Note on Durham Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Durham, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Durham business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled How Much Venture Capital Is There?.

For Durham entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of New Hampshire Angel Investors and our List of New Hampshire Venture Capital Firms.

Promoting Your New Company

To rise above the crowd in Durham and build your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

We have some useful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. How to Market to Accountants and CPAs discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

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

Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

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

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

The best business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.

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

Never Give Up

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Durham businesses to be successful. 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 Durham, New Hampshire

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

More Startup Articles for New Hampshire Cities

Starting a Business in Dover
Starting a Business in Hampton

Browse All Business Startup Guides for New Hampshire
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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