Colorado Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Grand Junction, Colorado
Thinking about starting a business in Grand Junction, Colorado? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Grand Junction.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Running your own business is difficult, much more arduous than working as an employee. Are you positive you are ready to take on this challenge?
With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Grand Junction. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Grand Junction, Colorado Demographic Information
Grand Junction has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Grand Junction demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Grand Junction.
Businesses
As a new Grand Junction entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Grand Junction 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.
Businesses
What About Franchising Opportunities?
Examine a list of Grand Junction businesses and it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?
Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Get More Franchisees. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.
To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Me-N-Ed's Pizzerias and KnowledgePoints Development Corp.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Juice Bar Franchises / Smoothie Franchises and Pizza Franchises.
Note on Grand Junction Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Grand Junction.
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.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.
On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Grand Junction, it's critical that you ensure that no other Colorado company is using the business name you want to use.
Forming a Company in Grand Junction, Colorado
A critical step is ensuring that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.
The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Colorado, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Colorado. In fact, 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. To learn the fundamentals of company formation, browse articles on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Grand Junction, Colorado, our information on Incorporating in Colorado may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Colorado.
Make Sure You Have a Business Plan
Creating a business plan is critical to the health of your new business. Indeed, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan
To learn more about business plans, read Business Presentations. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Colorado.
Next Steps
As an entrepreneur in Grand Junction, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
We are here to help Grand Junction 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 Grand Junction, Colorado
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Grand Junction.
- Resources for Grand Junction, Colorado Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Grand Junction entrepreneurs.
- Colorado Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Colorado.
- Colorado Small Business Development Center - The Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network is dedicated to helping small businesses throughout Colorado achieve their goals by providing free confidential counseling and various training programs.
Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Colorado
Starting a Business in Granby
Starting a Business in Greeley
Browse All Business Startup Guides for Colorado
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs