Open a Business in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Need help starting a business in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania? We've got the information you need to open a business in Harrisburg.

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at 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 Starting a Bar Code Scanning Equipment & Supplies Business guide or our How to Start a Philosophers Business guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in Harrisburg. Some businesses will do better in Harrisburg than others. Make sure you fully understand Harrisburg demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Harrisburg entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Harrisburg 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.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

Writing a business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. In effect, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.

To learn more about business plans, read Reasons to Write a Business Plan. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Pennsylvania.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Harrisburg business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. 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 Bank Credit Lines.

For Harrisburg entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, we have assembled a List of Pennsylvania Angel Investors and our List of Pennsylvania Venture Capital Firms.

Bring in Revenues

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Harrisburg or are selling to customers throughout Pennsylvania, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Closing Sales is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Good entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

Given that you are starting a business in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Pennsylvania universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also beneficial to see if there are any Harrisburg networking organizations.

What's Next?

You have a dream -- starting a business in Harrisburg. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

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

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Harrisburg 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 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

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

• Resources for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Harrisburg entrepreneurs.
• Pennsylvania Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center - Pennsylvania SBDCs help aspiring entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses, help small firms expand, and provide the information every business person needs to make critical decisions. There is no charge for their assistance and their free help can make the difference between business success and failure.