North Carolina Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Morehead City, North Carolina

Are you starting a business in Morehead City, North Carolina? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Morehead City.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Running your own business is demanding, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you positive you are ready to take on this challenge?

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

  • Speak with other entrepreneurs in Morehead City. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
  • You should read Starting a Company. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
  • Talk it over with a close friend or partner. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Free Business Ideas.

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 Opening a Construction Companies Business guide or our Opening a Gift Plans Business guide.

Always keep in mind that your new business will be in Morehead City. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Morehead City. Study Morehead City demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Morehead City, North Carolina Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1357
5-9 Employees
471
10-19 Employees
381
20-49 Employees
213
50-99 Employees
60
100-249 Employees
21
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
6
1000+ Employees
0
All Morehead City Businesses
2509

As a new Morehead City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Morehead City 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
Art Dealers
3
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
6
Beauty Salons
10
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
2
Boat Building
2
Boat Dealers
7
Bowling Centers
1
Building Inspection Services
1
Business Associations
2
Cafeterias
1
Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores
1
Canvas and Related Product Mills
3
Car Washes
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
8
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Claims Adjusting
1
Clothing Accessories Stores
2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Commercial Screen Printing
2
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
2
Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing
1
Consumer Lending
3
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
1
Convenience Stores
1
Credit Unions
2
Custom Computer Programming Services
1
Dental Laboratories
2
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Diet and Weight Reducing Centers
1
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
3
Discount Department Stores
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
3
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
9
Elementary and Secondary Schools
2
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Engineering Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
1
Family Planning Centers
1
Fine Arts Schools
3
Finfish Fishing
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
2
Fish and Seafood Markets
1
Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers
3
Floor Covering Stores
3
Florists
1
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
2
Footwear and Leather Goods Repair
1
Framing Contractors
3
Freight Transportation Arrangement
4
Full-Service Restaurants
36
Furniture Merchant Wholesalers
1
Furniture Stores
6
General Automotive Repair
5
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
3
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
5
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
3
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
3
Hardware Stores
2
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Home Centers
2
Home Health Care Services
6
Household Appliance Stores
2
Industrial Building Construction
1
Inland Water Passenger Transportation
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
12
Interior Design Services
2
Internet Service Providers
3
Investment Advice
2
Jewelry Stores
4
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Land Subdivision
3
Landscaping Services
5
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
1
Libraries and Archives
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
23
Machine Shops
1
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
5
Marinas
5
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Masonry Contractors
1
Meat Markets
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motorcycle Dealers
1
Musical Groups and Artists
1
Nail Salons
1
Navigational Services to Shipping
1
New Car Dealers
5
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
3
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
8
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
16
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Other Holding Companies
1
One-Hour Photofinishing
1
Optical Goods Stores
1
Paging
2
Paint and Coating Manufacturing
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
2
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
7
Photography Studios, Portrait
3
Port and Harbor Operations
2
Private Mail Centers
1
Professional Organizations
3
Quick Printing
2
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
2
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Residential Property Managers
4
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
2
Roofing Contractors
2
Securities Brokerage
8
Security Guards and Patrol Services
1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Ship Building and Repairing
1
Shoe Stores
3
Sign Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
7
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
4
Sporting Goods Stores
4
Tax Preparation Services
4
Taxi Service
1
Television Broadcasting
1
Temporary Shelters
1
Testing Laboratories
1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
1
Tire Dealers
2
Travel Agencies
2
Used Car Dealers
5
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Veterinary Services
4
Video Tape and Disc Rental
3
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1
Window Treatment Stores
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
3
Wood Container and Pallet Manufacturing
1

Have You Considered Franchising?

Browse the Yellow Pages for Morehead City and you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. Is there a franchise opportunity out there that makes sense for you?

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Buying a Franchise. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

A comprehensive list of franchisors is available via our List of Franchise Opportunities.

Sample franchise opportunities include Valvoline Instant Oil Change and FastBucks. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Children's Fitness Franchises and Insurance Franchises.

Note on Morehead City Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Morehead City.

Is Buying an Existing Morehead City Business a Good Strategy?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in North Carolina. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Morehead City.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: How to Buy a Business.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Company

To grow your Morehead City business, you need a great marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Examples of Marketing Strategies is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Next Steps

As an entrepreneur in Morehead City, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Morehead City and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Morehead City entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Morehead City, North Carolina

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

More Business Startup Guides for North Carolina

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Starting a Business in Morganton

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