Illinois Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Northbrook, Illinois

Contemplating starting a business in Northbrook, Illinois? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Northbrook.

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, 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 Carpet Installation Business guide or our Starting a Grain Elevators Service & Repair Business guide.

Always keep in mind that you are starting a business in Northbrook. Some businesses will do better in Northbrook than others. A critical consideration is whether Northbrook demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Northbrook, Illinois Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
10708
5-9 Employees
2808
10-19 Employees
1770
20-49 Employees
1164
50-99 Employees
522
100-249 Employees
366
250-499 Employees
72
500-999 Employees
36
1000+ Employees
42
All Northbrook Businesses
17488

As a new Northbrook entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Northbrook 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
Abrasive Product Manufacturing
1
Advertising Agencies
16
Aluminum Die-Casting Foundries
1
Aluminum Extruded Product Manufacturing
1
Amusement Arcades
2
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Architectural Services
20
Art Dealers
4
Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing
2
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
5
Baked Goods Stores
2
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Blind and Shade Manufacturing
1
Blood and Organ Banks
1
Boat Dealers
1
Book Publishers
1
Book Stores
2
Building Inspection Services
4
Business Associations
8
Business to Business Electronic Markets
2
Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores
2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
3
Caterers
2
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
9
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
7
Civic and Social Organizations
5
Claims Adjusting
5
Clothing Accessories Stores
4
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
4
Collection Agencies
8
Commercial Photography
2
Commercial Screen Printing
1
Commodity Contracts Brokerage
2
Commodity Contracts Dealing
3
Computer and Software Stores
3
Computer Systems Design Services
35
Confectionery and Nut Stores
5
Consumer Lending
4
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
2
Convenience Stores
4
Convention and Trade Show Organizers
1
Couriers
4
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services
3
Credit Unions
2
Dance Companies
1
Dental Laboratories
6
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
2
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
6
Direct Mail Advertising
3
Direct Title Insurance Carriers
3
Directory and Mailing List Publishers
1
Document Preparation Services
2
Doll and Stuffed Toy Manufacturing
1
Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
2
Educational Support Services
4
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electronic Auctions
1
Electronic Shopping
4
Elementary and Secondary Schools
7
Employment Placement Agencies
6
Engineering Services
25
Environmental Consulting Services
2
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
7
Family Clothing Stores
10
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
3
Fine Arts Schools
3
Finish Carpentry Contractors
7
Fish and Seafood Markets
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
16
Floor Covering Stores
3
Florists
3
Food Product Machinery Manufacturing
1
Food Service Contractors
11
Footwear and Leather Goods Repair
1
Framing Contractors
2
Freight Transportation Arrangement
4
Fruit and Vegetable Markets
1
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
4
Furniture Merchant Wholesalers
7
Furniture Stores
8
General Automotive Repair
7
General Freight Trucking, Local
4
General Rental Centers
2
General Warehousing and Storage
2
Glass and Glazing Contractors
2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
4
Grantmaking Foundations
5
Graphic Design Services
17
Hand and Edge Tool Manufacturing
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
4
Hardware Stores
2
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
6
Home Health Care Services
6
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Household Appliance Stores
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Industrial Launderers
1
Interior Design Services
6
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
1
Internet Service Providers
2
Investigation Services
1
Investment Advice
24
Janitorial Services
25
Jewelry (except Costume) Manufacturing
1
Land Subdivision
7
Landscape Architectural Services
5
Landscaping Services
34
Language Schools
1
Lead Pencil and Art Good Manufacturing
2
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
41
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
5
Luggage and Leather Goods Stores
3
Machine Shops
4
Mail-Order Houses
4
Marketing Consulting Services
38
Masonry Contractors
7
Meat Processed from Carcasses
2
Media Representatives
4
Medical Laboratories
5
Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing
1
Men's Clothing Stores
5
Metal Heat Treating
1
Metal Stamping
1
Miscellaneous Intermediation
10
Motion Picture and Video Distribution
2
Motion Picture and Video Production
4
Motor Vehicle Metal Stamping
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
Musical Groups and Artists
2
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Musical Instrument Manufacturing
1
New Car Dealers
4
New Housing Operative Builders
5
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
15
Nursing Care Facilities
6
Office Administrative Services
21
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers
3
Offices of Bank Holding Companies
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
84
Offices of Chiropractors
15
Offices of Dentists
55
Offices of Lawyers
104
Offices of Optometrists
6
Offices of Other Holding Companies
9
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
12
Open-End Investment Funds
1
Optical Goods Stores
4
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Packaging and Labeling Services
1
Packing and Crating
2
Paint and Coating Manufacturing
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
11
Parking Lots and Garages
1
Passenger Car Leasing
3
Passenger Car Rental
2
Payroll Services
15
Periodical Publishers
5
Perishable Prepared Food Manufacturing
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
6
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
7
Photography Studios, Portrait
7
Plastics Bag Manufacturing
1
Polystyrene Foam Product Manufacturing
1
Portfolio Management
22
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Professional Employer Organizations
1
Professional Organizations
6
Public Relations Agencies
4
Quick Printing
4
Radio Networks
2
Real Estate Credit
9
Repossession Services
1
Residential Property Managers
24
Residential Remodelers
36
Retail Bakeries
3
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
1
Rolled Steel Shape Manufacturing
1
Roofing Contractors
5
Savings Institutions
3
School and Employee Bus Transportation
2
Securities Brokerage
27
Security Guards and Patrol Services
3
Shoe Stores
11
Sign Manufacturing
3
Site Preparation Contractors
1
Software Publishers
5
Software Reproducing
1
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sound Recording Studios
2
Special Needs Transportation
2
Spice and Extract Manufacturing
1
Sporting Goods Stores
4
Steel Wire Drawing
1
Tax Preparation Services
4
Taxi Service
4
Telecommunications Resellers
1
Telemarketing Bureaus
3
Temporary Help Services
11
Testing Laboratories
5
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
2
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
5
Tour Operators
2
Tradebinding and Related Work
1
Travel Agencies
11
Used Car Dealers
2
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
3
Vending Machine Operators
3
Veterinary Services
5
Video Tape and Disc Rental
2
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
2
Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
66
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
5

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Northbrook Business?

We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Illinois. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Northbrook.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.

Naming the Company

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Northbrook, it's very important that you make sure no other Illinois company is using the business name you want to use.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Getting your Northbrook business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. 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 504 Loans.

For Northbrook entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, we have assembled a List of Illinois Angel Investors and our List of Illinois Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Startup

To rise above the crowd in Northbrook and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your successs.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Billboard Advertising Best Practices is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Northbrook Entrepreneur Interviews

Here, we'll keep a running list of interviews we've had with Northbrook entrepreneurs.

Never Give Up

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Northbrook businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Northbrook, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Northbrook, Illinois

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

More Business Startup Guides for Illinois

Starting a Business in Norris City
Starting a Business in O'Fallon

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