Tennessee Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Thinking about starting a business in Oak Ridge, Tennessee? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee Demographic Information
Oak Ridge has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Oak Ridge demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Oak Ridge.
Businesses
As a new Oak Ridge entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Oak Ridge 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
Should You Franchise?
As you drive around Oak Ridge, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
Most business experts recommend that you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Benefits of Owning A Franchise. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
You can find franchise opportunities by browsing our Franchise Opportunities Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Blind Butler and Doody Calls. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Cleaning and Maintenance Franchises and Personal Services Franchises.
Note on Oak Ridge Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Oak Ridge.
Should You Buy an Existing Oak Ridge Business?
We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Tennessee. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in Oak Ridge.
For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Naming the Business
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.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Oak Ridge, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only Tennessee company using the business name you have chosen.
Getting Money to Start a Business
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Oak Ridge business is a difficult chore. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Choosing VC Firms.
For Oak Ridge entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, we have assembled a List of Tennessee Angel Investors and our List of Tennessee Venture Capital Firms.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
Good business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Tennessee educational institutions. We also suggest you look into Oak Ridge networking organizations.
Never Give Up
You have a dream -- starting a business in Oak Ridge. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Oak Ridge and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Oak Ridge, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Oak Ridge.
- Resources for Oak Ridge, Tennessee Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Oak Ridge entrepreneurs.
- Tennessee Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Tennessee.
- Tennessee Small Business Development Center - If you are a small business owner, entrepreneur or you are thinking about starting a new business, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) is ready to help you every step of the way!
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