Pennsylvania Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Oil City, Pennsylvania

Contemplating starting a business in Oil City, Pennsylvania? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Oil City.

What Business Are You Starting?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read How to Evaluate a Business 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 Opening an Image Processing Business guide or our Opening a Constitutional Law Attorneys Business guide.

Remember that you are opening your new business in Oil City. Some businesses will do better in Oil City than others. Make sure you fully understand Oil City demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Oil City, Pennsylvania Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1092
5-9 Employees
438
10-19 Employees
240
20-49 Employees
144
50-99 Employees
60
100-249 Employees
42
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Oil City Businesses
2016

As a new Oil City entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Oil 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
Aluminum Foundries (except Die-Casting)
1
Ambulance Services
1
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
6
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
2
Building Inspection Services
1
Business and Secretarial Schools
1
Business Associations
3
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
1
Caterers
2
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
1
Civic and Social Organizations
15
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
1
Convenience Stores
3
Court Reporting and Stenotype Services
1
Curtain and Drapery Mills
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
11
Electric Power Distribution
2
Elementary and Secondary Schools
3
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
1
Floor Covering Stores
1
Florists
3
Food Service Contractors
2
Full-Service Restaurants
12
Furniture Stores
1
General Automotive Repair
6
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
Glass and Glazing Contractors
1
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Stores
1
Historical Sites
1
Homes for the Elderly
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
6
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
1
Internet Service Providers
1
Investment Advice
1
Iron and Steel Mills
1
Kidney Dialysis Centers
1
Landscaping Services
2
Limited-Service Restaurants
4
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
2
Machine Shops
5
Mail-Order Houses
1
Miscellaneous Intermediation
1
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Natural Gas Distribution
2
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
3
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
2
Offices of Dentists
6
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
3
Radio Stations
1
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Residential Property Managers
1
Residential Remodelers
3
Roofing Contractors
1
Savings Institutions
5
Sawmills
1
Securities Brokerage
5
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Site Preparation Contractors
3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
1
Special Needs Transportation
1
Tax Preparation Services
1
Temporary Help Services
1
Tire Dealers
1
Tobacco Stores
1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Video Tape and Disc Rental
3
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2

Selecting a Name For Your Venture

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.

Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Oil City, it's critical that you ensure that no other Pennsylvania company is using the business name you want to use.

Company Formation in Oil City, Pennsylvania

It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. The principal advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

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. Just because you are starting a business in Pennsylvania, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Pennsylvania. As it turns out, you are allowed to incorporate in any state you would like to. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

There's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as ESOP Formation. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Oil City, Pennsylvania, our information on Incorporating in Pennsylvania may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Pennsylvania.

Marketing Your New Company

To grow your Oil City business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.

You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. How to Market to Accountants and CPAs is an article that will generate 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.

Bring in Revenues

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Oil City business, you need to focus on sales.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Tips on Customer Referrals 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.

Never Give Up

As an entrepreneur in Oil 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 Oil City 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 Oil City, Pennsylvania

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

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Pennsylvania

Starting a Business in Northern Cambria
Starting a Business in Olyphant

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Pennsylvania
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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