Oregon Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Ontario, Oregon
Thinking about starting a business in Ontario, Oregon? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Ontario.
Are You Sure You Want to Do This?
Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Ontario. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
- We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
- Have a candid conversation with friends and family. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.
Ontario, Oregon Demographic Information
Ontario has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Ontario demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Ontario.
Businesses
As a new Ontario entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ontario 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
Have You Considered Franchising?
Visit the business district of Ontario and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to evaluate the possibility of your buying a franchise opportunity. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchising Scams. Become a franchising expert of sorts by reading more of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Representative franchise opportunities include Surface Doctor and Totally Low Carb Stores Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Sports Franchises and Dollar Store Franchises.
Note on Ontario Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Ontario.
Forming a Company in Ontario, Oregon
It's very important that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your 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. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Oregon, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Oregon. 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 are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Ontario, Oregon, our information on Incorporating in Oregon may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Oregon.
Raising Money for Your New Venture
Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Ontario business will be harder than you might expect. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as Only Idiots Send Venture Capitalists Business Plans.
For Ontario entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of Oregon Angel Investors and our List of Oregon Venture Capital Firms.
Getting the Word Out About Your New Venture
Whether your goal is to attract Ontario customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.
There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Pricing is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Successful business owners recognize that they need to continually improve.
Given that you are starting a business in Ontario, Oregon, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Oregon educational institutions. We also recommend you look into networking organizations for Ontario entrepreneurs.
Next Steps
You have a dream -- starting a business in Ontario. 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 Ontario and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Ontario 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 Ontario, Oregon
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Ontario.
- Resources for Ontario, Oregon Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ontario entrepreneurs.
- Oregon Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oregon.
- Oregon Small Business Development Center - Oregon Small Business Development Centers use a client-centered approach to deliver counseling, training, information and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management. There is no fee for their assistance.
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