Starting a Business in Overland Park, Kansas

Thinking about starting a business in Overland Park, Kansas? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Overland Park.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Before quitting your day job, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Overland Park. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

Overland Park, Kansas Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Overland Park entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Overland Park 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.

Startup Financing Basics

Getting your Overland Park business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Getting a Small Business Loan.

For Overland Park entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Kansas Angel Investors and our List of Kansas Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Business

Whether your goal is to attract Overland Park customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Six Tips for Getting Customer Testimonials is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Overland Park or are selling to customers throughout Kansas, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Writing Great Proposals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

The best business owners know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Overland Park, Kansas, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Kansas universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also beneficial to see if there are any networking organizations for Overland Park entrepreneurs.

Now It's Up To You

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

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Overland Park and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Overland Park 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 Overland Park, Kansas

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

• Resources for Overland Park, Kansas Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Overland Park entrepreneurs.
• Kansas Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Kansas.
• Kansas Small Business Development Center - The KSBDC Network provides Kansas entrepreneurs and small business owners with knowledge, tools and resources to enhance their success. Contact them and they will help you identify your business needs and guide you toward opportunities and solutions.